Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Pedersen builds regional IT recruitment presence

Pedersen builds regional IT recruitment presence

Executive recruitment specialist Pedersen & Partners is expanding its focus on IT recruitment in the region, with the appointment of Daiga Trumpe as Head of Technology Practice for the Middle East.

Michael Al-Nassir, partner, head of Middle East, Africa & South East Asia, said that while the company has worked on technology recruitment in the past, it was not a focus area.

"It was one of the sector that we felt we were less competent in, in this region, we never had traction in technology," he said.

The company focuses on C-level executive recruitment, and sees particular demand in the region for staff for multinationals, telecoms operators and large group companies that are expanding.

Trumpe was with Pedersen in the Baltic region for the past two years, and was with Microsoft for eleven years before that, becoming country manager for Baltics/North East Europe. Increased infrastructure build out across the region is increasing demand for personnel, although the Middle East faces similar problems to other emerging markets, namely the mobility of personnel and the lack of local talent.

"You can deploy whatever technology is available, but if you don't have people to operate it, who are competent, then it is just investment for nothing," she said. "Technology is just a base, you need the people to leverage those technology to get benefit. It is a growing challenge here."

"The multinationals that I have been meeting so far, almost all of them admitted that for certain competencies, there is a very limited pool of people, either they get the competence from outside the region, but then it is flying in and flying out, or if they are still willing to invest in to grow that competence in the Middle East."

One difference Trumpe noted between here and Europe was the lack of women candidates for senior IT roles.

"I almost haven't met any females in my interviews so far. Back in Europe, every second or third interview was a female, I have been interviewing so far, just males."

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