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Libya — Labor market assessment
7.3 Recruitment and Hiring Poor recruitment strategy and a poor range of incentives have led to unfair and ineffective recruitment processes
According to key informants, the recruitment strategies in the Libyan labor market are one of its primary weaknesses. Businesses are perceived to have little understanding of how to employ the people they require, and jobs seekers have little understanding of how to best showcase their range of skills when applying for a job. Whilst 95% of the companies in the PSS sample use some form of recruitment method, 44% rely on a single recruitment method, and only 16% use a diverse range of methods (3 or more). The most common methods that companies use are friends/family (87%), online recruitment (40%) or personal networks/wasta39 (28%). Recruitment methods are thereby fairly informal and only 13% of the companies in the PSS sample use public recruitment agencies, whilst 15% use private recruitment agencies. With few professional recruitment companies in the country, poor recruitment strategies and a lack of professional recruitment standards, this has created a culture of favoritism in the labor market. These findings were also corroborated by qualitative data.
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I t’s random. We don’t have companies that function to assess people who are looking for jobs. The recruitment strategy is to make an advertisement that you need employees or by recommendations. In Libya we don’t have a clear recruitment strategy.” Professor, Albayda
The recruitment processes happen through personal networks and societal bonds.” Ministry of Labor branch, Kikla
39 Arabic term referring to nepotism/ clout/ personal connections.
