Google announced the launch of a new feature on its Search homepage and app, which allows people to look for jobs available right on its main search results page.
Starting today, users will find a series of results from across the web on the main Google Search results page, after entering a job-related query in Arabic, (for example, marketing jobs in Riyadh), which meet their specific needs. The results will include details under each job position, such as salary information, employer reviews, and ratings, as well as different job options to apply for, or using a location filter to locate jobs in areas that are most convenient for the user.
Google’s Regional head of Marketing in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA),Tarek Abdalla said that, “connecting people with the right job opportunities which match their skills and interests is an extension of Google’s mission to organise the world’s information and make it accessible to everyone,“ elaborating further, “this new feature on Google Search builds on the great work being done by regional job portals in connecting people with the right career opportunities through aggregating all the opportunities available across several portals, allowing job seekers to better connect with the breadth of opportunities available on the web.”
Furthermore, job seekers can be alerted by email of opportunities that come up across multiple portals, thereby simplifying the process of finding and applying to job.
Google partnered with 11 local and regional job portals from across MENA which include Bayt, Wuzzuf, Forasna, Emploitic, Novojob, Rekrute, Jobzella, Wzayef, Akhtaboot, Laimoon, and GulfTalent. This feature is the result of a deep collaboration with the job-matching industry and more job portals can join through the feature’s website: jobs.google.com/about/.
General Manager of Bayt.com Omar Tahboub said that on a monthly basis, over 4 million people land on Bayt.com from Google, in their search for a better career, and searching for a job can highly benefit from a streamlined and distinct experience which starts right from the search results page.
Moreover, Chief Executive Officer of BasharSoft Ameer Sherif said that as the owner of Egypt’s leading job sites, Wuzzuf and Forasna have always been able to attract users through Google’s organic search.
“Now, with Google indexing structured job details, we expect that the job search experience would be significantly improved and richer for job seekers. Partnering with Google to complement their upgraded search for jobs with quality job content from our platforms would only lead to helping more Egyptians find the right jobs with ease,” Sherif added.
This new feature builds upon ‘Maharat min Google,’ which is Google’s digital skills’ building programme launched earlier this year to equip Arabic-speakers with the essential skills designed to help their careers and businesses through online courses and certifications.
Google Trends data indicates that there has been a consistent growth in the number of job-related queries conducted in Arabic. In the past five years, according to Google Trends, Arabic job-related queries trended the most during August 2015.
The data also indicates that search interest in jobs often spikes during the summer months, as shown by data from 2017.
Google’s internal data indicates a variety in job preferences throughout the region. In the United Arab Emirates, jobs in education, nutrition, and travel trended the most in 2017. In Saudi Arabia, civil service, journalism, and the public sector were the highest on the list. However, in Egypt people searcher greater for employment in transportation, engineering, and law.
