The Middle East region trails behind in gender diversity with only three percent of female leaders as compared to the global average of seven percent, in particular all the CEOs in Saudi Arabia were men, according to a report by Heidrick & Struggles.
The report titled ‘2022 Route to the Top’ revealed key trends about companies and CEOs globally.
In the Middle East, the report found that 89 percent of CEOs have prior C-suite experience overall, which is the highest globally.
“As the Middle East works to keep up with the increasingly volatile global landscape; businesses are leaning towards hiring more experienced CEOs with prior C-suite experience as well as cross-border experience. However, there are still some talent strategies that boards will need to review; such as increasing gender diversity at the top,” said Maliha Jilani, partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ Dubai office and Social Impact Practice lead in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Almost 1 in 2 CEOs in the region have cross-border experience as compared to the global average, the CEO pool in the UAE also still remains young with the market having the lowest average current age globally at 53.1, the report reveals.
43 percent of newly appointed CEOs in UAE companies are appointed before the age of 45, significantly higher than the global average of 25 percent.
Earlier, Arabian Business reported that corporate biggies in GCC are wooing chief executives from companies in the West with lucrative options such as hefty joining bonuses and buying out longer notice periods, amidst rising demand for top-level talents to manage aggressive business expansion plans in the region.
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