According to the April 2010 Job Index released by Bayt.com and YouGov Siraj, over a quarter of local companies (30 percent) plan to hire in the second quarter of the year.

Another 37 percent of Lebanese respondents surveyed online said their companies will “probably” be hiring and only 11 percent said their organizations probably or definitely will not be hiring over the next three months.

According to the study’s findings, around 32 percent of respondents from Lebanon, said they will definitely be hiring in a year from now. This result was higher than expectations around the Gulf region as just 26 percent in Kuwait and 25 percent in Qatar of respondents were positive that their organizations will be hiring in the future.

Businessnews contacted HR Managers in a number of local companies. They were all planning to recruit new staff in the near future.

HR Manager at financial services provider company, Online Money Transfer (OMT), the agent of Western union in Lebanon, Nancy Rachwan said her company is planning to hire a “good number” of employees when compared to the existing staff in the coming period.

Saiid Maroun, HR Manager at Tanmia from the food industry said: “Definitely, one can have a positive drive regarding the local job market.” Maroun said his company is also looking to recruit new people to fill in the existing vacancies. He said that jobs are available in the local market, knowing that companies are growing and expanding.

“Time will tell if this momentum will be kept up throughout the rest of year, but it is fair to say the region is witnessing a degree of economic recovery after the prolonged recession,” said Rabea Ataya, chief executive officer of Bayt.com.