Investigating recruitment practices and problems of multinational companies (MNCs) operating in Egypt

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the recruitment conditions of multinational companies (MNCs) in Egypt, along with problems and de‐recruitment activities such MNCs face. Design/methodology/approach – Surveys in the form of questionnaires were used and data from 55 MNCs operating in Egypt were acquired to investigate the recruitment function's processes and problems MNCs faced along with de‐recruitment practices MNCs undertake. Findings – Results indicated that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) showed higher adoption rate of the recruitment process than large enterprises (LEs). In addition, results indicated that the recruitment function is perceived to be run jointly by human resource management (HRM) and line management, giving an upper hand to HRM. In general, two sets of problems facing recruitment were revealed; candidate‐ and organization‐related problems, where the former had been more frequently reported by SMEs rather than LEs. Finally, the findings illustrated the actual de‐recruitment practices undertaken by MNCs operating in Egypt. SMEs adopted less aggressive de‐recruitment activities than LEs, where mainly recruitment freezing and early retirement are mostly used. Originality/value – This paper highlights three under‐researched areas by studying the organizational size dimension of recruitment and identifying the pattern of de‐recruitment activities employed by MNCs of different sizes, and also identifying recruitment problems facing MNCs in Egypt. Such findings could help organizations either planning to start up or in enhancing their operations in the Egyptian market. As well, these findings provide insight to recruits about the recruitment stages and problems they might encounter.