Political unrest in Libya is taking its toll on online recruitment activity, according to international oil & gas jobsite OilCareers.com.

The jobsite’s data shows visits from jobseekers interested in working in the country dropped in April to 13, from 4,149 visits in April 2010.

Meanwhile, GCC countries continue to see the most activity since 2009, with the UAE recording over 40,000 visits, Saudi Arabia and Qatar both seeing over 18,000 each and Bahrain with 2,500.

Managing director Mark Guest says: “To see such a drop in visits over the space of only one year is extraordinary and with only one visit recorded from Libya so far in May, this does not seem to be a situation that is going to rectify itself soon.

“With so many workers having been moved out of the country, the industry is sitting almost stagnant and the longer this continues, the more difficult it will be to rebuild. The slowdown is only highlighted further by the fact that neighbouring countries, especially those in the GCC, are showing strong growth signs and are currently experiencing periods of rapid development.”