Dubai, UAE,4 November2019: Bayt.com – the Middle East’s #1 job site – and YouGov revealed the “top industries in the Middle East and North Africa Survey. This survey reveals that MENA respondents claim that industries with the best career growth prospects are: “Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals” (according to26%) followed by “Banking/Finance/Accounting” (20%).
The industries most attractive to women according to MENA job seekers are “Education/Academia” (according to26%), “Healthcare/Medical services” (25%), and “Banking/Finance/Accounting” (21%). Meanwhile, “Banking/Finance” and “Education/Academia” are perceived to hire the highest proportion of fresh graduates. Furthermore, the industries with the most competitive packages are perceived to be “Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals” (according to40%), followed by “Banking and Finance” (21%).
Omar Tahboub, General Manager at Bayt.com says: “Our latest research is aimed at understanding job seeker preferences and satisfaction levels with various industries on attributes including salary and benefits, work-life balance, career growth, and job security. We also identify which industries are perceived to perform best to make professionals’ job search easier. When it comes to attracting and retaining top talent, this data is also useful for recruiters as employers need to understand what employees really want from a company.”
Another major finding of the survey is that a quarter of MENA respondents have changed their industry at least once in the past two years. For those who have changed industries, some of the common reasons were searching for “better salaries” (37%), and “better career growth opportunities” (26%).
More than half of professionals in the MENA region (56%) are considering an industry change in the next few months. The top two reasons for considering industry change are “better salary” (61%), and “better career growth” (37%). “Government / Civil service” (21%) and “Banking/ Finance/ Accounting “(19%) were voted as the top industries for work-life balance in the MENA region.
Zafar Shah, Research Director, Data Services at YouGov MENA said, “In order to learn the best ways to attract and recruit professionals, you should first understand which industries they’re moving to, which they’re leaving from, and why. The2019 Bayt.com Top Industries in the MENA survey provides a deep dive into the factors influencing industry attractiveness. This helps recruiters to better appeal to professionals and optimizes their hiring efforts.”
Data for the2019 Bayt.com Top Industries in the MENA survey was collected online from8th August2019 to15th September2019. Results are based on a sample of3,525 respondents from the following countries: UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, and others.