Dubai, UAE,15January2018: With every new year comes a new outlook and a set of goals to be accomplished. A new poll by Bayt.com, the Middle East’s leading job site, entitled ‘New Year’s Resolutions in the Middle East and North Africa,’ illustrates a remarkably high morale and optimism amongst professionals in the region coming into2018. More than four in five (83.9%) respondents say they are feeling ‘positive’ about2018.8.7% said they have a ‘neutral’ outlook and only7.4% had a ‘negative’ one. On top of that, many professionals in the Middle East are reportedly setting many new goals for the New Year. In fact,84% said they will set New Year’s resolutions aimed towards their careers, their relationships, as well as their personal goals. New Careers Nine in ten (89.2%) MENA professionals say they set New Year’s resolutions at least some of the time, with72.2% saying they ‘always’ do. When it came to resolutions for2018, a large majority (82.5%) of respondents are going after a ‘career change’. In fact, three quarters (74.6%) of respondents said that ‘finding a new job’ is their main career resolution for the year. Other career goals included ‘learning new skills / pursuing higher education’ (9.6%), ‘getting a salary raise or a promotion’ (5.3%), ‘being more productive’ (4.1%), ‘starting own business’ (3.1%), ‘forming better relationships at work’ (1.7%), and ‘other’ career goals (1.6%). Moreover, most MENA professionals have a positive outlook on their job hunt for2018, with more than nine in10 of current job seekers saying they ‘will find their ideal job’ this year. In pursuing the job hunt in2018, the most important job attribute for a far majority (61.7%) of respondents is ‘career growth opportunities’, followed by a ‘competitive salary’ (13%), ‘work-life balance’ (11.1%), ‘learning and training’ offerings (7.3%), and a ‘reputable company brand’ (6.9%). “It is inspiring to see that MENA professionals have a very positive attitude towards reaching their goals in the upcoming year, especially in regards to their job search and career growth aspirations,” said Suhail Masri, VP Employer Solutions, Bayt.com. “With three-quarters of respondents searching for new jobs in2018, we at Bayt.com are excited to help even more professionals fulfill their goals. In2017, we’ve successfully posted over140,000 jobs and facilitated over1.7 million CV searches and over1.5 million contacts between employers and job seekers. We look forward to extending our help to more job seekers and to make a greater number of jobs available in2018 and the years to come.” Personal Growth in2018 Aside from job-related aspirations, MENA professionals also have ambitious personal goals for2018. More than half (56.1%) of respondents say they mostly want to improve their friendships and relationships, while another quarter (25.3%) say they want to improve their finances and spending habits. Improving hobbies and personal interests (6.6%), spiritual and religious life (6.5%), and health and wellness (5.5%) are also among respondents’ personal priorities in2018. When it came to health and wellness specifically,80.6% of respondents said they will eat healthy food and/or join a gym in2018. The rest of respondents (19.4%) said they are ‘already happy’ with their health. In terms of execution, four in five (80.4%) MENA professionals say they usually complete their New Year’s resolutions with ‘careful planning and hard work’, while most of the remainder (15.9%) say they do so by ‘going with the flow and trying different options’ to achieve their goals. These approaches have reportedly been largely successful in past years: more than three quarters (78.3%) of respondents said they completed at least some of their2017 New Year’s resolutions, with35.9% saying they completed all or most of them. Data for the2018 Bayt.com ‘New Year’s Resolutions in the Middle East and North Africa’ poll was collected online from3 December2017 to11 January2018. Results are based on a sample of8,849 respondents. Countries that participated include the UAE, Bahrain, Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia, Qatar, KSA, Yemen, and others.