The most recent “Top Industries in the Middle East and North Africa” Survey, compiled by Bayt.com, the Middle East’s #1 job site, and YouGov, research and consulting group, revealed that nearly two thirds of Omani respondents are satisfied with both their working hours and their work culture.
In terms of training and development at work,50% of Omani respondents claim to be “completely satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the programs available to them and almost half claim to be satisfied with their career growth (48%).
Most Attractive Industries
One in five Omani respondents said that the Government/ Civil Service industry is the most attractive for local talent. This was followed by18% who said the same thing about the Banking and Finance industry.
Banking and Finance emerged as the most attractive industry for women, according to32% of Omani respondents. This was followed by the Education/ Academia sector (26%), and the Healthcare/ Medical Services sector (23%).
IT/ Internet/ E-commerce emerged as the most attractive industry for fresh graduates, according to21% of Omani respondents. This was followed by Banking and Finance at18%.
More than a quarter of respondents in Oman (26%) claimed that the Government/ Civil Service industry has the highest job security. One in five respondents (20%) said the same thing about the Military/ Defense/ Police sector.
Most Stressful Industries
Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals emerged as the most stressful industry for24% of Omani respondents. Military/ Defence/ Police and IT/ Internet/ E-commerce were also perceived as the most stressful industries by13% of respondents. On the other hand, Pharmaceuticals (2%), Tourism (2%), Market Research (3%), Human Resources (3%) and Business Consultancy (3%) were reportedly among the least stressful industries in Oman.
Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals also tops the list for the longest working hours, according to26% of Omani respondents, followed by Engineering/ Design (14%), Manufacturing (13%), Healthcare/ Medical Services (13%) and Hospitality/ Recreation/ Entertainment (13%).
Suhail Masri, Vice President of Employer Solutions at Bayt.com, said: “It is eye-opening to find out which industries the region’s professionals favor working in, as it is easy to rely on false impressions. More and more professionals are becoming satisfied with their job attributes, be it training opportunities or compensation or work culture. Yet, many are on the lookout for new and better career opportunities. We encourage all job seekers to make use of our website and access more than12,000 jobs that are available on Bayt.com today.”
Switching Industries
Another major finding of the Bayt.com survey is that a quarter of Omani respondents (25%) have changed industries in the last year and more than half (52%) are considering an industry change in the next few months.51% of respondents are seeking better career growth and46% are seeking a better salary.
Masri adds: “We regularly advice the region’s employers to pay attention to the factors influencing employee attrition and work with us to strengthen their employer brand and their retention efforts. Our aim is to always enrich the region’s job market and empower its professionals by offering the most updated information, such as this survey, and the most powerful tools for job seekers and employers alike.”
“Respondents are evidently keen to find and maintain career opportunities that satisfy their professional and personal needs,” said Elissavet Vraka, Research Manager, YouGov. “This is why this survey is so insightful; it provides all professionals in the MENA region with more direction, as to which job attributes are valued the most and which fields of work are excelling in providing them.”
Data for the Bayt.com ‘Top Industries in the Middle East and North Africa’ survey was conducted between February23 and March7,2017 with7,162 respondents from the UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.