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 a quarter of Egyptian respondents (25%) have changed industries in the last year and nearly half (45%) are considering an industry change in the next few months.
For those who have changed industries in Egypt, better salaries (35%), better career growth opportunities (29%), and a lack of recognition of work completed in their past industry (29%) are the top three reasons for their change.
For those considering an industry change in the next few months,63% of them are seeking a better salary, while43% are seeking better career growth.
Current/ Most recent Industry Satisfaction
When looking at how satisfied Egyptian respondents are with their current/ most recent salary packages, only37% of respondents claimed that they are satisfied with this aspect, inclusive of non-monetary benefits.
On the other hand,60% of Egyptian respondents are satisfied with their working hours, and over half (54%) are satisfied with their work culture. Just under half (49%) are satisfied with their job security and47% are satisfied with their work-life balance.
In terms of training and development, less than half (44%) of Egyptian respondents claim to be “completely satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the programs available to them and almost the same proportion (43%) claim to be satisfied with their career growth.
Most Attractive Industries
Media/ Journalism/ Publishing emerged as the most attractive industry for women, according to24% of Egyptian respondents. This was followed by Education/ Academia (22%), Banking/ Finance/ Accounting (21%), and the Advertising/ Marketing/ Public Relations sector (21%).
Telecommunications emerged as the most attractive industry for “fresh graduates,” according to20% of Egyptian respondents, followed by Advertising/ Marketing/ Public relations (18%), and Banking/ Finance/ Accounting (17%).
Almost half of respondents in Egypt (47%) claimed that the Military/ Defense/ Police sector has the “optimum job security.”
In terms of the “best work-life balance,”26% of Egyptian respondents claimed that the Banking/ Finance/ Accounting sector is the top industry in this regard.
Most Stressful Industries
The Military/ Defense/ Police sector emerged as the most stressful industry for21% of Egyptian respondents. On the other hand, Domestic Services (1%), Market Research (3%), and Human Resources (3%) were reportedly among the least stressful industries in Egypt.
The Military/ Defense/ Police sector also tops the list for the longest working hours, according to22% of Egyptian respondents, followed by Manufacturing (16%), the Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals industry, as well as Banking/ Finance/ Accounting (15 each%).
Masri adds: “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.”
“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.