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 Banking/ Finance/ Accounting is the most attractive industry in Jordan in2017.
Baking/ Finance/ Accounting emerged as the industry that attracts the highest proportion of “local talent,” according to26% of Jordanian respondents. This was followed by IT/ Internet/ E-commerce (19%) as well as Engineering/ Design and Telecommunications (17% each).
Education/ Academia emerged as the most attractive industry for women, according to45% of Jordanian respondents. This was followed by Banking/ Finance/ Accounting (30%), and Healthcare/ Medical Services (26%).
Over a third of respondents in Jordan (37%) claimed that the Government/ Civil Service industry has the highest “job security.”32% of respondents said that the Military/ Defense/ Police sector has high job security, while a quarter (25%) gave that vote to Banking / Finance/ Accounting.
In terms of the “best work-life balance,”28% of Jordanian respondents said that the Education/ Academia sector has the best work-life balance, while27% said that Banking/ Finance/ Accounting is the top industry in this regard.
Most Stressful Industries
Despite being reportedly the most attractive industry, Banking/ Finance/ Accounting also emerged as the most stressful industry for19% of Jordanian respondents. Military/ Defense/ Police was also perceived as the most stressful industry by17% of respondents.
Hospitality/ Entertainment tops the list for the longest working hours, according to20% of Jordanian respondents, followed by Military/ Defense/ Police (18%) and Healthcare/ Medical services (17%).
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.”
Current/ Most recent Industry Satisfaction
Six in10 respondents from Jordan are satisfied with their work culture,58% are satisfied with their working hours,53% are satisfied with their job security, and48% are satisfied with their work-life balance.
When looking at salary packages, only36% of respondents claimed that they are satisfied with this aspect, inclusive of non-monetary benefits.
In terms of training and development,47% of Jordanian respondents claim to be “completely satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the programs available to them and43% claim to be satisfied with their career growth.
Switching Industries
Another major finding of the survey is that almost a quarter of Jordanian respondents (23%) have changed industries in the last year and43% are considering an industry change in the next few months.61% of respondents are seeking a better salary while45% are seeking better career growth.
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.