According to the recent “Top Industries in the Middle East and North Africa” survey, conducted by Bayt.com, the number one career site in the Middle East, and YouGov, a pioneer in online market research, the IT/electronics/ telecommunications industry has experienced the strongest growth in Jordan in2015.
The survey found that31% of respondents in Jordan believed that the IT/electronics/ telecommunications industry has experienced strong growth over the last year. Moreover, respondents also recognized construction (22%), healthcare/medical service/pharmaceuticals (19%) and advertising/media/PR/publishing (18%) as industries with significant growth.
According to the survey, healthcare/medical service/pharmaceuticals and the education/academia industries emerged as the most attractive to women in Jordan (43% respectively), followed by banking/finance (27%). Advertising/media/PR/publishing, as well as hospitality/entertainment/tourism (21% respectively) were also popular industries among women.
Most Attractive Industries
The IT/electronics/telecommunications sector emerged as the industry that attracts the highest proportion of national talent according to33% of respondents in Jordan. This was followed by banking/finance, Internet/e-commerce, and education/academia (19% respectively). According to the poll,60% of respondents in Jordan view the government as a favorable employer of choice, with32% perceiving the government as “extremely favorable” and only7% viewing it as “extremely unfavorable”.
Industry Satisfaction
Over a quarter of respondents in Jordan are satisfied with their current/ most recent salary packages (26%), inclusive of non-monetary benefits, and6% claim to be “completely satisfied”. On the other hand, close to one third of those surveyed (30%) are “completely dissatisfied” with their current/ most recent salary package.
Overall,37% of respondents in Jordan are satisfied with their career growth, while18% are “neither dissatisfied, nor satisfied” and23% are “completely dissatisfied”. In terms of maintaining a work-life balance,41% of the respondents in Jordan are satisfied, while21% of those surveyed are “completely dissatisfied”.
A good48% of respondents in Jordan are/were satisfied with their work culture,46% with their working hours and48% with their job security. In fact,30% of respondents are “somewhat satisfied” with their work culture, and18% are “completely satisfied”. A third (33%) of respondents are “somewhat satisfied” with their working hours;13% “completely satisfied” while a17% are “completely dissatisfied”.21% claim to be “completely dissatisfied” with the job security offered by their industry, compared to the20% who are “completely satisfied” and28% who are “somewhat satisfied”.
In terms of training and development,13% of respondents in Jordan claim to be “completely satisfied” and25% “somewhat satisfied” with the programs available to them. However,25% of respondents are/were “somewhat or completely dissatisfied” with the training and development programs in their companies.
Most Stressful Industries and Industries With the Longest Working Hours
Military/defense/police/security services emerged as the most stressful industry for23% of respondents in Jordan. Healthcare/medical services/pharmaceuticals and construction were also perceived as stressful sectors by21% and17% of the respondents, respectively. On the other hand, charity/volunteer work and human resources were observed to be the most stressful industries only by3% and4% of respective respondents.
Construction tops the list for the longest working hours for24% of respondents in Jordan, followed by healthcare/medical services/pharmaceuticals (22%).
Seeking Employment
The most popular industry for respondents who are currently seeking employment, across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), is IT/electronics/telecommunications (9%). Conversely, the least popular industries for job seekers are real estate, charity/volunteering work, management consulting and agriculture (all at1%).
The military/defense/police/security services sector hires the highest proportion of fresh graduates in Jordan, according to30% of the respondents. Other industries with a propensity for hiring fresh graduates include education/academia (26%), banking/finance (26%) and IT/electronics/telecommunications (24%).
Switching Industries
Another major finding of the survey is that only27% of MENA respondents have changed their industry in the last two years. This was certainly the case in Jordan, where73% of respondents have not changed their industry in the last24 months. For those who have changed industry across the MENA region, better salaries (37%), better opportunities for career growth (32%) and lack of recognition (30%) are the top three reasons for their change.
Close to half of those surveyed in Jordan are considering an industry change in the next few months (44%), while39% of the respondents “don’t know/can’t say”. For61% of the MENA respondents who consider an industry change, a higher salary is the top reason, while39% consider enhanced career growth opportunities as an important reason for changing industries.
Suhail Masri, VP of Employer Solutions at Bayt.com, said: “It’s a very good sign that48% of respondents in Jordan are satisfied with their work culture. Over the years, more and more companies are becoming aware of the importance of that, and branding their work culture in order to attract and retain amazing talent. At Bayt.com, we have been helping the top employers brand their companies as top places to work for years now, and we encourage organizations to have a professional online profile for their companies. We are also well-versed in meeting the very specific human resource requirements across these industries. Our annual Top Industries in the MENA report empowers us to understand the opinions of professionals in the Middle East and North Africa regarding their own industry and various other industry sectors in the region, delivering vital statistics that make a difference for employers, employees and recruiters alike.”
“More and more people across the Middle East and North Africa are looking at a variety of industries as the top employment options,” said Elissavet Vraka, Research Manager, YouGov. “In Jordan, the most popular industries in terms of perception are not the same as the most popular industries where respondents are keen to find employment.”
Data for the Bayt.com ‘Top Industries in the Middle East and North Africa’ survey was conducted between November22 and December8,2015 with respondents from the UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.