A new survey by Bayt.com, the number one career site in the Middle East, and YouGov, a pioneer in online market research, entitled ‘Top Cities in the Middle East and North Africa Survey2015’ has revealed that Jeddah, Riyadh and Eastern Province are respectively eighth, ninth and seventh in the top cities in the MENA list for2015.72% of people living in Jeddah and62% in Eastern Province are either very happy or somewhat happy in their current city of residence.
Economic Factors
The availability of jobs in Riyadh is either good or excellent according to almost5 in10 respondents.42% and39% of respondents from Eastern Province and Jeddah respectively believe that the availability of jobs is either good or excellent; on the other hand,31% and32% of them believe it is either bad or poor.35% of respondents in Jeddah and40% in Riyadh believe that competitive salaries are either good or excellent.
Other important economic factors in Jeddah, Riyadh and Eastern Province include benefits for working parents, personal career growth and reasonably priced amenities. Riyadh and Eastern Province scored better when it came to the availability of affordable housing.
In terms of economic factors, Riyadh, Eastern Province and Jeddah came fourth, eighth and ninth respectively, region-wide.
Labor Rights
In terms of labor rights, Jeddah, Eastern Province and Riyadh scored sixth, seventh and ninth top-scoring city in the MENA region. Respondents from Jeddah, Eastern Province and Riyadh believe that they have good-to-excellent end of service benefits (respectively:35%,34% and35%), termination rights (respectively:27%,27% and28%), vacation allowances (respectively:41%,38% and41%), parenthood allowances (respectively:23%,22% and19%), wage protection system (respectively:34%,30% and35%), health insurance and social security systems (respectively:50%,56% and47%), and pro-active policy making (respectively:28%,27% and27%).
Environmental Factors
Environmental factors form a set of important aspects related to comfort and cleanliness that affect the overall quality of life in a city. Close to half of respondents in Riyadh (49%) and Eastern Province (47%) say that the cleanliness of their city streets is good-to-excellent. Other important environmental factors in Jeddah, Riyadh and Eastern Province respectively include clean air (good-to-excellent:27%,22% and36%), clean water (good-to-excellent:53%,56% and57%), beauty of the architecture and buildings (good-to-excellent:50%,52% and47%) and manageable traffic (good-to-excellent:25%,27% and39%).
Standard of Living
The KSA emerges as the top destination for a high standard of living with its three cities – Jeddah, Riyadh and Eastern Province – recording high scores amongst the top ten cities in the MENA. According to the majority of respondents, Jeddah, Riyadh and Eastern Province rate respectively as either good or excellent on the key factors affecting the standard of living. Respectively, these factors include the feeling of stability and security (good-to-excellent:68%,61% and66%), the availability of healthcare facilities (good-to-excellent:44%,55% and52%), water/electricity/sewage systems (good-to-excellent:42%,64% and60%), and the quality of education (good-to-excellent:40%,38% and41%).
Socio-cultural Factors
The socio-cultural factors are forces within cultures, societies and cities that affect the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of individuals who are a part of them. Important socio-cultural factors in the KSA include low crime rates, rated as good-to-excellent by64% of Jeddah,58% of Riyadh and66% of Eastern Province respondents; a stable political environment, rated as good-to-excellent by65% of Jeddah,58% of Riyadh and49% of Eastern Province respondents; and effective law enforcement rated as good-to-excellent by52% of Jeddah,49% of Riyadh and50% of Eastern
Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation
In Jeddah,1 in5 respondents (20%) ranked culture and arts offerings as good-to-excellent.35% said the same about the availability of family-friendly activities and33% about the availability of outdoor/sports activities.37% of Riyadh respondents found the availability of world heritage sites/preserved old towns as good-to-excellent. In Eastern Province,34% of respondents rate natural areas/landscapes and30% rate the availability of outdoor/sports activities (30%) as good-to-excellent.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship has an impact on a city’s prosperity, and KSA’s Eastern Province, Riyadh and Jeddah ranked as seventh, eighth and ninth respectively in the top ten cities in the MENA for starting a business.
Eastern Province, Riyadh and Jeddah ranked either good or excellent among respondents, respectively, on the following factors: the ease of starting a new business (31%,25% and24%), lack of bureaucracy in procedures and paperwork (27%,26% and22%), ease of finding finances to start a business (31%,25% and24%), market willingness to accept new ideas and innovations (34%,40% and42%), market saturation (37%,35% and37%), ability to find local talent to employ (34%,31% and34%), and affordability of taxes and fees (42%,51% and48%).
Suhail Masri, Vice President of Sales, Bayt.com, said: “As the leading career site in the region, it is our responsibility to showcase the best-performing cities in the region, so that job seekers can make an informed assessment if they are looking to move and employers can do more to contribute to their city’s standard of living and wellbeing.”
Masri continued: “The MENA region is very diverse when it comes to the factors that affect the overall quality of living in each city. At Bayt.com, our mission has always been to empower people with the tools and technologies to build their lifestyle of choice, and we want to empower people with valuable insights into life in cities that they might choose to live in.“
Elissavet Vraka, Research Manager, YouGov, said: “It is through this kind of market research that we are able to provide a profile of cities across the Middle East and North Africa today so that both employers and job seekers gain valuable insights into the various factors that affect the standard of living in their city of choice.”
Data for the Bayt.com ‘Top Cities in the Middle East and North Africa Survey2015’ was collected online from August25th to September6th2015, with the participation of3,613 respondents. The survey polled people from varying nationalities including GCC Arabs, North Africans, Levantines, and Western and Asian expats living in major cities in the UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Pakistan.