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 that74% of respondents in Beirut rank the availability of education as good and excellent, while76% say the same about the quality of education.
More than a quarter of people living in Beirut are either very happy or somewhat happy living in their current city of residence.
Economic Factors
Only8% of people in Beirut see the availability of jobs as either good or excellent, while20% believe it is average. Similarly,20% of respondents in Beirut believe that competitive salaries are average. Another important economic factor in Beirut include benefits for working parents.
Labor Rights
Respondents from Lebanon believe that they receive an average amount in end of service benefits, according to23% of respondents in Beirut. These respondents also believe that what they receive is average in terms of termination rights (24%), vacation allowances (34%), parenthood allowances (29%), wage protection system (20%), health insurance and social security systems (30%), and pro-active policy making (22%).
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. In Beirut, only9% of respondents say that the cleanliness of their city streets is either good or excellent, while58% believe it is bad. Other important environmental factors in Beirut include clean air (good-to-excellent:10%), clean water (good-to-excellent:13%), and beauty of the architecture and buildings (good-to-excellent:29%).
Standard of Living
According to respondents in Beirut, key factors affecting the standard of living are rated as good or excellent, these include the availability of healthcare facilities (good-to-excellent:36%), a wide range of entertainment avenues (good-to-excellent:69%), and the quality of education (good-to-excellent:76%).
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 Beirut include equal treatment of both genders, rated as good-to-excellent by34% of respondents; freedom of expression, rated as good-to-excellent by39% of respondents; and tolerance to different cultures and ideas rated as good-to-excellent by30% of respondents.
Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation
Respondents in Beirut rank culture and arts offerings (47%), the availability of world heritage sites/preserved old towns (39%) and the availability of outdoor/sports activities (39%) as good-to-excellent.41% of respondents find the availability of natural areas/landscapes in Beirut as good or excellent.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship has an impact on a city’s prosperity, and Lebanon is seeing a nascent propensity amongst respondents for starting a business.
12% of respondents in Dubai ranked the ease of starting a new business as good-to-excellent; however, bureaucracy in procedures and paperwork is prevalent according to37% of them. Market willingness to accept new ideas and innovations is good or excellent according to27%. Moreover,36% of respondents in Beirut rated the ability to find local talent to employ as good to excellent.
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.