The ‘Personal Fulfillment in the Middle East and North Africa’ poll, recently conducted by Bayt.com – the Middle East’s leading career site – has revealed that93.8% of professionals polled from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have a positive outlook on life, with56% being “very positive” and37.8% being “somewhat positive”.
Seven out of10 professionals polled in the MENA consider themselves fulfilled in life, with33.4% feeling both professionally and personally fulfilled. Almost one third (29.2%), however, do not feel fulfilled at all. Four out of5 respondents believe that they are in control of their career and life, with54.6% believing that they control their career and life “to a great extent”.
Financial worries (29.5%), lack of training and development opportunities (16.3%) and feeling that their job is not suited to them (12.9%) are the most prominent reasons keeping MENA respondents from feeling fulfilled. Other factors that prevent them from feeling fulfilled include a poor work environment (10%), bad management (7.3%) and a poor work-life balance (7.2%).
32.6% of those polled in the MENA said that a better work-life balance would cause them to feel more fulfilled overall. This is followed by better pay (16.8%) and a better social life (13.2%).
The majority of polled professionals (27.1%) prefer to spend their free time reading.41% of those who prefer to read say that the activity enriches them both personally and professionally. For9.7%, reading is a form of entertainment, while4.4% feel that reading de-stresses them. On the other hand,19.6% prefer to spend their free time with family.12.2% spend their free time working more and8.7% spend it with friends or exercising (7.1%).
The majority (97.2%) of polled professionals consider themselves to be healthy, with75% believing themselves to be “very healthy”, while22.2% think of themselves as “moderately healthy”.
Still,70.8% of polled professionals in the MENA say that they experience stress on a daily basis, with28.8% feeling “very stressed” and42% feeling “somewhat stressed”.29.2% of polled professionals experience no stress at all.
More than seven out of10 (71.8%) MENA respondents travel for recreation, with40.3% travelling once a year and13.2% travelling at least four times a year.28.2% of those polled do not travel for recreational purposes at all.
84.8% of those who travel find the activity relaxing, with62% saying that it relaxes them to a great extent and puts them in a better mood.4.6% of those polled, however, admit that travelling stresses them out.
Suhail Masri, VP of Sales, Bayt.com said: “Feeling fulfilled in the working environment has a considerable impact on the entire lives of employees. The poll results show that their professional life plays a great roll in reasons that keep them from being fulfilled. Happiness is subjective, and professionals in the MENA really have to take care of their mental, physical and environmental well-being. Continuous learning, exercising regularly and properly managing time will really help MENA professionals in this regard. In line with our mission at Bayt.com to empower people to live their lifestyle of choice, we have several tools available for professionals to increase their knowledge, and they are fun and easy to use, such as Bayt.com Courses. Employers in the region also have to keep abreast of trends and elevate support and engagement levels of their staff to ensure improved performance and employee retention.”
Data for the Bayt.com ‘Personal Fulfillment in the Middle East and North Africa’ poll was collected online from August2 to192015, with6,858 respondents from countries in the MENA region including UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Iraq and Yemen, as well as India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.