Jordan’s job seekers are feeling optimistic about the future, as per the latest figures released by the Middle Bayt.com in conjunction with research specialists YouGov, with35% of respondents believing the country’s economy will be better in a year’s time and38% of them stating business conditions will as well be better in the next12 months.
The study asked the respondents about their personal financial situation, and whether - since12 months ago - they feel that they are better, or worse off. Across the region, a quarter of respondents felt they were better off;34% felt they were worse off, and33% felt no change in their financial position. KSA (28%), Qatar and Bahrain (27% each) recorded significant improvements vis-a-vis personal financial position - with respondents stating that they were better off. In Jordan,44% of respondents stated their financial situation has gotten worse over the past year.
When asked about consumer spending, the majority of respondents across the region stated they felt it is not a good time to buy durable goods such as televisions, refrigerators or property, (43%), compared to20% who do feel it is a good time to buy such goods.
In terms of respondents’ optimism for the future, overall,44% believed that their financial position would be better in a year’s time; with just9% of respondents believing that it will be worse. In Jordan,42% of all respondents believe their personal finances will get better, compared to11% that believe they may get worse, and16% believing they will stay the same.
What’s more, over a third of the region’s respondents -37% - believed that their country’s economy would improve in a year’s time, compared to the23% who stated that it would worsen. Most positive about economic improvements in their country were respondents in Kuwait with45% agreeing that things would get better in a year, closely followed by Saudi Arabia’s respondents at44%. In Jordan, respondents were divided over how they think their economy will perform in a year’s time:35% of respondents believed it will be better,26% believe it will become worse, while19% believe the status quo will prevail.
When asked about whether or not respondents felt more jobs would be available in a year’s time, most optimistic about the future availability of jobs at35% was Kuwait. In Jordan, nearly a quarter -23%, believed that more jobs would be available in a year,26% believed availability of work would remain the same and35% stated it will get worse.