Part of “the Middle East Job Index Survey“ consists of identifying which countries and industries are most attractive to professionals, from an employer’s point of view. Below are key findings from Bayt.com worth mulling over:
Most Attractive Countries of Residence?
- 43% of total respondents believe their country of residence is either slightly or much more attractive than its neighboring countries in the Middle East, whereas 16% think it’s equally attractive and 30% agree it’s either slightly less or much less attractive.
- The UAE reigns in terms of attractiveness of country of residence with almost half of participating respondents (residing in the UAE) – at 49%- stating it is “much more” attractive than its neighboring countrie.
- KSA and Qatar follow UAE’s lead, with 41% and 38% of participants respectively confirming the above. - At the lower end of the spectrum, participants from Syria, Algeria and Egypt are the least enthusiastic about the attractiveness of their countries of residence with 26%, 25% and 22% respectively stating they are much less attractive that other Middle Eastern countries.
Most Attractive Industries?
- All participants agree the most attractive countries around the region right now are: banking & finance ( at 32%), Telecom (at 31%) and Construction (at 28%), however, taking a closer look at every individual country, opinions differ.
- In the UAE, the construction industry still gets, surprisingly, the highest shares of votes- in spite of the doom and gloom it has endured throughout the past year (with 36% of votes). Banking&Finance ranks 2nd with 33% of votes and is followed by the oil, gas & petrochemicals industry at 28% of votes.
- In KSA, the Telecom industry stands out as the most attractive industry with 34% of votes. This is followed by Banking & Finance with 32% of votes and Construction at 31%.
- In Qatar, the Oil, Gas& Petrochemicals industry reigns with an overwhelming 41% of votes stating it is the most attractive industry –Construction comes next at 40% and Banking&Finance at 28%.
- In Kuwait, Banking&Finance scores the highest with 35% of participants stating it is the most attractive. Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals follow with 27% of votes and Telecom with 26% of votes.
- In Jordan, Banking&Finance ranks on top with 39% of votes- followed by IT at 31% and Telecom at 29%
- In Lebanon, the Tourism/ Hospitality industry steals the spotlights with 41% of votes, followed by Banking&Finance and Advertising with 38% and 37% of votes respectively.
- In Egypt, the Telecom industry fares best with 36% of participants stating it is the most attractive industry. Banking& Finance and Tourism/Hospitality follows with 31% and 28% of votes respectively.
- Morocco, like Lebanon, declares Tourism/ Hospitality as its most attractive industry – with 34% of votes- followed by Construction with 30% of the votes and both IT& Telecom with 27% of the votes.
