Employees are confident about jobs in the UAE the upcoming year and setting goals for career development, according to a new survey.
Middle East job site Bayt.com and market research company YouGov conducted the survey and reported that 86 per cent of UAE professionals have a positive outlook for 2023.
Workers in the UAE have high aspirations, with 66% planning to find a new job, 46% hoping to learn new skills and 44% setting a goal of securing a higher salary.
Changing jobs in the UAE
Ola Haddad, Director of Human Resources at Bayt.com says: “MENA professionals have faced challenges in forging their future as the region emerges from the shadows of the pandemic.
“It is therefore heartening to see that the majority of survey respondents are optimistic about the future and determined to achieve their dreams.
Not lacking ambition, 72% believe of people surveyed believe they deserve to work in a higher-level position for their jobs in the UAE, and 45% declared they are willing to move to another department or area of expertise to develop their skillsets and further their professional careers.
Reflecting international trends and the so-called “Great Resignation” 37% of UAE respondents said they would consider changing industries entirely to broaden their professional expertise.
“The latest Career Aspirations survey covers aspects such as attitudes towards current job, career aspirations and barriers to career growth,” added Haddad.
Salary key to jobs in the UAE
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, salary and benefits are seen as top factors for the ideal job for UAE professionals, with 69% labelling it the key factor.
Growth opportunities (42%) and security (33%) are also seen as important to staff.
Despite the thriving startup culture in the UAE, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi both encouraging entrepreneurs to create jobs in Dubai, more people said they would prefer to be an employee (52%) than owning their own business (22%).
Zafar Shah, Research Director at YouGov says: “The latest Career Aspirations survey represents radically altered attitudes and career aspirations of professionals in the MENA region.
“It is absolutely critical that MENA employers are primed for this shift by being knowledgeable of employee aspirations to further enhance the hiring and job seeking processes.”
And what people working for? Saving more money was the highest personal goal for people in the survey (2,068 respondents from in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and more) with 68%. Buying property (40%) and spending more time with family (35%) were other key goals.
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When it came to motivation levels in the workplace, nearly 7 in 10 respondents (67%) reported feeling motivated at work. Possibly connected to motivation at work, the prevalence of mentors and role models featured highly in the findings, with 5 in 10 respondents (50%) reporting that they have either a mentor or role model in their careers.
Though respondents revealed a positive indication of their motivation in the workplace, 57% reported that higher salaries and perks/benefits would increase motivation at work, this is followed by better work-life balance (45%) and promotion to the next level (37%).
Last month Arabian Business reported that many professionals in the Middle East and North Africa region are considering to change their career path completely.
Over seven in 10 respondents in the survey conducted by jobs in the UAE portal Bayt.com said they might resign their current jobs, with finding their “real passion” emerging as the top reason.
Around 42 percent of the surveyed professionals said it’s easy to change jobs in the MENA region.
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