56% Mena professionals want to find new jobs in 2023, while 20% wish for promotion or salary raise

Career-related New Year's resolutions are popular among professionals in the Middle East and Africa region who aim to improve their career prospects in the coming year although 79 per cent of respondents in a survey said they are pleased with their professional and personal growth during 2022.

A new survey by Bayt.com, the region’s leading job site, reveals that a majority of Mena professionals (91 per cent) feel positive about 2023 and 88 per cent have made resolutions for the new year.

Career-related resolutions for 2023 include finding a new job (56 per cent), learning new skills at work (21 per cent), getting a promotion or a salary raise (20 per cent) and improve relationships with colleagues and managers (3.0 per cent).

The survey had found that most professionals are focused on improving aspects that have a direct impact on the quality of their lives. Among professionals who are making personal resolutions, popular ones are saving money (63 per cent), exercising and following a healthy diet (18 per cent), spending more time with friends and family (14 per cent) and taking more vacations (5.0 per cent).

“A majority of Mena professionals are not only up for a challenge next year, but also view it as a means to enrich their professional and personal life. They display a growth attitude, as they are eager to learn and develop and have ambitious goals for 2023. To attract and retain talent, companies must provide the incentives, work-life balance, and professional progression possibilities that employees demand,” says Ola Haddad, director of Human Resources at Bayt.com.

Most survey respondents are optimistic about their ability to stick to their resolutions – 31 per cent said that they have achieved all their resolutions for 2022 and 35 per cent said they have achieved most of their resolutions for the year.

Among those who are looking for new jobs, a whopping 74 per cent are thinking of making a complete change in the industry they currently work in. Whilst looking for new jobs in 2023, respondents will look for career growth opportunities (31 per cent), work-life balance (25 per cent), flexible work arrangements (25 per cent) and a competitive salary (20 per cent). Survey respondents use online job sites (69 per cent), company websites (18 per cent), social media (9.0 per cent), and virtual job fairs (4.0 per cent) to look for new jobs.

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Respondents also shed light on their expectations from employers and areas of improvement that could be taken into consideration in the new year. These include providing more training and learning resources (53 per cent), more rewards and benefits (20 per cent), more feedback and support (15 per cent) and being more flexible with timing (12 per cent).

The New Year’s Resolutions Poll 2023 was collected online from November 2 to December 4, 2022. Results are based on a sample of 2,988 respondents from countries also including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Sudan among others.

— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com

• Business
• MENA