UAE government jobs offer best work-life balance: Survey

Dubai - 19% of UAE respondents have changed their industry at least once in the past two years.

By Staff Report

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Published: Sun 15 Nov 2020, 3:39 PM

UAE residents believe that a government or civil service job maintains the best work-life balance, followed by banking and finance, and oil/petrochemical sectors, according to a new survey.

Conducted by Bayt.com and YouGov, the survey results showed that around 30 per cent, 22 per cent and 17 per cent of residents find that the government, banking and energy sectors, respectively, offer the best work-life balance.


This is followed by 12 per cent, for the field of education and academia.

When it came to satisfaction with the current or most recent industries, UAE respondents were most satisfied with the working hours (61 per cent), followed by work culture (55 per cent) and work-life balance (49 per cent).


The survey revealed that most UAE jobseekers are interested in working in hospitality/recreation/entertainment (16 per cent), education/academia (13 per cent) and engineering/design (10 per cent).

“The survey confirms a significant increase in interest in certain industries – largely fueled by salary and benefits, work-life balance, career growth, and job security. Employers need to deliver on job seekers' continuously-evolving expectations to attract the best candidates,” said Ola Haddad, Director of Human Resources at Bayt.com.

Industries hiring fresh graduates

The survey results showed that banking/finance/accounting (21 per cent) and hospitality/recreation/entertainment (18 per cent) are perceived to hire the highest proportion of fresh graduates among other industries.

Moreover, hospitality/recreation/entertainment (28 per cent), healthcare/medical services (24 per cent) and human resources (24 per cent) emerge as the industries which are the most attractive to females in the UAE. Government/civil service (28 per cent), followed by military/defence/police (27 per cent) and oil/gas/petrochemicals (20 per cent) are the top three industries in terms of attracting the highest proportion of local talents.

On the other hand, when asked to look ahead, IT/internet/e-commerce (25 per cent) and healthcare/medical services (25 per cent) are seen as the top industries that are expected to record the strongest growth next year.

19 per cent change their industry

Another major finding of the survey is that 19 per cent of UAE respondents have changed their industry at least once in the past two years. For those who have changed industries, better salaries (34 per cent) and better opportunities for career growth (24 per cent) are the top reasons for this change.

More than half of professionals in the UAE (58 per cent) are considering an industry change in the next few months. Better salary and better career growth (both at 46 per cent) are the top reasons for considering an industry change. Furthermore, government/civil service (14 per cent) emerges as the most appealing industry amongst those who consider an industry change.

Zafar Shah, research director, data services at YouGov said: "In order to learn the best ways to attract and recruit professionals, you should first understand which industries they're moving to, which they’re leaving from, and why. The 2020 Bayt.com Top Industries in the MENA survey provides a deep dive into the factors influencing industry attractiveness. This helps recruiters to better attract professionals and optimizes their hiring efforts."

Data for the Top Industries in the Middle East and North Africa 2020 survey was collected online from September 21, 2020 to October 8, 2020.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com


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