What are professionals in the MENA region looking to get out of their careers? How satisfied are they with their current jobs? And how do they identify an ideal job?

Answers to these questions can be found in The Bayt.com Career Aspirations in the Middle East and North Africa Survey 2019, which explores the challenges and aspirations of professionals in the MENA region.

This study was conducted by Bayt.com specially to uncover aspects that revolve around career and personal aspirations, challenges to career growth, and general concerns about the future. This Study also tackles general perceptions and attitudes professionals in the MENA region have towards jobs and overall work environment.

Key findings:

• Overall, respondents are much more likely to prefer being an employee (54%) than owning one’s business (26%).
• The two factors that were seen as important in an ideal job were salary & benefits (71%), and opportunities for career growth (42%).
• 3 in 5 respondents (61%) reported setting professional goals for themselves, which included finding a new job (57%), learning new skills (49%) and getting a higher salary (46%).
• 45% preferred to retire after the age of 60. Interestingly, less than a fifth of respondents (14%) chose retirement before 50, indicating a desire to stay in the workforce for a shorter period.

Data for the 2018 Bayt.com ‘Career Aspirations’ study was collect online from November 22 to December 25, 2018. The results were based on a sample 3,128 respondents. Countries that participated are the UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and others.