According to the recent "Top Industries in the Middle East and North Africa" survey, 70% of respondents in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) view the government as a favorable employer of choice, 44% of which perceive it as "extremely favorable" and only 4% viewing it as "extremely unfavorable". Moreover, the KSA government/civil service/utilities sector hires the highest proportion of fresh graduates, according to 28% of the respondents. Other industries with a propensity for hiring fresh graduates include military/defense/police/security services (23%), banking/ finance (22%) and education/academia (20%). The survey, conducted by Bayt.com, the number one career site in the Middle East, and YouGov, a pioneer in online market research, also showed that healthcare/medical services/pharmaceuticals emerged as the industry which is the most attractive to women (48%) in Saudi Arabia. Education/ academia (43%) and banking and finance (25%) were also popular industries among women. According to the poll, two out of every five KSA respondents are satisfied with their current/most recent salary packages (40%), inclusive of non-monetary benefits, 10% of which claim to be "completely satisfied". However, more than one in five of those surveyed are "completely dissatisfied" with their current/most recent salary package (22%). Overall, half or fewer than half of current employees or unemployed professionals looking for a job in KSA are generally satisfied with what their industries offer/offered. 39% of KSA respondents are satisfied with their career growth, while 18% are "neither dissatisfied, nor satisfied" and 22% are "completely dissatisfied". In terms of maintaining a work life balance, almost half of the respondents in KSA are satisfied (47%), 17% of which are "completely satisfied". Only 15% of those surveyed are "completely dissatisfied". Half of the respondents in KSA are satisfied with their work culture, 59% with their working hours and 44% with their job security. In fact, 32% of respondents are "somewhat satisfied" with their work culture, while 18% are "completely satisfied". More than a quarter (26%) of respondents are "completely satisfied" with their working hours, while a mere 13% are "completely dissatisfied" and 19% claim to be "completely dissatisfied" with the job security offered by their industry. In terms of training and development, 16% of KSA respondents claim to be "completely satisfied" and 23% "somewhat satisfied" with the programs available to them. However, 45% of respective respondents are/were "somewhat or completely dissatisfied" with the training and development programs in their companies. Construction emerged as the most stressful industry for 23% of KSA respondents. Military/ defense/police/security services and oil, gas and petrochemicals/energy were also perceived as stressful sectors by 20% and 18% of respondents respectively. On the other hand, charity/volunteer work, agriculture, internet/e-commerce, and management consulting were observed to be the most stressful industries only by 2%, 5%, 6% and 6%% of respective respondents. Construction, as well as healthcare/medical services/pharmaceuticals top the list for the longest working hours for 28% of KSA respondents. Across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the survey showed that the most popular industry for respondents who are currently seeking employment is IT/electronics/telecommunications (9%). Conversely, the least popular industries for job seekers are real estate, charity/volunteering work, management consulting and agriculture (all at 1%). Another major finding of the survey is that only 27% of MENA respondents have changed their industry in the last two years. This was certainly the case in KSA, where 72% of respondents have not changed their industry in the last 24 months. For those who have changed industry across the whole MENA region, better salaries (37%), better opportunities for career growth (32%) and lack of recognition (30%) are the top three reasons for their change. Close to half of those surveyed in KSA are considering an industry change in the next few months (48%), while one third of the respondents "don't know/can't say". For 61% of the MENA respondents who consider an industry change, a higher salary is the top reason, while 39% consider enhanced career growth opportunities as an important reason for changing industries. Suhail Masri, VP of Employer Solutions at Bayt.com, said: "It's a very good sign that 50% of the respondents in KSA are satisfied with their work culture. Over the years, more and more companies are becoming aware of the importance of that, and branding their work culture in order to attract and retain amazing talent. At Bayt.com, we have been helping the top employers brand their companies as top places to work for years now, and we encourage organizations to have a professional online profile for their companies. We are also well-versed in meeting the very specific human resource requirements across these industries. Our annual Top Industries in the MENA report empowers us to understand the opinions of professionals in the Middle East and North Africa regarding their own industry and various other industry sectors in the region, delivering vital statistics that make a difference for employers, employees and recruiters alike." "More and more people across the Middle East and North Africa are looking at a variety of industries as the top employment options," said Elissavet Vraka, Research Manager, YouGov. "In the UAE, the most popular industries in terms of perception are not the same as the most popular industries where respondents are keen to find employment." — SG
