Never mind the watercooler cribbing. People in the UAE – and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa – enjoy going to work every morning.
A new poll by Bayt.com, the regional job site, found that 86.7 per cent of MENA respondents claim that they are “satisfied with how enjoyable it is to go to work every morning”, with 67.6 per cent being ”completely satisfied” and 19.1 per cent being “somewhat satisfied”. Moreover, more than three quarters of respondents (79.2 per cent) are satisfied with the recognition they receive at work for their accomplishments.
The poll measured workplace satisfaction and data was collected online from January to March 2016, with results based on a sample of 10,755 people. Respondents come from many countries, including the UAE, Bahrain, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Oman, Tunisia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.Individual data for the UAE was not available.
Job and career satisfaction
Some 44.1 per cent of respondents believe that they are “completely satisfied” with the type of work they do, while more than a quarter (28.5 per cent) claim that they are “somewhat satisfied”. Conversely, only 14.1 per cent state that they are “completely dissatisfied” with the type of work they are doing.
A little over half of respondents are satisfied when it comes to the salary they receive (52.4 per cent). Of those, 15.1 per cent are “completely satisfied” and 37.3 per cent are “somewhat satisfied”. Results also show that 37.7 per cent of respondents are “completely satisfied” with the health insurance provided at work, while 15.5 per cent are “completely dissatisfied”.
When it comes to career satisfaction, more than half of MENA professionals are “completely satisfied” (52.9 per cent) with their chances of a promotion. This is trailed by almost a quarter (22.6 per cent) who are “somewhat satisfied”.
Only 14.8 per cent say that they are “completely dissatisfied” with the chances of promotion. In terms of career growth opportunities, the majority of respondents (68 per cent) are satisfied, too: 41.4 per cent are “completely satisfied” and 26.8 per cent are “somewhat satisfied” with their career growth opportunities. Similarly, 75.8 per cent of MENA respondents say they are satisfied with learning opportunities at work (only 14.5 per cent of respondents are “completely dissatisfied”).
39 per cent of respondents are “satisfied with their job security”, with 36.5 per cent “completely satisfied” and almost a third (29.8 per cent) “somewhat satisfied”.
In general, the results indicate that the majority of MENA respondents are satisfied with their jobs, with 32.4 per cent saying that they are “completely satisfied” and 31.2 per cent being “somewhat satisfied”, while on the other end, nearly a quarter claim the opposite and are “completely dissatisfied” with their job, overall.
“It is pleasing to see that the majority of respondents to our poll are satisfied with their current jobs, providing an overall positive outlook with workplace satisfaction in the MENA region,” said Suhail Masri, VP of Employer Solutions, Bayt.com. “It is highly essential to acknowledge that employee satisfaction is an important factor in boosting the reputation and performance of an organization, and meeting the needs of its employees.
“With such positive sentiment, employers should actively focus on externalizing positive employee perceptions about their companies, in order to attract talented candidates now, and in the future.”
Work-life balance satisfaction
Just over 70 per cent of MENA respondents say that they are satisfied with their work-life balance, with a third being “completely satisfied”. Only 9.1 per cent of respondents are “completely dissatisfied” with their work-life balance.
Around three quarters of the respondents (74.7 per cent) are satisfied with their working hours, while 15.8 per cent claim to be “completely dissatisfied”. In terms of work stress, 37.4 per cent of the MENA respondents are “completely satisfied” with the amount of stress at work, and 31.4 per cent are “somewhat satisfied”. The majority of professionals are satisfied with the amount of work that is required of them (72 per cent); only 9.1 per cent are “completely dissatisfied”.
67.4 per cent of respondents are satisfied with the vacation time they receive, and only 11.4 per cent state that they are “completely dissatisfied”.
Work environment satisfaction
According to the poll, the overwhelming majority of MENA professionals are satisfied with their relations with coworkers (82.5 per cent), of which 52.6 per cent are “completely satisfied” and 29.9 per cent are “somewhat satisfied. The minority (9.8 per cent) claim to be “completely dissatisfied” with their work relationships. Additionally, 42.2 per cent of the total respondents are “completely satisfied” with their immediate manager, and when asked about the company’s top management team, more than half (50.9 per cent) are also “completely satisfied”, while nearly a quarter are “somewhat satisfied”.
Almost four in 10 MENA respondents (38.7 per cent) are “completely satisfied” with their physical work environment, while 16 per cent claim to be “completely dissatisfied”.
