Jobs that GCC women want: Banking, aerospace on top

Women in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and the UAE are striving professionally across key industries, according to a new report GCC Employment Reports 2016 by Oxford Strategic Consulting.

Women in the workforce demonstrated a clear preference for working in the banking and finance industry as well as in non-traditional roles like aerospace and HR.

Fifty-seven per cent of Saudi women, 43 per cent of Omani women, 33 per cent of Qatari women and 29 per cent of Emirati women considered banking and finance to be their industry of choice (compared with 35, 23, 20, and 11 per cent of men, respectively).

As for non-traditional roles, Saudi women were twice as likely than men to aspire to a job in aerospace, and Qatari women much preferred working in HR over male counterparts (11 per cent vs. 1 per cent).

GCC female perceptions of the medical industry were mixed.

Qatari women were five times more likely than men to aspire to a job in the medical industry, and women in the UAE were three times as likely than males to consider a career in medicine.

In Saudi Arabia, women were significantly more likely than men to want to work in a hospital (34 per cent vs. 17), yet Omani women were four times less likely than male counterparts to consider working in the medical industry.

Women held overwhelmingly negative views of the tourism and hospitality industry. Saudi women were six times less likely than males to consider working in tourism and hospitality, and Omani women were also significantly less likely to want to work in the industry.

Moreover, 29 per cent of Emirati women and 15 per cent of Qatari women ranked tourism and hospitality as their least favoured industry to work in at present.

The report highlights that direct interventions such as interview training, CV workshops and mentoring can help improve women job candidates’ self-esteem and confidence.

Local governments and organisations alike are increasing the number of women in the workforce, be it through mentoring, internships, or through valued career guidance.

Similarly, well-designed job fairs and online portals can better connect employers with qualified women candidates.  Flexible and remote work options may offer some relief to those women working unduly long hours, suggests the report.

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