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19 April 2024

More than 60% of UAE employees want a new job

According to 16 per cent of the respondents, a job in the hand is too precious to risk whereas another 23 per cent said that they are happy in their current position. (AFP)

Published
By Shuchita Kapur
Even though 2011 may not be a high growth year and a time when employers remain in command, more than half of employees in the UAE would like a new job.
According to an online poll run by Emirates 24|7, more than half of the workforce in the country has plans on looking for a new job. The survey reveals that 61 per cent of the employees in the country are looking to change their job.
According to the poll conducted over the past couple of weeks, almost a quarter (23 per cent) of participants are very optimistic on the job front and believe this is perhaps the best time to be the lookout for a new job. On the other hand, dissatisfaction runs high in more than a third (38 per cent) of the respondents, and they cite that as a reason of looking for better avenues. “I am unhappy with my current job,” they said in the online survey.
Despote this, ther are a those that prefer to sit on the sidelines for the moment as they are either happy in their current role, or fear jobs are still scarce in the market and that it isn't worth their while risking their current job to get a new one. 
According to 16 per cent of the respondents, a job in the hand is too precious to risk whereas another 23 per cent said that they are happy in their current position.
Discontentment with salary stagnation seems to be high on the agenda of many people. “I’ve not got any hike for the past three years. There has been no bonus as well,” commented a respondent. High salary satisfaction in the UAE seems low in the current market scenario.
“The UAE recorded 3 per cent of respondents with high satisfaction, 50 per cent with medium and 47 per cent with low. Elsewhere in the Gulf and wider Middle East area, a peak of 5 per cent of professionals highly satisfied with their salaries was witnessed in Kuwait and a low of just 2 per cent of professionals highly satisfied in Jordan and Lebanon amongst other countries,” Lama Ataya, Chief Marketing Officer Bayt.com told this website, explaining the trends revealed in one of the jobs site's surveys.  
According to a study by Gulf Talent, the UAE and the entire region at large is expected to grow this year, which may give hope to those looking for a change.
“Across the region, anecdotal evidence suggests slowly rising business confidence which should help accelerate economic activity and with it employment. Obtaining bank lending and collecting customer payments, however, remain two key challenges for many businesses, preventing a fullā€scale recovery,” it said.