With 50% of employees less than 29 years old, the MENA region has the highest unemployment rate of 19% in the world, and 66% of employees feel that their salaries are lower than those paid by other firms in the same industry. Check out our infographic "Employment In The Middle East – Statistics and Trends " to know more about the employment industry, career opportunities, and hiring expectancy, and job trends in the Middle East.
The MENA region saw the highest unemployment rate in the world – 19%.
About 3 in 5 across GCC countries consider their governments to be very favorable employers.
Employee Demographics By Age
| 18-29 | 50% |
| 30-39 | 33% |
| 40-49 | 12% |
| 50+ | 5% |
Employee Demographics By Work Status
| Full-time (30 or more hours) | 73% |
| Part-time (8 to 29 hours) | 6% |
| Part-time (less than 8 hours) | 2% |
| Unemployed | 19% |
One in four professionals in the Middle East and North Africa claim they are new employees as they’ve worked there for less than a year.
26% of employees say they have been working for 1 to 2 years with the current employer.
Years Of Service In The Same Job
| Less than 1 year | 20% |
| 1 year | 10% |
| 2 years | 16% |
| 3 years | 12% |
| 4-7 years | 27% |
| 8 years or more | 15% |
On average, most of the respondents have held 2 jobs over the last 5 years
Number Of Jobs Held In The Last 5 Years
| 1 | 27% |
| 2 | 36% |
| 3 | 22% |
| 4 | 6% |
| 5 | 3% |
| More than 5 | 3% |
53% of professionals with jobs in MENA prefer a ‘100% fixed pay structure’.
Pay Structure Stats
| 100% fixed pay structure | 53% |
| Mix of fixed and variable structures | 40% |
| 100% variable pay structure | 7% |
66% of MENA employees feel that their salaries are lower than those paid by other firms in the same industry.
Preferred Industries For Employment
| Banking / Finance | 35% |
| Construction | 32% |
| Telecommunication | 31% |
| Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals | 28% |
| IT | 25% |
| Consumer Goods | 22% |
| Advertising | 21% |
| Tourism/ Hospitality | 20% |
| Electronics | 20% |
| Business Consultancy | 18% |
Most Common Reasons For Switching Industries
| Better salaries | 39% |
| Better career growth | 35% |
| Lack of recognition | 27% |
| Better job security | 20% |
| Better work culture | 18% |
| Better work-life balance maintenance | 14% |
| Lower unemployment risks | 14% |
| Flexible timings | 12% |
The UAE public sector enjoys twice as many holidays as the private sector
90% of the 225,000 Emiratis workforce are employed in the public sector.
Emiratis account for only 20,000 of the four million workers in the private sector
Current Hiring Expectancy by Country
| Saudi Arabia | 65% |
| Qatar | 63% |
| Kuwait | 60% |
| UAE | 57% |
| Oman | 56% |
| Jordan | 52% |
| Egypt | 52% |
| Lebanon | 50% |
| Syria | 46% |
| Bahrain | 38% |
