UAE tops Mideast for ease of finding a job for women

DUBAI / Emirates Business

With every passing year, workplace equality becomes a higher priority for organizations around the world – and those in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are no exception.
According to the ‘Working Women in the Middle East and North Africa’ survey by Bayt.com, the Middle East’s number one job site, and global online market research company, YouGov, more than three in four women in the UAE who provided an answer believe that job offers are based entirely on experience and qualifications, regardless of gender. This figure surpasses the regional average and places the UAE as the number one country in the Middle East when it comes to ease of finding a job for female job seekers.
The survey sought to explore the status of working women in the MENA region by analyzing their perceptions when it comes to equality at work and looking into their motivations for employment, challenges faced at work, as well as career and life ambitions. When asked about workplace equality, the survey revealed that more than eight in 10 respondents who answered this question believe that women in the UAE have reached the same level of workplace equality as women do in western countries.

Workplace equality
Women in the UAE seem to be more content with gender balance in the workplace when compared with women in other MENA countries. Regionally, three quarters (75%) of respondents say that there is a mix of men and women working in the same workplace. In the UAE, this figure is almost 10 percent higher than the regional average at 84%. What’s more, a large majority (73%) of women in the UAE say they are comfortable working in a mixed gender environment, with more than half (54%) claiming to be extremely comfortable.
While 74% of respondents working in a mixed-gender environment report having a male manager at their current organisation, nearly the same proportion (73%) have no gender-based preference for a manager.
In UAE, seven in ten (70%) respondents report that they work almost an equal number of hours as their male colleagues, 6% believe they work less hours than their male counterparts, and only 16% said they work more hours. 8% didn’t provide an answer.
As for women-specific benefits in the workplace, the top five benefits MENA respondents receive from their organisations are personal health insurance (47%), paid maternity leave (40%), company transport/transport allowance (34%), job-related training (32%), and family health insurance (23%). With regard to labor laws in their country of residence, almost all (89%) respondents in the UAE stated they have at least some familiarity with the labor laws in their country, with two fifths (37%) claiming to be very familiar.

Challenges
The top three challenges cited by MENA women in their workplace are less opportunity for job promotions (44%), a stressful and demanding work environment (37%), and a lack of or
insufficient job training and coaching (30%).
“The results from this year’s ‘Working Women’ survey indicate that organizations in the region are making excellent strides towards achieving total gender balance, even since last year,” said Rania Nseir, Director of Business Development, Bayt.com.

Career Outlook
Women’s happiness in the region is largely career-oriented, with having a successful career (49%) emerging as the top driver of happiness. This was followed by good health (42%), traveling and visiting other countries (36%), spending time with their families (34%), and making money (29%).

“As the world progresses to bring gender equality to the workplace on a greater scale, perceptions and opinions like those found in this survey provide valuable insight into what is working well and where organizations may need to improve,” said Anjali Chhabra, YouGov Associate Research Director.
Data for the ‘Working Women in the Middle East and North Africa’ survey was collected online from October 26 to November 26, 2017, with 4,053 female respondents living in UAE, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and Qatar.