DOHA: Women in Qatar prefer education sector jobs, followed by healthcare and banking sectors while men prefer to work in the oil, gas and petrochemicals industry, according to the latest Bayt.com and YouGov survey.
The ‘Top Industries in the Middle East and North Africa’ survey shows that government careers attract half of the local talent, while women are interested in taking up jobs in the education and medical services fields.
According to the survey, nearly 38 percent of respondents (women) are attracted to education and academia, followed by healthcare, medical services and pharmaceuticals (37 percent), banking and finance (33 percent) and the government sector (33 percent). Local talent is seen to be drawn mainly to government, civil service and utilities jobs (47 percent), oil, gas and petrochemicals (46 percent), and military, defence, police and security services (28 percent).
Respondents believed that the oil, gas and petrochemicals industry has seen the strongest growth (49 percent), followed by construction (39 percent), and real estate and banking and finance (17 percent each). According to 67 percent of respondents, the government is a favourable employer.
A quarter of respondents (24 percent) changed the industry they worked in the last 24 months, with 48 percent are considering an industry change in the next few years. Oil, gas and petrochemicals is the industry of choice for 30 percent and banking and finance and management consultant (nine percent each) jobs are also popular. Top reasons for career changes are better salaries (74 percent), growth opportunities (50 percent), and better benefits (43 percent).
Sundip Chahal, CEO, YouGov, said: “Within Qatar, it is clear which industry is the most preferable, though interestingly the majority of regional respondents are keen to find employment in the IT, electronics and telecommunications industry rather than oil, gas and petrochemicals.” In Qatar, 44 percent of employed respondents were satisfied with the salary package in their current industry, while 51 percent are satisfied with their ability to maintain a good work-life balance. The Peninsula
