A recent ‘Top Industries in the MENA’ survey conducted by Bayt.com and YouGov, a research and consulting organisation, has revealed that the telecom industry is one of the most satisfying to work in, especially for salary packages and career growth opportunities.
Telecommunication professionals are among the most satisfied in the MENA region with their salary packages, with telecom respondents from Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, and Syria are most satisfied with their salaries.
A cumulative 38% of employees in the telecommunication industry rate their salary satisfaction as ‘somewhat satisfied’ (30%) or ‘totally satisfied’ (8%). On the other hand, 11% are ‘totally dissatisfied’ and 29% are ‘somewhat dissatisfied’ (29%) with their current salary. Nearly a quarter of the total (22%) employees claim to have no opinion.
Respondents from the telecommunication industry come third in terms of satisfaction with work-life balance, right after the industries of hospitality and oil, gas, and petrochemicals.
More than one third (37%) of industry employees are satisfied (11% of which are ‘totally satisfied’, with 26% being ‘somewhat satisfied’). However, almost four in ten employees in the industry are unhappy; 13% are ‘totally dissatisfied’ and 26% are ‘somewhat dissatisfied’. The remaining 24% have a neutral opinion.
In terms of career growth, professionals in the telecommunication industry are also quite satisfied in comparison with other industries, ranking third regionally in comparison to other industries. A cumulative 31% of employees in the telecom industry are satisfied with career advancement in their current position.
The telecom industry places second in this regards in Jordan and Syria, with 20% and 25% of respondents saying that it offers the best career growth opportunities in country of residence. It placed third in Bahrain (16%), Kuwait (15%), and Saudi Arabia (14%).
In terms of stability and security, 36% of respondents feel satisfaction in the telecommunication industry. Meanwhile, the majority (39%) feel dissatisfied, while 24% feel neutral. The telecommunication industry appears to attract a high amount of local talent, with respondents in Tunisia (18%), Syria (26%), Morocco (18%), and Egypt (17%) saying that it is within top three.
Respondents from the telecommunication industry are primarily employed in the GCC (43%) and North African (44%) countries. The industry attracts a comparatively young workforce with almost half (49%) of respondents aged between 19-29. 89% of respondents currently work full-time (30 or more hours per week). The biggest telecom employers, according to the survey results, are private sector multinational companies (45%); followed by private sector large local companies (23%), and private sector small or medium company (9%).
Churn appears to be low in the telecom industry, with only 27% of employees having recently moved industries (past 24 months).
Data for the Bayt.com Top Industries in the MENA Report2012 was collected online from November 5 – 14, 2012, with 12,040 respondents aged 18+, representing Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, KSA, Syria, Tunisia and the UAE. Of those who responded, 9,791 are currently employed.
