CAIRO: Fifty-six percent of Egyptians “definitely expected improvements” when asked whether they expected to see economic progress following the recent changes in the Middle East, representing the highest percentage in the region, according to the latest online poll conducted by the job site Bayt.com.
The poll, titled “Change and Challenge in the Middle East Job Market: How is it Viewed?”, showed that 50 percent of respondents were positive about economic prospects, while 15 percent were not.
When asked whether they believed it was a good time to live and work in the Middle East, 42.2 percent said it was “a better time than ever before,” while 22.9 percent believed that it was merely “a good time” and 24.9 percent felt it was not a good time
“The results of our most recent poll showed that despite recent changes occurring in different parts of the region, the Middle East is still considered to be a great place to live and work,” Amer Zureikat, Vice President of Sales at Bayt.com, said in a press statement.
“The report also indicated several changes that governments should be considering in order to improve their country’s employment. In light of the recent turmoil, I believe we will be seeing a lot more of these come to light,” he added.
Regarding the responsibility for unemployment in the region, the majority of respondents, more than 47 percent, blamed the government, while 7.3 percent pointed to the private sector, 5.2 percent blamed poor education and 6.3 percent put the responsibility on the shoulders on the unemployed themselves.
However, more than 92 percent of respondents felt, to varying degrees, that the government was responsible for job creation.
When asked how the government could best improve employment opportunities, nearly half of the respondents said they can do so through the following: creating more jobs in the public sector, improving the education sector, fostering a better environment for business, improving labor laws, stopping corruption and developing better transparency and legal guidelines.
In Egypt, a strong emphasis was made by respondents on ending corruption.
More than 86 percent believed it was possible to “dramatically improve employment prospects through better public policies.” Respondents also noted than the internet is aiding employment in their countries.
“Very interestingly, the vast majority of the region’s respondents [59.3 percent] also felt that there were many highly qualified professionals and few good jobs which could indicate that the region does in fact need to create more employment through more transparent means,” said Zureikat.
Generally, respondents around the region were optimistic about the future, career prospects and their country’s economy.
The high level of unemployment, economic difficulties and limited freedoms have led to a series of uprisings around the Middle East region as populist movements have been taking place and ousting longstanding autocratic regimes such as in Tunisia and Egypt.
