Why it's easier for women to land a job in the UAE

More than three in four women in the UAE believe that job offers are based entirely on experience and qualifications, regardless of gender.

Women find it easiest to find a job in the UAE among regional countries. Over 80 per cent of women believe they enjoy the same workplace equality as their counterparts in Western countries, says a survey released on Monday.
More than three in four women in the UAE believe that job offers are based entirely on experience and qualifications, regardless of gender, thus placing the UAE as the number one country in the region in terms of ease of finding a job for female job-seekers, reveals a survey conducted by Bayt.com and YouGov.

In addition, around 84 per cent of UAE women say there is a mix of men and women working at the workplace as compared to 75 per cent in the region.

A majority of women - 73 per cent - are comfortable working in a mixed-gender environment while more than half - 54 per cent - are extremely comfortable working in such an environment. Only three per cent feel uncomfortable working in a mixed-gender environment, the survey results add.

Nearly seven out of 10 women said they work almost an equal number of hours as their male colleagues, while six per cent work less than their male counterparts. Sixteen per cent put in more hours at work than their male counterparts.

"This survey seeks to better inform organisations on how they can facilitate workplace equality for their employees - and particularly those that balance their careers with a family and other personal responsibilities," said Anjali Chhabra, associate research director, YouGov.
The survey was conducted online among 4,053 female respondents from October 26 to November 26 across 13 Mena countries.

Challenges
However, female workers face a number of challenges. Among the top three challenges faced at the workplace by working women in the Mena region are less opportunity for promotion, a stressful and demanding work environment and insufficient job training and coaching.

Outside the workplace, the major challenges are finding good job opportunities, lack of opportunities to improve professional skills and inadequate opportunities to relax or socialise.

Despite these challenges, 68 per cent of women believe they are treated on par with men when it comes to the number of working hours and training and development.

Career opportunities
Nearly half of the women - 49 per cent - believe that a successful career makes them happy, followed by good health (42 per cent), travelling and visiting other countries (36 per cent), spending time with their families (34 per cent) and making money (29 per cent).

Moreover, women in the Mena cite financial independence (59 per cent), the ability to support/financially contribute to their households (50 per cent), the opportunity to broaden their perspective on life (46 per cent), making use of their education (42 per cent) and securing their family and children's future (40 per cent) as the top five reasons for seeking employment.

Furthermore, nearly 52 per cent of those surveyed believe their future marriage plans would affect their career choices, at least to some extent, while 29 per cent said it wouldn't affect it.

- waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE