Happiness and Employment in 2019
Despite a gradual improvement in the UAE economy you do not, yet, feel that has fed through into employment opportunities - certainly not at the level it has in the past. In 2019 you are less optimistic about about the UAE's chances of boosting your career than you have been in any survey before.
Today more than one in five of you (21.53% of respondents) think employment prospects are either worse, or much worse, than those offered to you in your home country. That is up from 15.87% last year, and is over double the 9.88% recorded in the boom year of 2014.
Note, this is a relative question versus another country, and so it is as much about improving fortunes elsewhere as it is about weakening opportunities in the UAE. It is however fairly clear that growth promised by Expo has yet to feed through into sentiment in the UAE's workforce.
There is good and bad news when it comes to feeling stability and the ability to plant roots in the UAE. Less respondents said their employment status allowed them to only plan month by month, but there were also less respondents feeling they can 'Plan long term'.
More specifically, the number of respondents saying they plan month by month has fallen to 15.45% from 19.91%, while the percentage of respondents planning long term has fallen from 20.61% last year to 17.88% this year. That means the percentage of respondents thinking one to two years ahead is growing, and now accounts for two out of three respondents, or 66.67%.
Finally the number of respondents who claim to have a great work life balance has remained flat year on year. In total, just over one in three respondents (36%) says they have a good balance between working and 'living', with a greater number of respondents saying, effectively, they live in the office. Just under one in two respondents (47.83%) say they spend most of their time working. Another 16.17% of respondents told WhichSchoolAdvisor.com they do not work - representing in the main housewives and husbands that support their family at home.
Overall 2019 has been a bit of a curate's egg when it comes to employment, which perhaps makes sense. While the UAE in 2019 offered more stability for its businesses, we are still a way off the heady growth of previous years. 2020 promises to be better, how good exactly however still remains to be seen.
Next: Happiness and the Expo?
Happiness 2019 Index
Happiness Rises Across the UAE
Why You Choose to Live in the UAE
Your Biggest Worries Living in the UAE
Who is the Happiest in the UAE?
The UAE and Kids, a Great Mix
Property Ownership - Happiness and Stress
Happiness and Money in 2019
Happiness and Employment in 2019
Happiness and the Expo Effect
