Sixty-nine percent of adults in the UAE work full-time for an employer – the highest rate in the world. However, a much lower percentage, 12%, have full-time jobs that engage them.
These are some of the findings from global analytics and advice firm Gallup’s new global job figures,.
The new report examines the distribution of quality jobs across the world. While the percentage of adults with full-time work for an employer, or good jobs, averages 28%, no country has more than 13% of its adult population in great jobs, full-time work for an employer that engages the employee. Great jobs are especially valuable to employees and employers alike because they boost workplace productivity, safety, retention and well-being.
Good jobs are an essential building block of a thriving economy, a growing middle class, a booming entrepreneurial sector and, most importantly, human development. Creating as many good jobs as possible should certainly be a priority for UAE business and government leaders. However, to really unlock the potential of their human capital they should invest as much as they can in creating more great jobs, which would further enhance business and life outcomes and would help shrink the engagement deficit experienced in the UAE.
“The workplace, globally, is going through extreme change – with the rise of AI, millennials and employees wanting a manager who is a coach more than a boss, who bases their employee experience on their strengths not their weaknesses,” said Jon Clifton, Gallup’s global managing partner. “The UAE has an opportunity to stay ahead of the curve by further investing in workplace initiatives that put the latest developments in the world of work at the core of their strategy.”
Figures on good and great jobs worldwide are collected by the Gallup World Poll, an unprecedented global initiative to measure the quality of people’s lives worldwide. Started in 2005, the World Poll covers more than 99% of the world’s adult population and tracks the most important issues worldwide, such as food access, employment, leadership performance and well-being. The Gallup World Poll’s core questions are asked in each country in the same way, allowing for direct country-to-country comparisons over time.
