Feelings about UAE dreary at best

Feelings about UAE dreary at best

The UAE has gained global popularity and economic standing but as of late, feelings towards its prospects have been rather bleak...

August 21, 2012 5:42 by M. Aldalou

In a country where almost two thirds of the population (survey) believe that the current business conditions are neutral to bad, eighty percent say there are no job opportunities and 68 percent unanimously agree that the cost of living has soared miles beyond their income limits; Kipp finds it hard to swallow the fact that a positive outlook is still intact.

In a quarterly survey conducted between July and August by Bayt.com and YouGov, there are some extremely disappointing statistics that reflect the poorly held morale of most residents working in the United Arab Emirates. Not to be the devil’s advocate, but after seeping through the high percentage of residents who share negative outlooks regarding job stability, financial security, career prospects, cost of living, economic improvement and job satisfaction; how can it be easily believed that the reported hope of improvement in all the above is anything more than a whim?

Eighty percent said there are very few jobs available, 74 percent believe that business conditions are neutral to bad, 34 percent say there are less employees at their company compared to last year, 84 percent see no career prospects in their current jobs, 75 percent have neutral to low feelings about job security, 50 percent are unhappy with their current compensation and 68 percent say that their salaries are in no way close to keeping up with the rising cost of living.

So there you have it, but funnily enough, the survey concludes by stating that 50 percent not only believe that their financial situation will improve over the next 12 months, but that economic and career prospects will definitely increase as well.

Nothing wrong with having a positive foresight but Kipp smells something fishy here. After piling on numerous high percentages of negativity and disparity towards the economic, financial and social sectors of the country, how can an unrealistically optimistic prediction suddenly pop up among half the residents? Here’s how:

“Retaining a positive outlook for the year to come will be pivotal to the region’s success. Conditions may not be considered to be entirely favourable at the present time, but there are plenty of signs that the months to come will prove beneficial for all,” said Suhail Masri, vice president of sales, Bayt.com.

Kipp wonders why those signs haven’t been included or revealed in the report. We would have loved to see or read about them but what really caught our attention is the 65 percent of residents saying that their financial situation has either remained the same or worsened in the last year.