41 per cent of Jordanians happy with career growth opportunities — survey

AMMAN — A majority of Jordanians are concerned about the rising cost of living, according to the latest Middle East and North Africa Consumer Confidence Index survey. 

Thirteen per cent of respondents in Jordan consider their personal financial situation to have improved in the last six months, with 39 per cent stating that it has remained the same, and 34 per cent considering it will get better in the next six months, said the survey, conducted by job site Bayt.com and market research agency  YouGov. 

Meanwhile, 87 per cent believe that the cost of living will rise in Jordan within the same time period, while seven in 10 respondents (67 per cent) say their savings have decreased in comparison to last year. 

In terms of purchases, 35 per cent of the surveyed Jordanians are planning to invest in a vehicle in the coming year, with 14 per cent planning to purchase a new vehicle for personal use, according to a Bayt.com statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times. 

Sixteen per cent are planning on investing in property, with apartments (63 per cent) being the investment of choice; over a third (39 per cent) plans to purchase a new property, while 40 per cent plan to buy a pre-owned property. 

In terms of smaller purchases, 17 per cent of Jordanians plan to buy desktop or laptop computers; 17 per cent furniture, and 13 per cent LCD or Plasma TVs, in the next six months. 

More than half the respondents (51 per cent) believe that the economy has declined in the last six months, while 43 per cent expect things to get worse in the next six months, the statement said. 

Present business conditions are considered “good to very good” by 21 per cent, with the expectation for things to get better in the year to come (35 per cent). 

Jobs are considered to be hard to come by in Jordan, according to 73 per cent of respondents, while 34 per cent expect a decrease in the number of job opportunities in the next six months. 

A quarter (26 per cent) of surveyed Jordanians said their companies have grown in terms of the number of employees in the last six months, while the same percentage said their firms have fewer people now and 30 per cent expect the number of employees in their company to grow in the next half year. 

“For the most part, job satisfaction is high in Jordan,” the statement said, with professionals “happy with career growth opportunities (41 per cent), non-monetary benefits (40 per cent), and job security (41 per cent)”, adding that only 24 per cent are satisfied with their current salary. 

Data for the August 2014 survey for was collected online between August 5 and 19 from 5,075 respondents aged 18 years and above living in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. 

“On the whole, the outlook for the region is a good one. Things are certainly improving with more and more major projects materialising across the MENA region, such as the upcoming World Cup in Qatar and Expo2020 in Dubai,” the statement quoted Suhail Al Masri, Bayt.com VP of Sales, as saying. 

“These projects are generating more job opportunities, which is a boom for the region. They are, however, also driving up costs, which is why savings are dwindling and respondents are expecting a higher cost of living in the future. Employers must take this into consideration when hiring new employees,” he noted.