Bayt.com reveals latest online poll series

32% of professionals have stated they are now working harder due to demanding added job responsibilities, while 20% have stated that job loss fears are prompting them to put much more effort into their jobs By contrast, 27% of the region's working professionals have stated that work pressure remains intact at their workplace, compared to the pre-economic crisis era while 16%, are inclined to work much less citing themselves de-motivated to work during the prevailing economic situation. Job fears among professionals regarding job security back up a recent study by Bayt.com that found that 65% of the Middle East region's professionals were worried about the security of their job.

The 'reactions to economic conditions' May online poll series conducted by Bayt.com sought to understand from employees what measures they would take should they lose their job; how they feel their employer, or companies in general are dealing with the economic downturn; and the reasons behind job losses within their organizations.

Participants were asked, if they would they consider taking a job with a lesser salary if they were to lose their job, Interestingly, 55% of professionals stated they would take a job that pays less, but only until they secure a job with the same or an ever higher pay..

This poll series marks a significant shift in the attitudes of the Middle East's working professionals towards their Middle East jobs and Middle East salaries. In a previous March-April poll, 55% of working professionals stated that they would accept no pay cut, instead preferring to lose their job.

Overall, however, the latest poll found that working professionals are reluctant to work for less money - 9% would tolerate a pay cut of up to 30 per cent of their current salary, 1.5% would tolerate a cut of up to 50 per cent, and just 2% would tolerate a pay cut of over 50 per cent. 10% of the respondents would take any job - regardless of the pay - yet surprisingly, 20% of respondents said that they would prefer to stay unemployed, as opposed to earning less money.

"The recent poll, while shedding light on the prevailing attitudes and behaviours of the region's job seekers, also highlights the changing attitudes of professionals in the region. In terms of salaries and if people are willing to work for less, what we are seeing is that generally, professionals are now more understanding of the job situation, and if faced with the option of a job that pays less or no job at all, the former is now more preferable," stated Amer Zureikat, Regional Manager of Bayt.com.

"It is very interesting to see today - a good six months since the global economic crisis took hold of the region - how Middle East professionals are currently feeling through polls such as these.

What the results are pointing towards is the fact that working professionals are now seeking to 'make the best of a bad situation' during the economic crisis, as opposed to being blasé and unwilling to adapt to the pervasive, challenging conditions."

When it came to why the respondents thought that people had lost their jobs in their places of work in the Middle East, attitudes were largely divided. More than a fifth - 22% - said that they believed the reason employees lost their jobs was because management were unhappy with their performances and the current economic downturn provided a good 'excuse'.

Almost a fifth - 19% of respondents agreed that it was most likely because those employees weren't profitable for the company, compared to the salary they were earning; while 18% said it was because those employees didn't get on well with management. Another 16% stated that the redundancies might well have been the result of 'being in the wrong place at the wrong time', while 13% believed it was because they were newest to the company.

The polls concluded by asking whether professionals in the Middle East thought employers were taking advantage of the current economic crisis to cut down on employee benefits. An overwhelming 80% agreed that employers were taking advantage of the current economic crisis to cut spending on employees to a greater or lesser extent. Another 7% agreed that cuts were being made, but only because they were strictly necessary, with just 4% finding that companies are giving the same benefits as before. At the complete opposite end of the spectrum, 3% of professionals found that companies are in fact increasing employee benefits.

Recent Bayt.com data however suggests that whatever the region's professionals' attitudes towards their companies and the current financial situation are, 47% still consider their country of residence as a lucrative and attractive place to live and work.

Zureikat went on to explain the significance that the data has for the region's employers, recruitment websites, and stakeholders in HR. "The current economic crisis and its effect on the region's economy - and therefore workforce - is a complete unknown quantity, and many working professionals in the Middle East are in some doubt as to what the future will bring for them in terms of their work. While no-one can accurately predict what will happen on a regional, country, company or individual level, this type of research at least takes the pulse of the market, and provides a strong indicator of how people view the current climate, and how they consider they will deal with it, should job losses become a reality.

"The research therefore gives a series of strong indicators about the current conditions directly from the people hit hardest. Employers or recruitment companies savvy enough to use these types of data for their own benefit, may well be assuring themselves of competitive advantage for now, and the future - when the region' economic pressures ease."

Data for the 'reactions to economic conditions' May poll series was collected online between the period of April 28th and May 31st 2009, with a total of 13,639 respondents from across the Middle East.

Bayt.com, the Middle East's #1 jobsite, regularly analyzes the Middle East employment marketplace and conducts polls and surveys of top Middle East employers and working professionals with jobs in the UAE, KSA, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwiat, Oman, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa.