A new survey by Bayt.com, the number one career site in the Middle East, and YouGov, a pioneer in online market research, entitled ‘Top Cities in the Middle East and North Africa Survey2015’, has revealed that Muscat consistently scored in the top five of all considerations and is the third top city in the MENA region. Almost80% of people living in Muscat say they are either very happy or somewhat happy living in their current city of residence.
Economic Factors
The availability of jobs in Muscat is either good or excellent according to3 in10 respondents, while14% believe it is bad.38% of respondents in Muscat believe that competitive salaries are either good or excellent.
Other important economic factors in Muscat include benefits for working parents, career growth opportunities, reasonably priced amenities, and the availability of affordable housing.
In terms of economic factors, Muscat came fifth in the top cities in the MENA list for2015.
Labor Rights
Muscat was the fifth scoring city in the MENA region in terms of labor rights. Respondents from Oman believe that they have good-to-excellent end of service benefits (46%), termination rights (37%), vacation allowances (47%), parenthood allowances (28%), wage protection system (46%), health insurance and social security systems (51%), and pro-active policy making (31%).
Environmental Factors
Muscat came in second place regionwide in terms of environmental factors, according to the survey.
Environmental factors form a set of important aspects related to comfort and cleanliness that affect the overall quality of life in a city. The vast majority of respondents in Muscat (57%) say that the cleanliness of their city streets is excellent. Other important environmental factors in Muscat include clean air (good-to-excellent:75%), clean water (good-to-excellent:82%), beauty of the architecture and buildings (good-to-excellent:73%), and manageable traffic (good-to-excellent:69%).
Standard of Living
Oman emerges as one of the top destinations for a high standard of living with its capital – Muscat – recording some of the highest scores amongst the top10 cities in the MENA. According to the majority of respondents, Muscat rates as either good or excellent on most of the key factors affecting the standard of living. These factors include the feeling of stability and security (good-to-excellent:77%), the availability of healthcare facilities (good-to-excellent:63%), water/electricity/sewage systems (good-to-excellent:78%), and the quality of education (good-to-excellent:55%).
Socio-cultural Factors
The socio-cultural factors are forces within cultures, societies and cities that affect the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of individuals who are a part of them. Important socio-cultural factors in Muscat include low crime rates, rated as excellent by48% of respondents; a stable political environment, rated as excellent by52% of respondents; and effective law enforcement rated as excellent by37% of respondents.
Other important socio-cultural factors in Oman include equal treatment of both genders, fair treatment to all nationalities, freedom of expression, and tolerance to different cultures and ideas.
Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation
Muscat ranked fifth across the MENA region for the sports, arts, culture and recreation factors which play an important role in the overall quality of life in a city.
Respondents in Muscat ranked culture and arts offerings (51%), the availability of family-friendly activities (51%), and the availability of outdoor/sports activities (56%) as either good or excellent.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship has an impact on a city’s prosperity, and Muscat ranked as the fifth top city in the MENA for starting a business.
Muscat ranked as either good or excellent among respondents on the following factors: the ease of starting a new business (33%), lack of bureaucracy in procedures and paperwork (37%), the ease of finding finances to start a business (31%), market willingness to accept new ideas and innovations (39%), market saturation (31%), the ability to find local talent to employ (38%), and the affordability of taxes and other related fees (54%).
Suhail Masri, Vice President of Sales, Bayt.com, said: “As the leading career site in the region, it is our responsibility to showcase the best-performing cities in the region, so that job seekers can make an informed assessment if they are looking to move and employers can do more to contribute to their city’s standard of living and wellbeing.”
Masri continued: “The MENA region is very diverse when it comes to the factors that affect the overall quality of living in each city. At Bayt.com, our mission has always been to empower people with the tools and technologies to build their lifestyle of choice, and we want to empower people with valuable insights into life in cities that they might choose to live in.”
Elissavet Vraka, Research Manager, YouGov, said: “It is through this kind of market research that we are able to provide a profile of cities across the Middle East and North Africa today so that both employers and job seekers gain valuable insights into the various factors that affect the standard of living in their city of choice.”
Data for the Bayt.com ‘Top Cities in the Middle East and North Africa Survey2015’ was collected online from August25th to September6th2015, with the participation of3,613 respondents. The survey polled people from varying nationalities including GCC Arabs, North Africans, Levantines, and Western and Asian expats living in major cities in the UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Pakistan.