Banking and finance have emerged as the industry which is the most attractive to women (38 per cent) in Oman. Government/civil service/utilities (30 per cent) and human resources (27 per cent) were also popular among women.
Industry satisfaction

Close to a third of the respondents in Oman are satisfied with their current/most recent salary packages (32 per cent) inclusive of non-monetary benefits six per cent of which claim to be 'completely satisfied'. However more than one in five of those surveyed are 'completely dissatisfied' with their current/most recent salary package (23 per cent).
Overall 36 per cent of the respondents in Oman are satisfied with their career growth while 13 per cent are 'neither dissatisfied nor satisfied' and 30 per cent are 'completely dissatisfied'. In terms of maintaining a work life balance more than half of the respondents in Oman are satisfied (58 per cent) with almost one in five (18 per cent) being 'completely satisfied'. Just 13 per cent of those surveyed are/were 'completely dissatisfied'.
Almost half of the respondents in Oman are/were satisfied with their work culture (46 per cent) 61 per cent with their working hours and 53 per cent with their job security. In fact 31 per cent of respondents are/were 'somewhat satisfied' with their work culture while 15 per cent are/were 'completely satisfied'. Close to a third (30 per cent) of respondents are/were 'completely satisfied' with their working hours while a mere 13 per cent are/were 'completely dissatisfied' and 17 per cent claim to be 'completely dissatisfied' with the job security offered by their industry.
In terms of training and development 12 per cent of Oman respondents claim to be 'completely satisfied' and 24 per cent 'somewhat satisfied' with the programmes available to them. However 47 per cent of respective respondents are 'somewhat or completely dissatisfied' with the training and development programmes in their companies.
Most stressful industries and industries with the longest working hours

Construction emerged as the most stressful industry for 34 per cent of Oman respondents. Oil gas and petrochemicals/energy hospitality/entertainment/ tourism and manufacturing/engineering were also perceived as stressful sectors by 27 per cent 16 per cent and 16 per cent of respondents respectively. On the other hand Internet/e-commerce agriculture and charity/volunteer work were observed to be the most stressful industries only by one per cent three per cent and four per cent of respective respondents.
Construction also tops the list for the longest working hours for more than a third of Oman respondents (38 per cent) followed by oil gas and petrochemicals/energy (28 per cent).
Seeking employment

The most popular industry for respondents who are currently seeking employment across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is IT/electronics/telecommunications (nine per cent). Conversely the least popular industries for job seekers are real estate charity/volunteering work management consulting and agriculture (all at one per cent).
According to respondents industries with a propensity for hiring fresh graduates include government/civil service/utilities (28 per cent) banking/finance (25 per cent) and military/defence/police/security services (22 per cent).
Switching industries

Another major finding of the survey is that only 27 per cent of MENA respondents have changed their industry in the last two years. This was certainly the case in Oman where 70 per cent of respondents have not changed their industry in the last 24 months. For those who have changed industry across the MENA region better salaries (37 per cent) better opportunities for career growth (32 per cent) and lack of recognition (30 per cent) are the top three reasons for their change.
Close to half of those surveyed in Oman are considering an industry change in the next few months (49 per cent) while just under one third (32 per cent) of the respondents 'don't know/can't say'. For 61 per cent of the MENA respondents who consider an industry change a higher salary is the top reason while 39 per cent consider enhanced career growth opportunities as an important reason for changing industries.
Suhail Masri VP of employer solutions at Bayt.com said 'It's a very good sign that 46 per cent of respondents in Oman are satisfied with their work culture. Over the years more and more companies are becoming aware of the importance of that and branding their work culture in order to attract and retain amazing talent.
'At Bayt.com we have been helping the top employers brand their companies as top places to work for years now and we encourage organisations to have a professional online profile for their companies. We are also well-versed in meeting the very specific human resource requirements across these industries. Our annual Top Industries in the MENA report empowers us to understand the opinions of professionals in the Middle East and North Africa regarding their own industry and various other industry sectors in the region delivering vital statistics that make a difference for employers employees and recruiters alike.'
Elissavet Vraka research manager YouGov said 'More and more people across MENA are looking at a variety of industries as the top employment options. In Oman the most popular industries in terms of perception are not the same as the most popular industries where respondents are keen to find employment.'
Data for the Bayt.com 'Top Industries in the Middle East and North Africa' survey was conducted between November 22 and December 8 2015 with respondents from the UAE Saudi Arabia Kuwait Oman Qatar Bahrain Lebanon Syria Jordan Egypt Morocco Algeria and Tunisia.