Professionals in the Mena region are looking forward to the New Year, a report said, adding that more than 30 per cent of them have already resolved to work harder next year.

Feelings about 2016 are very positive, added the ‘Holidays in the Mena Workplace Poll’ released by Bayt.com, a leading job site in the region.

The vast majority of respondents (79.6 per cent) will be making career New Year’s resolutions, according to the poll, which highlighted that 38.7 per cent describe their feelings as “very positive” and 33.2 per cent as “excited”, compared to only 19 per cent describing their feelings as “anxious” and 9.2 per cent as “neutral”.

About 57.1 per cent say that the new calendar year affects their levels of excitement towards work, while only 31 per cent are “not affected at all”. An impressive 93 per cent of professionals believe in “reinventing oneself, career and/or life” and 83.1 per cent say they would like their career and life to be “very different” next year.

More than half of Mena companies (52.4 per cent) hold events to celebrate public holidays at least once a year, according to employed poll respondents, with 23.6 per cent of companies hosting several events throughout the year. When asked about their working environment during holiday seasons, the majority of poll respondents (66.3 per cent) felt that the office environment is “more fun” during the holidays, with a third believing it is “a lot more fun”. A third of respondents also felt that the office environment “does not change” during the holidays.

More than half of employed Mena respondents feel that their productivity is not affected by the weather (57.5 per cent); however, 42.5 per cent are affected with 24.7 per cent stating that they “work best in spring/summer”, while 17.8 say that they “work best in fall/winter”.

The holiday season also affects productivity for 38.2 per cent of employed respondents, but with only 20.8 per cent saying that it is “affected to a large extent”. A third deny that productivity is affected at all.  In fact, more than a third of poll respondents (34.1 per cent) “almost always” work on a public holiday, while 44.7 per cent “work occasionally”. Only 21.2 per cent said that they do not work during public holidays at all.

When it comes to favourite holiday activities for employees around the Mena region, travel tops the list for 30.1 per cent of those surveyed. About 22.2 per cent claim to travel during “almost every holiday”, while 30.3 per cent travel once or twice a year.

Almost a third admit that they “rarely” travel for the holidays, while 18 per cent claim to “never travel” at all.

Other favourite holiday activities are “spending time with family” (21.3 per cent); “going out with friends” (15.2 per cent); and “partaking in outdoor activities” (10.9 per cent).

In terms of New Year’s resolutions, the majority of poll respondents (30.4 per cent) have resolved to work harder in the New Year. 17.8 per cent have decided to change their job or career, while 17.2 per cent would prefer to travel more.

Other resolutions included taking a course (8.1 per cent), getting organized (6 per cent) and joining a gym or losing weight (5.4 per cent). The majority of respondents also claim to have stuck to last year’s resolutions (79.8 per cent); however, almost half of these (48.9 per cent) admit to “only sticking to their resolutions to some extent”.

“The fact that employees are resolving to improve their working habits and work harder in the New Year is a boon for workplaces throughout the Mena region,” said Suhail Masri, VP of Sales, Bayt.com.

“At Bayt.com, it is our mission to provide professionals with the tools and knowledge to discover the regional trends and use these to make better decisions when it comes to hiring and retaining top talent. We encourage professionals in the Middle East keen on reinventing themselves and their careers in 2016 to use the holiday season to learn new skills that would empower them to do so.

“They can join career discussions already taking place on Bayt.com Specialties, where millions of professionals are engaging in career conversations. They can also take courses and tests designed with their upward mobility in mind. Bayt.com wishes everyone a blessed holiday season and a happy New Year,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service