A recent survey has revealed that a large majority of employees in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have a strong desire to become self-employed and enter the world of entrepreneurship despite the fact that this field entails many challenges.
According to the ‘Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 2023’ survey, conducted by Bayt.com and YouGov, more than six in 10 employees, or 62%, want to be self-employed, while merely 26% prefer to work in a company.
The study also found that over 56% are thinking of launching a business, 24% have already tried to do so, and 4% never intended to become an entrepreneur.
Moreover, 86% of the participants feel they will generate employment opportunities, while around 60% want to begin recruitment within the next year.
Approximately 1,800 people participated in this survey, with the majority of them being from GCC, UAE, and MENA countries.
Ola Haddad, Director of Human Resources at Bayt.com, pointed out that 49% of people like to be self-employed for personal satisfaction and 47% for a flexible work-life balance.
It is crucial to note that starting a business or becoming an entrepreneur is a challenging venture. As a result, the survey also looked at the participants’ primary worries about launching their own businesses.
Around 64% were concerned regarding funding, 41% about required networking, and 37% about the unpredictability of profit and income. Most of the employees want to enter the sectors such as entertainment, IT, internet & e-commerce, leisure, hospitality, and real estate. Only 9% want to start a business in the consumer goods and FMCG market.
