The UAE ranks as the world's number one country with the highest percentage of adult population in "good jobs" and is third among countries with highest percentage of adults in "great jobs".
Gallup's new global job figures, released on Tuesday, said 69 per cent of adults in the UAE work full-time for an employer - the highest rate in the world. However, a much lower percentage, 12 per cent, have full-time jobs that "engage" them, defined as great jobs.
Other four among the top five countries providing good jobs include Bahrain (59 per cent) ranked second, Estonia (49 per cent), Russia (49 per cent) and Singapore (48 per cent).
Countries with lowest percentage of adults in "good jobs" include Haiti, South Sudan and Central African Republic, all at five per cent.
Among countries with highest percentage of adult population in "great jobs', the UAE ranks third after the US and Russia at 12 per cent.
"The workplace, globally, is going through extreme change - with the rise of AI, millennials and employees wanting a manager who is a coach more than a boss, who bases their employee experience on their strengths not their weaknesses," said Jon Clifton, Gallup's global managing partner.
"The UAE has an opportunity to stay ahead of the curve by further investing in workplace initiatives that put the latest developments in the world of work at the core of their strategy," said Clifton.
Gallup's study, covering 128 countries, examines the distribution of quality jobs across the world. While the percentage of adults with full-time work for an employer, or good jobs, averages 28 per cent, no country has more than 13 per cent of its adult population in great jobs, full-time work for an employer that engages the employee. Great jobs are especially valuable to employees and employers alike because they boost workplace productivity, safety, retention and well-being.
The report said good jobs are an essential building block of a thriving economy, a growing middle class, a booming entrepreneurial sector and, most importantly, human development.
"Creating as many good jobs as possible should certainly be a priority for the UAE business and government leaders. However, to really unlock the potential of their human capital they should invest as much as they can in creating more great jobs, which would further enhance business and life outcomes and would help shrink the engagement deficit experienced in the UAE," said the report.
Small and medium-sized enterprises account for most of the good jobs available in more economically developed countries, while less developed countries are home to few large employers and few SMEs.
The percentage of a country's population that is employed full time for an employer - which Gallup refers to as having a "good job" - is one of the most fundamental statistics of productivity, the engine that drives both economic growth and development, according to job market analysts.
A good job - the type of job the whole world wants - as at least 30 hours per week of consistent work with a paycheque from an employer. Based on this definition, 1.4 billion out of the world's roughly five billion adults have a good job. Out of a global workforce of an estimated 3.3 billion adults who are working or looking for work, then, only seven per cent or 214 million people have a great job, according to Gallup's report.
By Issac John
