The UAE is seen as the best emerging market in which people in the so-called ‘Millennial’ generation can advance their careers, a global survey by the World Economic Forum (WEF) has found.
The survey, organized by the Global Shapers team of the WEF, quizzed some 20,000 people aged between 18 and 35 about their preferred place to work overseas.
The regional results, presented on Sunday at the Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils in Dubai, found that the US, UK and Canada are the top places in which young people feel they can advance their careers.
The UAE and China are the most popular places among the emerging market countries, ranking 11th and 12th place respectively, ahead of the Scandinavian countries, the ’BRICS’ countries and Singapore. 
The survey quizzed young people from 187 countries on areas including business, the economy, politics, technology and values.
“The UAE’s appeal lies in the enviable fact that the country is increasingly synonymous with an attitude that nothing is impossible,” said Adeyemi Babington-Ashaye, head of the Global Shapers Community of the WEF.
“The UAE combines excellent opportunities for young people and start-ups with a competitive economy and sends a clear signal that, if you want to build the future, come and build it in the UAE.”
Only one in 10 of the survey respondents from the UAE said they see unemployment as a serious issue — compared to 34 percent globally — suggesting positive perceptions about the prospects of landing a job.
Respondents from across the Middle East and North Africa were among the most optimistic about the future impact of technology on jobs, the WEF report found. Ninety percent said they believe that technology is more likely to create than destroy jobs in the future.
Young people in MENA are however the least enthusiastic among youth globally about a career in the public sector, with a quarter of respondents saying a job in public service is very unattractive, and only 10 percent saying it is very attractive.
More than one-third of MENA youth said they would rather work for themselves as entrepreneurs, higher than in all other regions.
The results were revealed at a WEF event in Dubai which will also help set the agenda for the forum’s Annual Meeting 2017 in Davos, Switzerland.
Mohammad Al-Gergawi, UAE minister of cabinet affairs and the future, told participants it was important for the international community to address global threats such as global warming and water stress.
“It is important to define our challenges,” Al-Gergawi said. “We are launching a global discussion on the future of the vital sectors, and will attempt to forecast what the future will bring. We have a responsibility to the next generations to answer the questions of the future and come up with the needed frameworks to overcome these challenges.”

Source: Arab News