Will business conditions improve in Saudi?

October 11, 2016

Riyadh, Oct 11: In a recent poll, 50% of respondents in Saudi Arabia expect business conditions to improve in one year.

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A survey conducted by Bayt.com, the Middle East’s number one job site, and YouGov, a leading market research agency, showed that 40% of the respondents expect the country’s economy to improve in the next six months.

“Despite the negative feelings that have characterized the past few months, there are sparks of optimism among respondents that economic conditions in their countries will improve in the future,” said Suhail Al-Masri, VP of Employer Solutions, Bayt.com.

Overall, only 20% of respondents in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia believe that their country’s economy has improved compared to 6 months earlier, while 26% claim that it has remained the same. 42% of the respondents believe their country’s economy has receded. When asked about future expectations, 40% of respondents were optimistic about the economy improving, and a lower number believed the opposite to be true (25%). Nevertheless, 21% of the respondents don’t expect any change in the economy.

In terms of business conditions, almost one in four KSA respondents (27%) believe that business conditions are presently good. Conversely, 31% believe that conditions are average, while 40% believe that they are bad.
Regarding expectations for business conditions in a year’s time, 50% of KSA respondents are optimistic, 19% expect the situation to remain unaltered, while 20% are not confident at all, stating that the business conditions have the potential to get worse.

When it comes to job availability, 34% state that there are few jobs available across few industries, while 27% of respondents believe there are few jobs available across various industries. About 16% of KSA respondents claim that there are plenty of jobs available but across a few industries only, while a minor 12% state that there are plenty of jobs available across a wide variety of industries.

When it comes to future availability of jobs, a general negative outlook prevails amongst KSA consumers, where 33% of the respondents believe there will be a decrease of jobs available in their country over the next six months, and 25% state that the availability won’t change. However, 28% are still positive about this, stating that job availability will increase.

Less than 1 in 5 respondents (19%) believe that their current financial position is better now than it was six months ago, while 35% believe that it has remained the same. On a positive note, almost 43% KSA respondents expect their financial situation to improve in the next six months, while 26% say that it will remain the same.

Considering the opinions on the future cost of living, the majority of respondents (65%) expect the cost of living to increase in the next six months. On the other hand, only 6% of them expect it to decrease. When asked about the situation of their current savings compared to last year’s, 16% of KSA respondents claim that their savings have increased, while a quarter (25%) claim that savings have remained the same. 55%, however, believe that their savings have decreased in the same period.

The survey further revealed that 38% of KSA respondents are planning to buy a vehicle for personal use in the next 12 months. Conversely, 51% are not planning on buying a vehicle at all. Of those who are planning on purchasing a vehicle, 45% are planning to buy a new vehicle, while 34% claim to be looking for a used car.

When it comes to investing in property in the next 12 months, more than a quarter of KSA respondents say that they are planning to purchase property (29%). 54% of respondents, however, are not. Of those who are planning on making a property investment, 56% will be looking to buy new property, while 15% will invest in pre-owned estate. Almost half of Saudi Arabia respondents are looking to purchase an apartment (35%), while around a quarter will buy a villa/townhouse/bungalow (31%). 35% will invest in commercial property.

In KSA, 23% of employed respondents feel that the number of employees in their companies has increased over the past six months, while 50% believe the opposite to be true. Over the course of the next six months, 25% of employed KSA respondents expect the number of employees in their organization to increase, while 26% expect this number to remain the same. Conversely, 40% say that the number of employees in their company will decrease.

With regards to satisfaction levels, 42% of employed KSA respondents are satisfied with their career growth opportunities, while 38% are dissatisfied. When it comes to compensation, almost a third of KSA respondents (34%) are satisfied, while almost half of them (43%) are dissatisfied with their current compensation levels. The majority of respondents (53%) are satisfied with the non-monetary benefits they receive, and 40% are satisfied with the level of job security in their current organization.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.  

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.” 

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added. 

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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News Network
November 4,2024

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Hundreds of Israeli settlers conducted a brutal attack in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

The settlers set fire to numerous homes and vehicles of Palestinians and then moved to the main road connecting Ramallah to other cities, targeting Palestinian cars passing by.

They stormed the city of al-Bireh, near Ramallah, and burned Palestinian property and vehicles.

A woman sustained injuries after the settlers hurled stones at her vehicle, according to Palestinian news outlets.

Tension has been running high across the West Bank because of Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, which has killed at least 43,341 people, mostly women and children, since last year’s October.

The Monday settler attack came as the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas warned of Israel’s plans to annex the West Bank and drive Palestinians out.

“We warn of the grave danger posed by the plans led by the extremist occupation regime and illegal settler groups to displace the residents of Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank,” Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said.

Israel's far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the full annexation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip last week.

Smotrich asserted that Israel should unequivocally declare there would be no Palestinian state.

He repeated his proposal of expanding Israeli settlements within the West Bank and other occupied territories.

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News Network
November 14,2024

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The UN special rapporteur for Palestine has slammed Israel’s parliament for passing a law authorizing the detention of Palestinian children, who are “tormented often beyond the breaking point” in Israeli custody.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in a Thursday post on X, characterized the experiences of Palestinian minors in Israeli detention as extreme and often inhumane.

The UN expert highlighted the grave impact of this policy, noting that up to 700 Palestinian minors are taken into custody each year, a practice she described as part of an unlawful occupation that views these children as potential threats.

Albanese said Palestinian minors in Israeli custody are “tormented often beyond the breaking point” and that “generations of Palestinians will carry the scars and trauma from the Israeli mass incarceration system.”

She further criticized the international community for its inaction, suggesting that ongoing diplomatic efforts, which often rely on the idea of resuming negotiations for peace, have contributed to normalizing such human rights violations against Palestinian children and the broader population.

The comments by Albanese came in response to Israel’s parliament (Knesset) passing a law on November 7 that authorizes the detention of Palestinian children under the age of 14 for “terrorism or terrorist activities.”

Under the legislation, a temporary five-year measure, once the individuals turn 14, they will be transferred to adult prison to continue serving their sentences.

Additionally, the law allows for a three-year clause that enables courts to incarcerate minors in adult prisons for up to 10 days if they are considered dangerous. Courts have the authority to extend this duration if necessary, according to the Knesset.

The legislation underscores a shift in the treatment of minors and raises alarms among human rights advocates regarding the legal and ethical ramifications of detaining children and the conditions under which they may be held.

Thousands of Palestinians, including hundreds of children and women, are currently in Israeli jails—around one-third without charge or trial. Also, an unknown number are arbitrarily held following a wave of arrests in the wake of the regime's genocidal war on Gaza.

Since the onset of the Gaza war, the Israeli regime, under the supervision of extremist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has turned prisons and detention centers into “death chambers,” the ministry of detainees and ex-detainees’ affairs in Gaza says.

Violence, extreme hunger, humiliation, and other forms of abuse of Palestinian prisoners have been normalized across Israel’s jail system, reports indicate.

Over 270 Palestinian minors are being detained by Israeli authorities, in violation of UN resolutions and international treaties that forbid the incarceration of children, as reported by Palestinian rights organizations.

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