Arab Youth Declare Their Needs for Finding Good Jobs

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Nov 23, 2010, 02:06 ET

The latest Silatech Index highlights the expectations of the Arab region's youth bulge to reach their economic potential

WASHINGTON, Nov. 23, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A packed room of leaders from business, government, and civil society gathered in Washington, D.C., on November 17 for the release of the third edition of "The Silatech Index: Voices of Young Arabs." Based on nationally representative, semiannual polls of residents aged 15 to 29 throughout the Arab region, the report captures young Arabs' perspectives on the barriers and opportunities associated with finding good jobs or starting businesses in their countries.

The Index is the product of a partnership between Silatech, a Doha-based initiative dedicated to creating jobs and economic opportunities for young Arabs, and Gallup, the global polling and consulting firm. Remarking about the importance of the rich data on which the Index is based, Gallup Chairman and CEO Jim Clifton noted at the event that, "Our mission is to drill down as deeply as we possibly can into the new currency of all world leaders — job creation."

Ahmed Younis, Senior Analyst at the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies and Director of Strategic Partnerships and Communications at Silatech said the economic integration of young people is one of the biggest challenges facing the Arab world. Because of the region's "youth bulge," Younis noted, 100 million new jobs need to be created in the next 20 to 25 years in order for unemployment rates just to stay at current levels.

The event marks the celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010, a world-wide movement of entrepreneurial people where millions of them across the globe are encouraged to unleash their entrepreneurial talents and turn their ideas into reality through activities organized in dozens of countries.

The event also featured a panel discussion about entrepreneurship in the Arab region. Participants included Gallup's Senior Analysts Ahmed Younis and Mohamed Younis, as well as Donna Kelley, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at Babson College, and Ehaab Abdou, an expert on social entrepreneurship and advisor to the Middle East Youth Initiative. The group addressed the need to clear specific barriers to business ownership for young people in each country. They also discussed the private sector's ability to work with governments and NGOs to ensure young people have the incentives and education they need to create their own enterprises.

Also, the four panelists discussed the following:

Young Arabs are more than twice as likely to say they would prefer to work for the government (52%) than to say they would prefer a job in the private sector (23%); this represents an important attitudinal barrier to entrepreneurship.
Young people in the Arab region are optimistic about factors that might affect business outcomes; a majority of young Arabs say their assets will be safe at all times and that the government will allow their businesses to make a lot of money. However, they are much less optimistic about business entry challenges; less than one-third say the government makes paperwork and permits easy enough for aspiring business owners, or that it is easy to obtain a business loan.
Overall, a weighted average of 30% of young people across the Arab League countries studied say they would like to migrate permanently to another country if given the opportunity. Those who would like to leave tend to be more highly educated and more likely to express entrepreneurial intent than those who would not — a key concern with respect to the creation and sustainability of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the region.
Aspiring entrepreneurs are more likely to report being employed (44%) than young people from the region who have no intention to create a business (26%). Further, budding entrepreneurs (60%) are far more likely than those who do not have entrepreneurial ambitions (48%) to say they are satisfied with the freedom they have to choose what to do with their lives.

Key findings from the latest Silatech Index report include the following:

77% of young people in Algeria believe that, in their country, one can get ahead by working hard.
87% of young Bahrainis say they are satisfied with the quality of schools in their local area.
80% of young Qataris say that economic conditions in their country are improving.
The vast majority of young Qataris (96%) believe people can get ahead by working hard in their country.
19% of young Emiratis who are not already business owners say they are planning to start their own business in the next 12 months.
A robust 69% of young Lebanese say Lebanon is a good place for entrepreneurs.
25% percent of young Saudis say they plan to start their own business in the next 12 months.
81 % of young Jordanians say that most children in their country have the opportunity to learn & grow every day.
81% of young Qataris say business owners can trust that their assets and property will be safe at all times.
78% of young Saudis say they are satisfied with their standard of living.

Useful Links for Media Professionals:

To download the latest Silatech Index report: http://bit.ly/Silatech_Index2010
To download the previous Silatech Index reports: http://bit.ly/eaqIb6
To read additional analysis on the report: http://bit.ly/gGRXec
To view and use the photos of the launch event: http://bit.ly/c006Rl

About Silatech:

Silatech is an innovative social enterprise, established to address the critical and growing need to create jobs and economic opportunities for young people. The initiative promotes large-scale job creation, entrepreneurship, and access to capital and markets for young people, starting first in the Arab world, where the highest rate of youth unemployment exists.

Silatech was founded in January 2008 by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned with broad support from other regional and international leaders.

For more information, please visit: http://www.silatech.com

About Gallup:

Gallup has studied human nature and behavior for more than 70 years. Gallup's reputation for delivering relevant, timely, and visionary research on what people around the world think and feel is the cornerstone of the organization. Gallup employs many of the world's leading scientists in management, economics, psychology, and sociology, and our consultants assist leaders in identifying and monitoring behavioral economic indicators worldwide. Gallup consultants also help organizations boost organic growth by increasing customer engagement and maximizing employee productivity through measurement tools, coursework, and strategic advisory services. Gallup's 2,000 professionals deliver services at client organizations, through the Web, at Gallup University's campuses, and in 40 offices around the world.

For more information, please visit: http://www.gallup.com

About Global Entrepreneurship Week:

With the goal to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity, Global Entrepreneurship Week encourages youth to think big and turn their ideas into reality. From November 15-21, 2010, millions of young people around the world join a growing movement to generate new ideas and seek better ways of doing things. Tens of thousands of activities were planned in dozens of countries. Global Entrepreneurship Week is founded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Enterprise UK.

For more information, please visit: http://www.unleashingideas.org/

SOURCE Gallup