A majority of Middle East and Africa (Mena) employees will be willing to work for non-profit organizations even when they believe  that non-profit organisations offer less pay and demand more personal sacrifices, a study said.

About half (47.5 per cent) respondents would ‘love’ to work at a non-profit, while 41.9 per cent would consider it. Only 5.4pc said they would ‘never’ work for a non-profit, said the ‘Working for Non-profit Organizations in the Mena” poll, recently conducted by Bayt.com, a leading job site.

For three quarters of the region’s population though, job opportunities with non-profits are hard to find, it said.

According to 52.3pc of respondents, working with a non-profit organisation means sacrificing more of your health and family time than would be required in other careers. Salaries are also considered to be less attractive than in other sectors, as stated by eight out of 10 (77.9pc) respondents, while 75.2pc also believe that job security is lower in the sector, too. People working for non-profit organisations are considered by 60.5pc of residents to have fewer opportunities for career growth, while having to endure less benefits and perks on the job (according to 79.3pc).  More than half (52.8pc) of the polled professionals considered employees of non-profit organisations to be as competitive or even more competitive than their peers in other sectors. All these factors may to a large extent explain why 86pc of poll respondents believe that turnover is higher in non-profits than anywhere else.

However, despite the aforementioned concerns associated with working for a non-profit organisation, the majority of Mena respondents maintain they would be keen to work for one.  For those that would consider working in a non-profit organisation, 88.2pc expect to be paid – and 51pc maintain they would even expect to receive top market salary for their work.

When it comes to general perceptions vis-a-vis professionals employed in the sector,  employees of non-profit organisations are perceived to be more ‘mission-driven’ by 91.6pc of respondents, while eight out of 10 (83.3pc) consider them to have more pride in their employers. 78.2pc even feel that non-profit employees tend to feel more excited about their job, said the poll.

Opportunities in the sector seem limited however in many parts of the region.  For four in 10 respondents (42.8pc), there are few opportunities to find employment with a non-profit organisation in their country of residence. A third of the respondents to the poll (31.2pc) maintain there are no opportunities in their country of residence, while 26pc claim that in their country,  there are many.

“Our mission is to empower all professionals in the Mena, regardless of their industry, sector, or type of work, and this includes non-profit organizations,”  said Suhail Masri, VP of sales, Bayt.com. “At Bayt.com, not only do we provide a wealth of jobs and recruitment solutions to connect between people looking for jobs and business owners, we also empower our members with access to live data regarding the employment and economic pulse of the region.”

Data for the Bayt.com ‘Non-profit Careers in the MENA’poll was collected online from March 4-April 14, 2014, with 7,692 respondents from the Mena region and beyond. - TradeArabia News Service