Revealed: Professions With Best And Worst Reputations In The UAE

Doctors in the UAE have the best reputations, while credit card companies have the worst, according to a recent survey by Insight Discovery and HAYAH.

The survey asked 1,000+ residents to rank five professions or occupational groups based on their reputations. Let's take a look at who gains and who has the most to lose.

Professions with Best Reputations

Doctors were ranked first by 44% of respondents. Engineers and teachers followed with 12% and 9%, respectively. Other professions that topped the list included artists/entertainers (8%), entrepreneurs, pilots, and police officers (6% each).

The weighted sum scores further confirmed doctors' top position with a score of 23%. Engineers and teachers both scored 13%, maintaining their high regard among UAE residents.

Professions with Worst Reputations

Credit card companies were ranked first by 21% of respondents for having the worst reputations. Telemarketers/call centres (15%) and social media influencers (14%) followed closely behind. Bank advisers (12%), recruitment companies (9%), real estate companies (9%), and independent financial advisers (7%) also ranked poorly.

The weighted sum scores for these top three poorly regarded professions were all equal at 14%. This consistency highlights ongoing issues within these sectors.

Nigel Sillitoe, CEO of Insight Discovery, remarked, "For the first time, we also asked UAE residents which professions had the best reputations; doctors, engineers and teachers came out top. Those with the worst reputations saw quite a few changes, for once it wasn't recruitment companies, instead it was credit card companies, telemarketers, who will now face hefty fines if they breach new regulations and social media influencers; estate agents also continue to face challenges. There are clear signs that, across the entire services sector of the UAE, many organisations have really lifted their games in terms of reputation management."

Mohamed Seghir, CEO of HAYAH, noted, "Qualified professionals who are subject to official licensing are well regarded. The high esteem in which doctors, engineers and teachers are held show that the regulatory systems in the UAE are effective and are widely seen as being as such. It will be interesting to see what are the changes over time in perceptions of other groups."

Survey Methodology

A total of 1,048 UAE residents participated in this survey. They were asked to identify five professions with both the best and worst reputations in the country.

The weighted sum scores were calculated by assigning points from one to five based on rankings: five points for first place down to one point for fifth place. These points were then summed up to determine overall scores.

This year's results showed significant changes compared to previous years. Historically, recruitment companies often topped the list of worst-reputed professions alongside credit card companies and telemarketers/call centres.

The survey's findings indicate that many organisations in the UAE's service sector have improved their reputation management efforts significantly.