Dubai voted best city in the world to work

The Dubai Skyline taken from The World Islands. Pawan Singh / The National

Dubai has beaten the likes of New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, London and Paris to be named the best city in the world to work.

According to the survey undertaken for the first time by the international graduate business school Insead, business school alumni ranked Dubai as top in a list of 15 world cities.

The survey, undertaken by Insead’s French alumni association, questioned 835 alumni from the business school’s European campus who had international working experience.

When questioned about 30 wide-ranging criteria including quality of labour, availability of young talent, access to funding, quality of life, the cost of living and access to technology, they ranked Dubai first overall.

The emirate also claimed top spot for “economic dynamism”, third place in overall amenities and fourth place in quality of life and cost of living.

“To some it might come as a surprise that Dubai has been ranked as the best place to work globally by the Insead Alumni Association, but for Insead in the region this is not a revelation,” said Miguel Lobo, associate professor of decision sciences and director of the Insead campus Abu Dhabi.

“Today’s business leaders and key decision-makers recognise the dynamism of this country, which leads many to choose to live, work and actively immerse themselves in the regional business landscape,” he added.

However, after two years of spiralling rents and house prices, other surveys suggest that Dubai and Abu Dhabi are starting to lose their appeal to some expatriates.

Last month HSBC’s Expat Explorer Survey of 9,300 respondents from more than 100 countries around the world, found that the UAE ranked 15 in the world as an expat destination, lower than Bahrain, Qatar and Oman.

Respondents said that despite the offer of better job prospects and higher salaries, they were worried about the rising cost of living and expenses related to childcare.

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