A wide majority (75%) of employees in the Arab world would leave their current job for a competitor if offered a higher salary, according to a recent survey by Akhtaboot. It’s a sad reality for young startups, but one that a lot of entrepreneurs have faced in the region.

In the Levant especially, employees often leave and head to the Gulf for higher pay. Ghaith Kawar of now-closed gaming startup TakTek in Jordan has highlighted that trend and the effect it had on his business.  And as Kaushal Shah of Apsire.jo points out, there will always be a certain amount of turnover that you just can’t avoid. But there are ways to compete, by offering employees equity, flexibility, trainings, or even higher salaries.

Recognizing that employee job satisfaction affects productivity, retention rates, and the success of the company over the short and long term, Akhtaboot surveyed job seekers across the Middle East and North Africa to evaluate their job satisfaction in terms of salary, workload, stress level, and the relationship they have with their direct managers. 

Check out the findings in the infographic below, with a few highlights here:

• 45% of employees are already planning to leave their job in 2013.

• 78% of those polled think they’ll get a raise this year.

• 35% of employees consider work to be their main source of stress.

• 64% of those polled would rate their relationship with their supervisor as excellent, 6% say it’s “extremely bad”.

• 62% of employees are satisfied with their current job.