The Gulf Oil & Gas industry is made up of professionals from different countries, disciplines and career stages.
But how much do we actually know about the people working behind the projects?
We decided to start asking.
The Gulf Engineer Pulse is a new initiative from ARAM Oil & Gas Career Consultant designed to understand the people, opinions and career realities of Gulf Oil & Gas professionals.
Our first two polls have already received almost 300 responses.
This is what we've learned so far.
Where are Gulf engineers working?
In our first poll, we asked:
"Which country are you currently working in?"
Among 154 respondents:
- UAE — 42%
- Saudi Arabia — 27%
- Qatar — 17%
- Kuwait / Oman / Bahrain — 14%
The UAE was the largest group of respondents, followed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
This isn't intended to represent the entire Gulf engineering workforce. It represents the people who participated in our community poll — an important distinction as we continue collecting more responses.
Which disciplines dominate the community?
For our second poll, we asked:
"Which discipline do you currently work in?"
We received 141 responses.
The results:
- Mechanical — 39%
- Instrumentation & Control — 28%
- Civil / Structural / Other — 21%
- Electrical — 10%
Mechanical engineers formed the largest group among respondents, representing almost two out of every five votes.
Instrumentation & Control was the second-largest discipline, with more than one-quarter of responses.
This gives us an interesting starting point: our community isn't made up of one engineering discipline. It spans several of the core functions supporting Oil & Gas projects and operations across the Gulf.
But we are only getting started
Knowing where someone works and what they do is only the beginning.
We want to understand the bigger picture.
How experienced are Gulf engineers?
Are they confident about their jobs?
Are salaries keeping pace with expectations?
How many are actively considering a move?
Which skills are becoming more important?
How are engineers using AI?
And what do professionals working on the ground really think about the companies and projects around them?
These are the questions we'll explore through future editions of the Gulf Engineer Pulse.
What comes next?
Our third poll asks:
How many years of professional experience do you have?
The answer will help us understand the career-stage composition of the community.
Over time, we'll combine these individual snapshots into a broader picture of Gulf engineering professionals.
Not a report based on assumptions.
Not a report based purely on recruiter opinions.
A picture built from the voices of engineers themselves.
Join the Gulf Engineer Pulse
If you work in Oil & Gas or the wider engineering sector in the Gulf, participate in our upcoming polls.
Your response may be just one vote.
But thousands of responses can reveal something much bigger.
This is the Gulf Engineer Pulse.
And this is only #001.