The majority of the world’s employees “continue to struggle at work and in life”, a major survey has revealed.
Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2024 report released on Wednesday noted that global employee engagement stagnated and employee well-being declined in 2023, after years of steady gains.
Employee well-being fell from 35 per cent to 34 per cent with the decline felt most by workers under 35.
The poll found 41 per cent of the world's employees experienced “a lot of stress” and 20 per cent endured daily loneliness, with this highest for fully remote workers.
And actively disengaged employees – workers who actively oppose their employer’s goals – comprise 15 per cent of the global workforce.
“What we cannot definitively answer is the why,” Pa Sinyan, Europe, Middle East and Africa managing partner at Gallup, told The National.
“Is it the fast pace of change? Is it the numerous challenges and conflicts around the world? I personally believe social media is part of our … dip in well-being.”
UAE bucks the regional and global trend
The good news is the UAE has bucked this trend as its workplaces were still the most engaged in the Middle East and North Africa region, with surging confidence in the UAE job market meaning employers will have their work cut out to retain talent.
The Mena region – Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, State of Palestine, Tunisia, Turkey, the UAE and Yemen – had the highest regional percentage of employees experiencing daily stress; the lowest regional proportion of employees who say it is a good time to find a job where they live; and the second lowest regional ratio of engaged employees.
But the study found 29 per cent of employees were engaged at work in the UAE – an increase of 2 percentage points on last year’s report – outpacing the global average of 23 per cent and well above the average 14 per cent Mena average.
Still, the rest are disengaged or actively disengaged, meaning they are either quiet quitting, putting in no more than the bare minimum of work required, or loud quitting, where employees are vocal about their discontent.
Gallup estimated low employee engagement costs the global economy $8.9 trillion, or 9 per cent of global GDP.
“In Europe, you have the lowest engagement levels in the world but the highest well-being levels,” said Mr Sinyan.
“But when we look at the Middle East as a region, we do see those things go hand in hand. The UAE stands out for that reason.”
Mr Sinyan said the work-hard culture that often exists in the UAE can play a role in boosting engagement at work.
“I'm not trying to say that's great, but [it] can give us a sense of purpose,” he said, warning that engagement did not mean job satisfaction or feeling happy but the ability to grow, be held accountable and know what is expected at work.
“The UAE [is] just very dynamic,” he said. “You work hard, you can grow … while in many other parts of the world, there is more stagnation in the employee experience.”
Boost for the job market
The report also had good news for the UAE’s job market with more than two thirds of employees in the UAE – 69 per cent – saying it was a good time to find a job, up from 59 per cent last year.
This rise in optimism places the UAE significantly higher than the global average of 54 per cent and well ahead of the region where 33 per cent of employees, the lowest regional percentage, say it is a good time to find a job where they live.
In the UAE, 40 per cent of employees report looking out for or actively seeking a new job, lower than the regional figure – 48 per cent – compared to the even higher rate of 52 per cent of employees globally.
Gallup believe the increase in people thinking it is a good time to look for a new job will present a challenge for organisations to retain their top talent.
A note of caution
However, the study also struck a note of caution, finding Mena had the highest regional percentage of employees feeling stress – 52 per cent – with more than half of employees experiencing it daily, compared with 41 per cent globally.
Fewer workers reported experiencing daily stress in the UAE – 33 per cent – where levels stayed the same compared to last year.
And 24 per cent experience daily sadness in the UAE, below the regional rate of 26 per cent and closer to the global average of 22 per cent.
In terms of loneliness, the report found 26 per cent of employees in UAE report experiencing loneliness daily, which was similar to regional findings of 23 per cent and higher than the global rate of 20 per cent.
In general, working adults are less lonely than the global average but experts say working from home can cause more feelings of isolation.
Government well-being initiatives, such as the National Strategy for Well-being 2031, and an increasing focus placed by companies on the mental health of their employees have previously been flagged as helping in this regard.
The report said for employers, addressing mental health requires support for thriving in life and engagement at work.
"The more you come to the office, the more you have bonds, the more you have relationships and the less lonely you are," said Mr Sinyan. "So there's sort of a clash right now between what people want and what's good for them.
“Engagement is one of those mitigators of loneliness. So something that the UAE is doing well is one of the best mitigators of loneliness, which is great engaging workplaces.”
Gallup typically surveys 1,000 people in each country or area using a standard set of core questions translated into the respective country’s major languages. In some countries, Gallup collects samples in major cities or areas of special interest
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Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
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Day 3 stumps
New Zealand 153 & 249
Pakistan 227 & 37-0 (target 176)
Pakistan require another 139 runs with 10 wickets remaining
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
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The Byblos iftar in numbers
29 or 30 days – the number of iftar services held during the holy month
50 staff members required to prepare an iftar
200 to 350 the number of people served iftar nightly
160 litres of the traditional Ramadan drink, jalab, is served in total
500 litres of soup is served during the holy month
200 kilograms of meat is used for various dishes
350 kilograms of onion is used in dishes
5 minutes – the average time that staff have to eat
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About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
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Emirates Cricket Board Women’s T10
ECB Hawks v ECB Falcons
Monday, April 6, 7.30pm, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
The match will be broadcast live on the My Sports Eye Facebook page
Hawks
Coach: Chaitrali Kalgutkar
Squad: Chaya Mughal (captain), Archara Supriya, Chamani Senevirathne, Chathurika Anand, Geethika Jyothis, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kashish Loungani, Khushi Sharma, Khushi Tanwar, Rinitha Rajith, Siddhi Pagarani, Siya Gokhale, Subha Srinivasan, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish
Falcons
Coach: Najeeb Amar
Squad: Kavisha Kumari (captain), Almaseera Jahangir, Annika Shivpuri, Archisha Mukherjee, Judit Cleetus, Ishani Senavirathne, Lavanya Keny, Mahika Gaur, Malavika Unnithan, Rishitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Shashini Kaluarachchi, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Vaishnave Mahesh
Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
WORLD CUP SQUAD
Dimuth Karunaratne (Captain), Angelo Mathews, Avishka Fernando, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Jeevan Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep
Getting there
The flights
Flydubai operates up to seven flights a week to Helsinki. Return fares to Helsinki from Dubai start from Dh1,545 in Economy and Dh7,560 in Business Class.
The stay
Golden Crown Igloos in Levi offer stays from Dh1,215 per person per night for a superior igloo; www.leviniglut.net
Panorama Hotel in Levi is conveniently located at the top of Levi fell, a short walk from the gondola. Stays start from Dh292 per night based on two people sharing; www. golevi.fi/en/accommodation/hotel-levi-panorama
Arctic Treehouse Hotel in Rovaniemi offers stays from Dh1,379 per night based on two people sharing; www.arctictreehousehotel.com
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
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RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
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Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
The biog
Fatima Al Darmaki is an Emirati widow with three children
She has received 46 certificates of appreciation and excellence throughout her career
She won the 'ideal mother' category at the Minister of Interior Awards for Excellence
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Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
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SPECS
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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