Half of Gulf employees quit ‘toxic’ companies, says survey

The survey was conducted among 4,064 employees across Kuwait, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and Qatar.

The survey then went on to reveal that when experiencing such high levels, GCC employees are “seven times more likely to experience burnout symptoms,” with the intention to quit, compared to the global average of eight times.

Employee burnout signs

Moreover, employees with burnout symptoms are also “four times more likely to report that they intend to leave their employers in the next three to six months”, compared to the global average of six times.

Burnout symptoms include high levels anxiety, depression and distress. This was mostly seen in expatriate employees with “almost 40 percent of locally born workers say they expect to leave their current organisation within the next six months.”

“While GCC respondents show a similar overall pattern to the global findings, they are less likely to show signs of burnout in response to toxic behavior and are less likely to leave,” the report said, adding that recent data has indicated that toxic culture is the single largest predictor of resignation during the Great Attrition and ten times more predictive than compensation alone.

In addition, two-thirds of survey respondents from the four countries also reported symptoms of poor mental health and well-being, with 66 percent of respondents saying that they have experienced “mental- and physical-health challenges”, which is “a figure slightly higher compared with other global research.”

Forty two percent of respondents also reported poor physical health, such as physical pain which “prevented them from doing some work-related activities.”

“Almost half of respondents say the time they dedicate to their jobs curbs the time they have to care for physical health. Some respondents say that underlying behaviors, such as inadequate sleep or unhealthy eating, affects their physical health,” the report added.