Half of all UAE employees have expressed interest in changing their job in the next 12 months, compared to a global average of 31 percent, according to the 2021 Cigna 360 Wellbeing Survey.
Stress among the UAE workforce, although lower than the pre-pandemic period, ranked among the highest in the world at 88 percent.
“People have consistently suffered from overwork, which has led a half of the UAE’s working population to consider leaving their jobs,” said Jerome Droesch, CEO at Cigna MEA and SEA.
The report, which highlighted the major gaps in employee wellness in the UAE, revealed that the younger generation, aged 18 – 34 years, was the demographic most willing to leave their current occupation, at 55 percent.
The UAE’s ‘sandwich generation’, aged 35 – 59 years, recorded higher rates of job insecurity at 45 percent, in comparison to 25 percent for the same age group globally.
This age group is also financially stressed with their ranking on the financial wellbeing index dropping to lower than pre-pandemic levels, from 57.1 in January 2020 to 55.1 in April 2021.
Changes in work culture and a lack of mental health support
Respondents in the Cigna study pointed to changes in work culture, mainly the shift to working from home (WFH), as one of the key contributing factors to feeling overworked.
The report indicated that over half (52 percent) of office-based employees worked longer hours when working from home, namely due to excessive workload (31 percent) and high employer expectations (21 percent).
The rise in mental health issues, induced by the abrupt changes in work environments, also exposed a lack of adequate mental wellbeing support available to UAE employees.
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The report highlighted the major gaps in employee wellness in the UAE.
The study highlighted a large gap in mental health support, where 34 percent claim to have a lack of support, and 39 percent feel they need access to resilience training for mental health. This gap in mental health support was also significantly higher among women, at 42 percent.
Meanwhile, 33 percent felt uncared-for or witnessed a lack of understanding by their employers.
“There is a wide gap in the workplace wellness of the country’s citizens and residents, who are among the most stressed in the world. It is time that employers step up and offer more care and support to their staff,” said Droesch.
Positive overall outlook
In terms of the population’s overall wellbeing, the UAE emerged among the top three most positive markets out of 21 surveyed, with the country’s vaccination program being cited as a reason for its strong health and wellbeing outlook.
“The survey shows a positive correlation between vaccination rates and people’s wellbeing across markets, where the UAE ranks highest globally,” shared Droesch.
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Jerome Droesch, CEO at Cigna MEA and SEA.
Ranking above the global average in third place, after Saudi Arabia, with an overall wellbeing score of 66.2 points, the UAE showed high resilience across five key indices – physical, family, social, financial, and work.
As a direct reflection of this trend, the survey also found that the fear of contracting the coronavirus has declined sharply among people, from 37 percent in December 2020 to 22 percent in April 2021.
“After a tough year, it is heartening to see overall improved scores across parameters for the UAE, which undoubtedly reflects the incredible efforts of the country’s government in managing the pandemic,” said Droesch.
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