Dubai: Nearly seven in ten (69.1 per cent) of employees in the UAE and the rest of the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region are feeling more pressure at work this year compared to last year, and the number one reason is low salary.
In a research conducted among 10,956 respondents from the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other Mena countries, about a third (28.2 per cent) of workers said that low pay is the “main stress factor” at work.
A total of 1,454 professionals in the UAE participated in the survey. More than a third of them (33 per cent) cited low salary as the number one cause of stress at work. while 21 per cent said that their personal financial situation is the top "stress-inducing factor."
Some 12.3 per cent of the respondents across the region also said that lack of job security is their main source of anxiety in the workplace. The next biggest stressor is office environment, cited by 9.7 per cent of the respondents, while not having a work-life balance, cited by 9.1 per cent of those surveyed, is ranked as the fourth-biggest anxiety triggers among the region's employees.
Overall, the main stress factors for residents across Mena are their financial situation (40 per cent), followed by their work (19 per cent) and their personal issues (18 per cent).
The survey was conducted online by Bayt.com from June 26, 2016 to August 2, 2016. The study sought to establish the challenges facing professionals at work today.
“Work-related stress can be caused by poor work organisation, poor work design, unsatisfactory working conditions, low salaries and lack of support from colleagues and managers,” said Suhail Masri, vice president of employer solutions at Bayt.com.
The good news, however, is that some companies in the UAE are planning to increase the salaries of their staff next year. According to a separate survey by Willis Towers Watson, workers’ salaries are forecast to increase by an average of 4.6 per cent in 2017. Aon Hewitt Middle East also shared a similar forecast this month.
Bayt.com found that about eight in ten employees (83 per cent) are feeling overwhelmed” on the job, with 26.2 per cent of them saying that they are feeling overwhelmed “all of the time”.
A significant number (74.8 per cent) admitted that their jobs are more demanding than others, while 35 per cent claimed they spend too much time at work, while only a quarter said they spend just the right amount of time. A much smaller number (2.9 per cent) confessed that they do spend too little time at work.
When asked how work-related stress is affecting their lives, about a third (27.9 per cent) said their family relations suffer because of the challenges they’re facing at work. Friendships (21 per cent) have also been affected (21 per cent), as well as work performance (19.9 per cent) and health (16.4 per cent).
