Why the lure of the office is too strong for most UAE employees

Why the lure of the office is too strong for most UAE employees

Two-thirds of employees in the UAE are keen to return to the office on a full-time basis, according to the latest research from Aetna International.

The Covid-19 crisis forced companies to employ work-from-home practices and the subsequent, slow recovery process has seen more hybrid models being adopted, with employees gradually returning to the office environment.

Catherine Darroue, senior director of customer proposition, EMEA, at Aetna International, told Arabian Business: “Across the globe people are struggling and that's the same here. I think what's really interesting here is that quite a lot of employees want to return to the office full-time and that's definitely more than some other markets.

Catherine Darroue, senior director of customer proposition, EMEA, at Aetna International

“I think there's a few reasons for that. This is an expat community so a lot of people's relationships, friends etc are through work and therefore being at home full-time can be very challenging. I think also compared to some other markets, like the UK, where you're commuting into London, obviously people would want to avoid that daily commute, whereas here it's not so bad, unless you're travelling from Sharjah maybe.”

The research - which was conducted in September and surveyed over 1,000 employees in the