Nearly 80 per cent of remote workers around the world fear their employers would fire them if they refused a request to return to the office, a new survey found.
About 78 per cent of employees said they were willing to take a pay cut to continue working from home, with Gen Z respondents the most willing to do so, according to a survey of 800 work-from-home employees and 200 business leaders by productivity software company OSlash.
Nearly half of all remote workers surveyed chose more money as a key incentive that could sway them back into the office, with employees seeking a bonus of at least $500 to return to office work, the survey found.
Other incentives cited by employees to return to work include flexible scheduling, free food, extra holiday time, four-day working week, hybrid work schedule, payment in cryptocurrencies, allowing pets and a petrol stipend, according to the findings.
Men were 22 per cent more likely than women to be enticed back to the office by payments in cryptocurrency.
“Over two years after Covid-19 pandemic, many offices are now reopening and bringing employees back on site. But when it comes to the office, if you build it, they may not come,” the survey said.
“So many years of remote work have led to a Great Disconnect between employers and employees: bosses want employees back on site, but workers want to keep working from home.”
Given the global Great Resignation trend, attracting and retaining talent has become a focus for employers as staff demand flexible working and better benefits after the Coronavirus pandemic disrupted traditional work patterns.
The phrase Great Resignation was coined in 2021 by Anthony Klotz, a psychologist and professor of business administration at Texas A&M University in the US. It refers to the millions of workers who resigned from their jobs to seek a more flexible work-life balance, after working remotely during the pandemic.
About 30 per cent of employees in the Middle East are “extremely” or “highly likely” to look for a new job in the next year, according to a June survey by global consultancy PwC.
Nearly 60 per cent of employers around the world said they would be content with employees resigning rather than returning to the office, according to the OSlash survey. Twelve per cent of employers admitted using a return-to-the-office mandate to fire employees without having to lay them off.
Sixty per cent of employers would offer employees a hybrid work schedule if they declined to return to the office, 20 per cent would let them to continue to work remotely, and 19 per cent would fire them, the survey revealed.
Employees would have had to work for their employer for at least eight years for employers to change their minds about firing them.
“Remote employees had the highest morale, but on-site employees demonstrated the most productivity. Still, more than one-third of employers viewed remote workers as more expendable than on-site workers,” OSlash said.
Meanwhile, 59 per cent of employers will avoid overworking employees to create an in-office experience conducive to productivity, 54 per cent will offer financial incentives and 50 per cent will encourage mental health days, according to the research.
Work-from-home distractions abound for remote workers, with 38 per cent spending time exercising, 38 per cent streaming music, 35 per cent cleaning, 34 per cent streaming movies, 31 per cent playing video games and 29 per cent running errands.
Gen Xers were more likely to spend their workday running errands than other generations, while 79 per cent of Gen Zers were more likely to juggle multiple jobs while working.
About 72 per cent of respondents had more than one job, spending an average of 16 extra hours at that job weekly, the research found.
Forty-two per cent of millennial remote workers surveyed admitted being distracted by their children, while 41 per cent of Gen Zers were distracted by their pets.
Remote workers said they would miss exercising the most upon returning to the office, followed by streaming music, family time, increased flexibility and the lack of commute, according to the survey.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
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Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
The Florida Project
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe
Four stars
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Low turnout
Two months before the first round on April 10, the appetite of voters for the election is low.
Mathieu Gallard, account manager with Ipsos, which conducted the most recent poll, said current forecasts suggested only two-thirds were "very likely" to vote in the first round, compared with a 78 per cent turnout in the 2017 presidential elections.
"It depends on how interesting the campaign is on their main concerns," he told The National. "Just now, it's hard to say who, between Macron and the candidates of the right, would be most affected by a low turnout."
