Working remotely is a long-term policy for staff at Majid Al Futtaim, one of the Middle East's biggest employers.
The Emirati company owns dozens of malls, retail and leisure establishments including Vox cinemas, Mall of the Emirates and the Sheraton hotels, in the UAE, and in 12 other countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
During the pandemic thousands of the company's staff worked from home to prevent the transmission of Covid-19. This accelerated a growing trend for flexibility, said group chief executive Alain Bejjani, in an interview with Dubai Eye radio.
Being in the office itself is not a requirement for good work
Alain Bejjani,
Majid Al Futtaim
"In the early days of the pandemic the whole world shifted to working from home, and post pandemic we started to work from anywhere," said Mr Bejjani, who has run the company since 2015.
"It's very important for us – whether with our customers or with our people – to offer them this flexibility that they need in their life.
"Being in the office itself is not a requirement for good work.
"In the future the office is going to be the place where people will meet, where people will be able to have meaningful conversations, where people will develop their bonds, and basically make sure that our corporate culture is shaped in the right way, but we will all be able to work from anywhere."
The debate around whether working from home should continue post pandemic is a hot topic for many businesses.
Some employees credit flexible working with improving their work-life balance, while others find the blurring of work and home exhausting and miss their colleagues and the office.
Multinationals are split on the subject, with banks such as Goldman Sachs and Barclays determined to bring their staff back into the offices by September, while tech companies such as Microsoft and Amazon are proponents of a more hybrid model.
Mr Bejjani said it was important for Majid Al Futtaim to take a lead in the region on working from anywhere.
"We all have responsibilities, people have to deal with family situations, kids. They also need to be outside the office and feel safe at times, to meet others and so on.
"So there isn't any more of this antinomy between the requirements of work, and the requirements of our life. These come matching and coming together in a very interesting way.
"Companies like Majid Al Futtaim should think ahead and give our members the best working environment, and the best working environment is not just in the office any more."
The changed face of business travel
As everyone worked at home during the pandemic, business travel all but ceased as meetings took place on video calls.
Mr Bejjani identified this as another workplace trend irrevocably altered by Covid-19 and the advent of Zoom.
"Business travel will not come back the way it was – that is a fact. I predict that it will come back to about 30 per cent or 40 per cent of what it used to be," said Mr Bejjani, who used to travel for meetings at his companies across the Middle East, which includes dozens of hotels.
"Instead we will be able to be more purposeful about our business travel.
"We will spend more time when we're travelling to develop meaningful connections, but we will be travelling less frequently for business, and more frequently with family for leisure."
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
RESULT
Huddersfield Town 1 Manchester City 2
Huddersfield: Otamendi (45' 1 og), van La Parra (red card 90' 6)
Man City: Agüero (47' pen), Sterling (84')
Man of the match: Christopher Schindler (Huddersfield Town)
RESULTS
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The Limehouse Golem
Director: Juan Carlos Medina
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Bill Nighy, Douglas Booth
Three stars
Destroyer
Director: Karyn Kusama
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Toby Kebbell, Sebastian Stan
Rating: 3/5
UAE release: January 31
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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More coverage from the Future Forum
The biog
Hobbies: Writing and running
Favourite sport: beach volleyball
Favourite holiday destinations: Turkey and Puerto Rico
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
RoboCop%3A%20Rogue%20City
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The specs: 2017 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali
Price, base / as tested Dh207,846 / Dh220,000
Engine 6.2L V8
Transmission Eight-speed automatic
Power 420hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque 624Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined 13.5L / 100km
Read more about the coronavirus
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
