Dubai, UAE — On a late August evening, in 2017, Ahmed Ramadan (not his real name) was at work in his office, in Dubai Media City, giving final touches to a presentation he was to submit to the higher-ups soon.
It was a routine workday for him, stretching late into the evening, with scarcely a break in between. There was something though the 38-year-old media executive did not feel right about himself that day; he felt an irrepressible urge to run.
He made a quick dash for the parking lot, thirsty and exhausted. While there he went over what really happened to him. The man who was tasked with managing some 20 people in the office was somehow struggling to manage his own affairs.
Ramadan was a classic case of burnout, a mid-level executive weighed down by work, long stressful hours, a friendless office environment, and no social interaction.
Across the Middle East there are tens of thousands of white-collar workers like Ramadan suffering in silence, in toxic work environment where even a mention of burnout can make one a laughing stock in the eyes of colleagues.
Caught between the rock and the hard place employees like Ramadan have no one to turn to: a culture that frowns upon people who complain of stress and anxiety and employers who don’t feel the mental health of employees is a serious business to look into.
It is no wonder then that a 2023 report by the Middle East Business Council, part of the US Chamber of Commerce, found that 60 percent of the white-collar workers in the Middle East are …
(With inputs from the TRENDS Investigation and Research Team)
Dive into the hidden world of white-collar burnout in the Middle East, where a culture of silence and an unforgiving work environment have left 60% of executives grappling with unseen mental health challenges. Click here to read full report