The UAE is the world’s second hardest working country, according to a report by communications agency duke+mir. Residents in the Emirates work an average 50.9 hours per week, but they also have fun, with 97% going out for entertainment every month. The study, which included a poll of more than 1,000 residents, also found that seven in 10 people in the UAE dine out every single week.

The duke+mir study included a commissioned survey of UAE residents and global statistics from the International Labour Organization (ILO). The ILO data showed that the UAE was only behind Bhutan for average hours worked per week. Lesotho, Congo and Qatar completed the top five.

Mir Murtaza Khurshid, Partner at duke+mir discussed the report’s findings, “This study highlights that the UAE is proudly one of the most hard-working countries in the world. Emirati nationals and expatriate workers are contributing to the UAE’s rapid growth and success, but also finding time to have fun and enjoy themselves. With some of the world’s most exciting entertainment options, it’s clear that the UAE is the global capital of ‘work-hard, play-hard’ culture.”

In line with the UAE’s vision for a healthy nation, the research also found encouraging participation in sports, with two-thirds (66%) of people playing sport every week, with that figure rising to 75% among young adults (18-24 years old).

In addition, the poll found that every week 37% of UAE residents go out to watch live sports, 24% go to the cinema and 23% go to a live performance (such as a concert, gig or theatre event).

The report also covers at-home activities. Every week, more than eight in 10 people (83%) watch movies and nearly seven in 10 (68%) tune in to live sports from the comfort of their home. The data also uncovered that much of that viewing comes from subscriptions – 81% of UAE residents have one or more paid subscriptions. However, nearly a third of people in the UAE have subscriptions that they rarely use and would like to cancel, potentially equating to millions of dirhams in dormant accounts.

As the sun sets around a building housing the corporate home of Fun Asia Network (FAN) in Dubai’s Media City, for a bunch of people with the female gender prominent, Friday evening is actually a new dawn for them in a sense. Huddled together at the orientation ceremony of a radio jockey course at the ground floor of the Zee Tower, hopes of the aspirants are soaring in anticipation to a new beginning.

An initiative of the UAE institute of EMDI with FAN, who have four radio channels and are offering a two-month paid internship, “participants will learn not just about how to be a radio jockey, but also other aspects about radio programming,” according to the FAN business head Sunny Ahuja.

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For some ‘students’, the six-month course to be held on weekends will allow many adults to re-write their destiny. There is Nidhi Vohra, for whom destiny willed to be the last enrolment for the course even though it was always her dream. “I wanted to be a radio jockey and follow my passion for music, but my parents said, choose a ‘proper career’ because this was not something you did normally back then,” she says.

“So I did law and became a lawyer. Then I got married, but stayed as a homemaker, discharging my duties as a mother to my two kids. I heard about the course on radio while on a school run, but did not muster much courage. Then a few weeks later, a friend who knows me closely and my dream heard about it and pushed me. Even now, I have taken the course fee as a loan from my husband, not sure how it will work out … but here I am as the last person to join!”

The trepidations about financials and doing something different from routine is a common under-current. Many turned out to be teachers who want to practice after preaching lessons on building self-confidence in the path to discover oneself.

Radio Jockey hopefuls

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Participants at the orientation ceremony for a course in Radio Jockeying by Fun Asia Network in association with EMDI.

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Yet, there is someone, who is trying to re-ignite her passion. Ukraine’s Polina Dikanskaya is in the UAE for eight years and working in real estate. “I was a radio jockey when I was young and back in Ukraine. But, I left it and changed many fields, including the backend office at a real estate developer. My radio experience in Ukraine was in the Russian language. This course is to fulfill my expectations so that I don’t have any regret.”

Drishti Goyal, a mother of two, is also rekindling her passion. She appeared on the Indian singing talent show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa in 2008, but married life can go many ways for females. Now she is a Reiki healer. “When I joined the course, it was to be an RJ. But today, I realised there is a bigger picture (on being told that there will be other aspects of radio programming as part of the course curriculum)… And I believe every voice you utter, has the power to heal.”

With instructors from EMDI and a platform such as FAN, owned by US-based Indian Sam Thakkar, the power of healing for many RJ aspirants has begun. By the end of the year, some lives will take a new turn. A male participant, also a teacher, summed it aptly through an old Hindi song: ‘Ruk jaana nahin tu kabhi haarke .. kaanto pe chalke milenge saaye bahaar ke’ (Don’t you stop feeling lost, only after walking on thorns will you find the comfort of blooming flowers).

Dubai’s biggest bank Emirates NBD has given most employees a pay rise of up to 8% to help cushion against rising costs of living driven by inflation, two sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters.

The increases varied according to seniority and were part of a mid-cycle salary adjustment for inflation, with top executives receiving smaller or no increases, the sources said.

Most employees received a pay rise of between 5% and 8%, with lower-paid staff receiving the biggest increase, one of the sources, who has direct knowledge of the matter, said.

Emirates NBD, majority owned by Dubai’s government, said it did not comment on staff-related matters.
“As a people-first organization and a leading employer, Emirates NBD has remained committed to initiatives and policies that support staff well-being, while adopting a robust employee recognition program,” a spokesperson added in an emailed response to a Reuters query.

It was not immediately clear if the salary increases were only for employees in the country. The bank also has operations in Egypt, India, Turkey and elsewhere.

Annual inflation in the oil-producing Gulf state reached 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the central bank, which has projected 5.6% inflation for the year. The UAE has not published monthly inflation figures this year.
The trajectory of price increases represents a significant turnaround from deflation throughout 2019, 2020 and the first seven months of 2021.

In recent months people have voiced concerns over increasing living costs in the UAE, with retail fuel prices now up around 55% so far this year, falling from a high of about 80%.

The UAE is the only Gulf Arab country without a cap on domestic fuel prices, leading to petrol costs surging at the pump.

Dubai average rental prices for apartments and townhouses rose by 29% and 33% in the first half of the year and for villas by 64%, according to Betterhomes, as the property market continued a strong post-pandemic recovery.
Emirates NBD in late July reported a 42% jump in second quarter profit to 3.5 billion dirhams ($952.98 million).

The Central Bank of the UAE has increased its base rate a cumulative 225 basis points since March in parallel with the US Federal Reserve, because its currency is pegged to the dollar, as central banks globally battle historic inflation.

— Reuters