Employee Mental Health in the UAE: How Employers Can Support Staff Working Away from Home

Manageable workloads, supportive managers and confidential professional help can form the foundations of an employer’s response.

By Dr Ryan Copeland, Regional Medical Director, Middle East, International SOS

The UAE’s workforce includes many employees living thousands of kilometres away from their families and established support networks. Across sectors including healthcare, aviation, energy, logistics and financial services, relocation can bring professional and financial opportunities alongside the demands of adapting to a new environment.

For employers, supporting wellbeing requires attention to everyday working conditions, management practices and access to appropriate help.

Research published by the McKinsey Health Institute in January 2023, based on a survey conducted in August and September 2022, provides useful regional context. Among more than 4,000 employees surveyed across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, 66% reported experiencing at least one mental-health challenge at some point in their lives. Approximately one in three reported burnout symptoms.

The study’s broad measure included reported diagnoses, having sought or considered treatment, and reported symptoms. These are findings from the four-country survey sample, rather than estimates of current clinical diagnoses among UAE employees. The research also identified an association between burnout symptoms and an intention to leave an employer.

For businesses, the practical implication is to examine working conditions and support arrangements without assuming that every employee has the same needs.

Understand the pressures of working away from home

Separation from family, the loss of familiar support networks and adjustment to a new environment can create additional pressures. These experiences do not, by themselves, establish that an employee has a mental-health condition or faces greater risk than a colleague working in their home country.

Mental wellbeing is influenced by personal, social and workplace factors. Employers should therefore avoid assumptions based solely on nationality or residency status.

The World Health Organization identifies excessive workloads, long or inflexible hours, low job control and limited support as workplace mental-health risks. Globally, it estimates that depression and anxiety account for approximately 12 billion lost working days annually, costing around US$1 trillion in lost productivity.

Employers can respond by addressing the conditions within their control while making professional support accessible to those who need it.

Recognise changes without attempting to diagnose

Managers should not attempt to diagnose anxiety, depression or burnout. Their role is to notice changes, offer a supportive conversation and help employees find appropriate assistance.

Changes worth exploring may include:

• Withdrawal from colleagues or reduced participation.
• Changes in communication or responsiveness.
• Increased absence or difficulty functioning while at work.
• Declining concentration or work performance.
• Increased irritability or visible fatigue.
• Repeated references to personal pressures.

These observations are not diagnostic signs. A change may have several explanations, and the conversation should allow the employee to explain their circumstances rather than confirm a manager’s assumption.

A useful starting point is a private discussion grounded in what has been observed: whether something has changed, whether work is contributing to the difficulty and what support might help.

Combine practical support with appropriate referral

One situation I encountered involved a UAE-based organisation and a recently relocated employee who had become less engaged in team meetings and increasingly worked in isolation.

During a wellbeing conversation, the employee explained that they were finding it difficult to adapt to a new country while separated from family and friends.

The organisation paired the employee with a workplace mentor, encouraged participation in employee social groups and provided information about confidential support available through its employee assistance programme. A flexible schedule also helped the employee maintain regular contact with family overseas.

Over time, engagement improved and the employee reported feeling more connected within the workplace and local community. This account illustrates a supportive response; it does not establish how much any individual measure contributed to the improvement.

Address working conditions first

Employers can begin with practical changes to the way work is organised.

Manage workload and working hours. Review workload distribution, staffing and expectations of availability. Encourage employees to use annual leave and rest periods. Leaders should consider whether their own communication habits create an expectation of constant availability.

Support social connection. Structured onboarding, mentoring and employee networks can help newly relocated staff build relationships. Participation should be voluntary, with options that accommodate different shifts, responsibilities and preferences.

Equip managers for supportive conversations. Training should cover listening, recognising concerns, understanding available support and making appropriate referrals. The aim is to improve management capability, rather than turn managers into counsellors. WHO includes manager training among its recommended workplace mental-health interventions.

Provide access to professional help. Employee assistance programmes, counselling services or external providers can offer routes to specialist support. Employees need to know how to access those services, what they cover and how confidentiality is handled.

Employers should explain the confidentiality arrangements and their limits, including what information, if any, a provider reports to the organisation. Individual clinical discussions should remain separate from routine management reporting.

Make support practical for smaller businesses

Smaller organisations may have fewer resources for a comprehensive wellbeing programme, but they can still improve everyday working conditions.

Useful starting points include clear workload expectations, regular private conversations, flexibility where operationally feasible, encouragement to take leave and information about suitable external services.

A referral arrangement with an external provider may also be worth exploring. Employers should understand the provider’s qualifications, availability, costs and confidentiality arrangements before presenting the service to staff.

Close working relationships can help people feel supported. They can also make employees cautious about disclosing personal difficulties. Managers should make clear that employees can seek help without sharing unnecessary personal details with colleagues.

Measure outcomes while protecting confidentiality

The purpose of measurement should be to understand whether working conditions and support arrangements are improving.

Organisational indicators may include:

• Employee feedback on workload, support and workplace culture.
• Staff turnover and retention.
• Absence patterns and duration.
• Awareness and accessibility of support services.
• Aggregated service-use information supplied by providers.
• Feedback on managers’ ability to respond supportively.

These measures require interpretation. Absence and turnover have many causes. Increased use of a support service may reflect greater awareness or trust; low use does not necessarily demonstrate good mental health. A change in one indicator cannot, on its own, prove that a programme caused an improvement.

Reporting should focus on organisational patterns rather than monitoring individual health status. Avoid collecting identifiable health information merely to evaluate a wellbeing initiative.

Aggregation also requires care. People may remain identifiable within small teams or demographic groups even when names are removed. Combining reporting groups or extending reporting periods may help protect confidentiality. Employers should agree appropriate reporting arrangements with their providers and obtain specialist advice where necessary.

Build support into everyday management

For employees working far from home, the workplace can be an important source of connection and stability. It can also contribute to pressure through workload, working hours or unsupportive management.

An effective employer response should address both sides: improve working conditions and provide accessible routes to professional help.

The practical priorities are manageable workloads, managers who can listen and respond appropriately, opportunities for connection and clearly explained support services. These foundations help employers respond to individual needs without making assumptions about the people behind them.

About the author

Dr Ryan Copeland is Regional Medical Director, Middle East, at International SOS, based in Dubai. His background includes emergency medicine, medical assistance, remote healthcare, travel risk management, and employee health and wellbeing.

Also by Dr Ryan Copeland: Extreme Summer Heat: Why Travellers Must Put Health and Preparedness First.

Featured photograph: Mikhail Nilov / Pexels. Author portrait supplied by International SOS.