Lebanon ranked second as the most stressed country in the region where employees experience daily stress in their work environment, while daily anger among employees in the workplace was noted as the third highest rate in the region. This information comes from a report issued by Gallup, a global performance management consulting firm, in the "2023 Global Workplace Report," which examines the state of employees in their workplaces and lives to assess the performance and resilience of organizations.
The report is based on three metrics: Employee Engagement, Daily Negative Emotions, and the labor market. According to Gallup, the report indicated, "If employee engagement levels are low, it negatively impacts the global economy, costing around $8.8 trillion, which constitutes 9% of the world's GDP." On the other hand, the report mentioned that 44% of surveyed employees experience daily stress in their work environment, and 21% are in a state of daily anger, considering these levels to be unprecedented despite the world having recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022.
Conversely, the report revealed that "53% of employees in 2022 are looking for jobs close to their homes (compared to 45% in 2021), while 51% of surveyed employees are seeking new jobs." The survey results indicated that employee engagement has an impact 3.8 times greater than the effect of the distance between work and home.
In detail, the report published statistics about the stress levels of employees who are directly and indirectly involved, whether they work at their workplace, in a hybrid environment (both at the workplace and at home), or from home. Statistically, 29% of employees working at their workplace are considered engaged in the work environment and are in a state of daily stress, while 38% are deemed disengaged, and 52% are not directly engaged. Additionally, 34% of engaged employees working in a hybrid environment are considered to be in a state of daily stress, while 48% are classified as disengaged and 54% as not directly engaged.
Regionally, the report disclosed that "employees in the Middle East and North Africa ranked second to last in terms of employee engagement in the work environment. They came in fifth out of 10 regions for daily stress levels, second for daily anger rates, and tenth regarding work environment, while ranking fifth regarding their intention to leave their current job." In numbers, the report illustrated that "15% of employees in the Middle East and North Africa are considered engaged in the work environment, while 62% are quietly leaving their jobs and 23% are overtly leaving. Furthermore, 45% and 32% of employees in the region experience daily stress and anger, respectively, with 34% expressing their intention to seek new jobs."
Locally, the report pointed out that "Lebanon ranked 13th out of 15 countries in the Middle East and North Africa in terms of employee engagement in the work environment, with this rate reaching only 9%. Iran followed in 14th place (9% engagement rate), and Algeria in 15th place (8% engagement rate)."
The report added, "Lebanon is the second most stressful country in the region where employees experience daily stress, with 67% of them suffering from this condition (only preceded by Turkey with a stress rate estimated at 68%)." In this context, Lebanon's anger rate among employees in the work environment is the third highest in the region at 41% (preceded by Turkey at 48% and Iraq at 47%). Lastly, the report revealed that Lebanon ranks lowest among its counterparts in the Middle East and North Africa regarding the work climate, with only 7% of surveyed employees considering the current time suitable for seeking a new job.
