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Middle East Edition
9th May 2025
 
THE HOT STORY
US approves Qatari financing of Syria public sector salaries
The United States has approved a Qatari initiative to provide financial support for Syria's public sector, allowing Qatar to fund a $29m monthly salary increase for civilian public sector workers over three months. This funding, which excludes the interior and defence ministries due to Western concerns, is part of efforts to help rebuild Syria's economy after years of conflict and sanctions. The initiative reflects a potential shift in US policy towards engagement with the new Syrian government, which is attempting to stabilise the country and improve living conditions for its citizens.
WORKPLACE
BlackRock demands full office return
Investment management giant BlackRock has mandated that its approximately 1,000 senior managers return to the office five days a week. The directive follows a previous requirement for all staff to work in the office at least four days a week. Larry Fink, BlackRock's co-founder and chairman, has previously voiced concerns about maintaining company culture, saying: "Cultures were not meant to be done in a remote fashion." The shift back to in-office work reflects a broader trend among major companies, including JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, as the hiring market tightens.
REMUNERATION
Emirates Group employees to receive 22-week bonus after record profits
The Emirates Group has announced a 22-week bonus for its employees following a record performance in the fiscal year 2024-2025. The group's financial report revealed a pre-tax profit of Dh 22.7bn, an 18% increase from the previous year, and record revenues of Dh 145.4bn, up 6%. Emirates Airline achieved its best-ever financial performance, reaffirming its status as the world's most profitable airline with a pre-tax profit of Dh 21.2bn and revenues of Dh 127.9bn.
TECHNOLOGY
Revolutionising application processing in Qatar
The Ministry of Labour in Qatar has launched an integrated system powered by multi-agent artificial intelligence in collaboration with Microsoft. This innovative system aims to streamline the review of applications, reducing processing time from days or weeks to under two minutes. Undersecretary HE Sheikha Najwa bint Abdulrahman Al-Thani said that the initiative marks a "qualitative shift" in the ministry's operations, enhancing speed, accuracy, and transparency. The system aligns with the Ministry of Labour's digital strategy and Qatar National Vision 2030, and features five specialised agents and three dialogue managers to ensure precise and unbiased decisions.
French start-up Mistral launches chatbot for companies
Paris-based start-up Mistral AI has launched its Le Chat chatbot for corporate use. The open source version of the assistant was launched in February; the enterprise version now connects with content management systems including Microsoft's SharePoint and Google Drive. Mistral operates its own compute capabilities and is reducing its dependency on cloud providers to allow it to offer customers a service that does not depend on the US companies, chief executive Arthur Mensch said. "In the last 100 days we have tripled our business, in particular in Europe and outside of the US," he added. "We've been . . .  growing in the US quite fast as well."
INTERNATIONAL
Boosting employee wellbeing to attract talent in Japan
A growing number of Japanese companies are implementing health management strategies to enhance employee wellbeing and attract talent. The initiatives include dietary support, physical activity encouragement, and smoking cessation programmes. The KENKO Investment for Health programme, initiated by the trade ministry, has certified 3,400 large enterprises and nearly 20,000 small and medium-sized businesses in fiscal 2024 for their health management efforts. Machine tool supplier Hattori, for example, promotes health check-ups and dietary improvements, while Higo Bank subsidises medical check-ups and encourages exercise through apps. Managing director Kaori Hueter observed: “Unless we change something, young people won't want to join us,” as he highlighted the importance of these strategies in appealing to job seekers.
Minister backs Danish plan to help settlement of foreign healthcare staff
Danish authorities are to launch initiatives to help healthcare workers from India and the Philippines settle in the country as the government plans to encourage them to take up positions in the sector. “Integration and a proper welcome are absolutely crucial. This is all about bringing in skilled workers who feel happy and can see themselves building a life here,” said the Minister for the Elderly, Mette Kierkgaard, who added: “The challenge in elderly care is not just to attract workers, but also to hold on to them. We need to get better at that so that we can also offer our elderly a high standard of care in future.”
Electrician training funded by Google amid rising AI power demand
Google is investing $10m to fund the training of tens of thousands of electricians in the US as demand for electricity surges due to the expansion of AI-driven data centres. The initiative aims to address the significant power supply challenges faced by major tech companies and is expected to increase the workforce of electricians by 70% by the end of the decade. Additionally, Google plans to release a white paper with policy recommendations to expedite the development of new energy technologies and improve the electrical grid infrastructure.
Citi del Sol: How the party ended for Wall Street bank’s Málaga experiment
The FT reports on how the work-life balance dream turned sour for the junior analysts hired by Citigroup to work from the now-closed office in the Spanish resort of Málaga.
 


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