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Middle East Edition
20th April 2021
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THE HOT STORY
Most UAE employees want to continue remote work after pandemic
Most UAE-based employees want to be able to keep working remotely even after the coronavirus ends, according to a new poll. The joint survey from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Bayt.com found that about 86% of UAE respondents said they would like to work entirely virtually or see remote and on-site working come together. The comparable global share of workers favouring remote work is 89%. “The fact that the vast majority of respondents have indicated their wishes for remote working to remain to some degree illustrates their high satisfaction with the newfound flexibility and efficiency,” observed Dr. Christopher Daniel, managing director and partner at BCG Middle East about the findings of the “Decoding Global Ways of Working” report. Dr. Daniel did however say that is was not known how successful remote working would be and how well employees would adjust and become acquainted with the new norm. Nevertheless, “From a UAE standpoint, the pandemic has, for the most part, actually had a positive impact on work practices and processes,” he said, adding “Contrary to other results worldwide, the respondents did not experience any major difficulties with regard to their well-being and the vast majority embraced virtual environments. Hence, many are open to recent changes to becoming permanent.”
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TECHNOLOGY
Big increase in AI and automation to meet consumer demand
Analysis of the results of a global survey of more than 25,000 consumers, business buyers, and professionals has found that many business leaders are turning to AI and workflow automation to meet customers’ expectations about transition to all-digital experiences, and employees are feeling increasing pressure to meet the huge demand. “Covid created massive pressure to digitise and automate workflows fast to handle the triple threat of overworked employees, changing customer expectations, and brand new processes,” said John Kucera, SVP of Product Management, “Organisations turned to low-code workflow automation to automate repetitive tasks, freeing up employees to make human connections with customers and adjust to the changing business needs. This has trained over 100,000 companies how to create intelligent automation fast, so you’ll see it play an even bigger role to come in the future.”
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HARASSMENT & DISCRIMINATION

Preventing Sexual Harassment within the Workplace

This 20-page market report takes an in-depth look at some of the most important developments on the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. The report offers expert insight from compliance, HR and legal professionals and provides essential research to demonstrate the organisational factors for preventing sexual harassment in the workplace.
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STRATEGY
Middle East’s largest mall operator to expand
Alain Bejjani, the CEO of Majid Al Futtaim, the Middle East’s largest operator of malls, says he expects revenue and earnings to climb back to pre-pandemic levels by the end of next year and wants to develop the company’s biggest mall project ever in Riyadh, and is opening what will be the largest mall in Oman at the end of 2021. The company’s projections and expansion plans are a response to the faster than expected recovery of local economies from the pandemic, though it is noted that uneven vaccine distribution remains a concern.
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TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
Bahrain’s labour minister praises private sector training initiatives
Bahrain’s labour minister Jamil bin Muhammad Ali Humaidan has praised the organisation of the 10th Bahrain Exhibition for Training & Education Pre Employment, and voiced support for the efforts being made by local private training centres in the field of developing human resources and preparing individuals professionally for the labour market.
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HEALTH & SAFETY
Kuwait launches vaccination campaign for banking sector staff
Kuwait has launched a vaccination campaign for employees in the country’s banking. The official campaign will last until April 22nd.
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INTERNATIONAL
Danske CEO announces resignation
Danske Bank CEO Chris Vogelzang,  who was hired to help the Copenhagen-headquartered lender recover from a multi-billion dollar money laundering scandal, is standing down after a separate money laundering investigation in the Netherlands implicated the former ABN Amro Bank executive. Vogelzang will be replaced by Carsten Egeriis, Danske’s head of risk management.  Dutch authorities had named Vogelzang as “a suspect in connection with their investigations of potential violations of Dutch legislation relating to the prevention of money laundering at ABN Amro,” Danske said. Vogelzang said in a statement: “I am very surprised by the decision by the Dutch authorities . . .  I left ABN Amro more than four years ago and am comfortable with the fact that I managed my management responsibilities with integrity and dedication. My status as a suspect does not imply that I will be charged.” Bloomberg notes that Danske is the focus of several  investigations into money laundering in both the US and Europe, which have precipitated the departures of several senior executives in recent years. Meanwhile, Dutch lender ABN AMRO has reached a settlement with prosecutors over alleged money laundering, and will pay a €480m fine. The fine “reflects that as a result of the serious shortcomings, certain clients that engaged in . . . criminal activities were able to abuse bank accounts and other services of ABN AMRO for a longer period of time,” said the Dutch Public Prosecution Service.  ABN has dedicated more than 3,000 new employees to regulatory monitoring, adding staff for the first time after years of job cuts, notes Reuters.  
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Repsol chairman under investigation in alleged spying case
Antonio Brufau, the chairman of Madrid-headquartered oil company Repsol, has been put under formal investigation as part of a probe into an alleged spying case. Isidro Faine, the former chairman of Spain’s Caixabank, is also under formal investigation, Spain’s High Court said. The judge is looking at whether Repsol and Caixabank hired Grupo Cenyt, a security firm belonging to former police chief Jose Manuel Villarejo, to spy on the then chairman of construction company Sacyr in 2011 and 2012 in an attempt to prevent a takeover bid for Repsol by Sacyr and the Mexican state oil company Pemex. Repsol was at the time partly owned by Caixabank. The alleged program was said to have commenced when Repsol identified a common “strategy by Del Rivero to join (forces) with Pemex in order to obtain almost a third of the total shares of Repsol, and thus gain control of the Spanish oil company,” according to court documents. Repsol has said no current or former board member, executive or employee had acted illegally or unethically in connection to the procurement of information services.
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House lawmakers advance bill to study slavery reparations
A House panel has approved legislation that would create a commission to study the possibility of offering reparations to the descendants of enslaved people in the U.S. Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee advanced the legislation last week over the objections of Republicans, voting 25-17 to bring it to the full chamber. The legislation calls for the creation of a 13-member commission that would study the history of slavery and discrimination against Black Americans and make recommendations about possible remedies to address their lasting impact. It also tasks the commission with considering a national apology for the treatment of enslaved people and their descendants.
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Microsoft to invest $1bn in Malaysia
Microsoft is to invest $1bn over five years in Malaysia as the US tech giant establishes its first "datacentre region," which consists of multiple data centres, to manage data from various countries. Earlier this year, Malaysia's government gave conditional approvals for Microsoft, Google, Amazon and state telecoms company Telekom Malaysia to build and manage hyper-scale data centres and provide cloud services. "The upcoming datacentre region will be a game-changer for Malaysia," Microsoft Executive Vice President Jean-Philippe Courtois said, adding that the initiative will enable the government and businesses to "transform" their operations.
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OTHER
Long waiting list for PlayStation 5s ahead of Eid holidays
UAE retailers say there are "thousands" on waiting lists for PlayStation 5s ahead of Eid holidays, and have warned that many gamers may have to wait for their consoles due to a global shortage in the wake of the pandemic and the global semiconductor chip shortage. “It could be the first week of June at the earliest before we have stock,” said a staff member at the Sony store in Dubai Mall.
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