Examining Employee Well-Being in UAE Organizations: An Analysis within the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) Framework

<ns5:p> Background Employee well-being and job performance are critical concerns in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) organizational context. Utilizing an expanded Job Demands Resources (JD-R) model, this study examines how workplace factors shape employee outcomes in the UAE. Employees face elevated stress, burnout, and chronic health issues driven by high workloads, role ambiguity, and insufficient support, collectively threatening individual health and organizational productivity. This study aims to identify the primary behavioral and psychological drivers of job performance, specifically investigating the mediating roles of job crafting, work engagement. Methods A quantitative, cross-sectional research design was employed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Ethical approval was obtained from the Abu Dhabi University Institutional Review Board prior to data collection, and all participants provided written informed consent. Data were collected via structured online questionnaires from a valid sample of 160 employees across various UAE sectors. Results Job resources strongly predict job crafting behaviors (H1: β = 0.759, p < 0.001; f <ns5:sup>2</ns5:sup> = 1.180). High job demands predict exhaustion, confirming the health-impairment pathway (H3: β = 0.281, p = 0.005). Job crafting significantly enhances work engagement (H5: β = 0.455, p < 0.001) and is the most powerful direct predictor of job performance (H7: β = 0.727, p < 0.001; f <ns5:sup>2</ns5:sup> = 0.939). Five hypotheses (H2, H4, H6, H8, H9) were not supported, indicating that in the UAE context the motivational pathway operates primarily through proactive job crafting. The structural model explained 63.0% of variance in job performance. Conclusions Job crafting is the pivotal mechanism linking organizational resources to performance in the UAE context. To reduce burnout, organizations must invest in job and personal resources that activate crafting behaviors. Workload management, role clarity, and crafting-enabling programs are essential for sustaining employee well-being and performance in UAE multi-sector organizations. </ns5:p>