UAE firms to beef up spending on remote-work tools

The broad-scale shift toward remote work during the pandemic lockdown will continue to be the new normal in the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the post-Covid recovery phase, according to business decision makers (BDMs).
Business decision makers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia report an average of 28 per cent of their teams will work remote after the pandemic as nearly four in five (79 per cent) BDMs plan to make additional technology investments over the next year to enhance remote working performance, a survey has revealed. 
While there's been digital investment in the region during the last few years, over two-thirds (68 per cent) of UAE and Saudi organisations were not completely prepared to support remote working when the pandemic began, according to the Riverbed Future of Work Global Survey 2020.
"Businesses had already been accommodating more remote workers the past several years, but Covid-19 is accelerating this, and the office of the future will clearly look very different with a more flexible and hybrid workplace," said Rich McBee, president and CEO of Riverbed.
"The last several months have given organizations a better understanding of the barriers to success for creating a high-impact remote workforce," said Subbu Iyer, CMO at Riverbed.  
Despite challenges, more than one in five (22 per cent) UAE and Saudi business leaders expect half or more of their employees to work remotely (full time or at least half time) after Covid-19. 
On average, these business leaders expect 28 per cent of employees to work remote after the pandemic.
In Bayt.com's "Remote Work in Mena" survey, about 75 per cent of respondents said they would prefer a job that allows them to work from home while 87 per cent said they have all the resources required to carry out their job remotely.
"The recent shift towards remote work has radically changed the way most Mena businesses operate," said Ola Haddad, director of human resources at Bayt.com.
Telecommunications firm Ciena, which commissioned market research company Opinium to conduct a survey, said 79 per cent of people in the UAE expect to work remotely more often even after the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, and of those 63 per cent feel this will be permanent.
issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com