Nearly nine in 10 UAE staff prefer hybrid and remote working, says study

Nearly 90 per cent of UAE employees want to work either in a hybrid or fully remote working model in the future, according to a survey by Cisco.

Offering flexibility to employees is also key for companies to attract and retain talent in a post-Covid-19 working environment, the California technology company said yesterday.

Sixty-one per cent of UAE professionals said they would be less likely to look for a new role if they could work either remotely, or in the office for only one or two days a week.

The Cisco Global Hybrid Work study polled 28,000 fulltime employees from 27 countries including the UAE, UK, US, India, China, Australia, South Africa and Germany. The study, conducted between January and March, involved 1,050 employees in the UAE.

“Employees have experienced the benefits of hybrid work first-hand and many have expectations for it to continue,” said Reem Asaad, vice president of Cisco Middle East and Africa.

“While most organisations in the UAE recognise the importance of flexible working, there remain opportunities for further improvement.”

The jobs market in the UAE, the second-largest Arab economy, has made a strong recovery from the coronavirus-induced slowdown, on the back of the government’s fiscal and monetary measures.

Last week, a survey by LinkedIn found that 70 per cent of professionals in the UAE and

Saudi Arabia have considered leaving or have left their jobs because of a lack of flexibility. This comes amid a widening disconnect between employers and employees about returning to the office after the pandemic.

Termed “flexidus”, the finding comes despite 97 per cent of hiring managers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia saying their companies had improved working policies since the pandemic to offer greater flexibility to employees, the professional services network found.

This resonates with the Cisco research, which found that 83 per cent of companies in the UAE support hybrid work practices, while more than a quarter of respondents said their companies were “fully prepared” for a hybrid work future and 43 per cent were “prepared”.

Globally, about 25 per cent of respondents to the Cisco survey said their companies were “very prepared” for hybrid and remote working.

Meanwhile, 60 per cent of those polled in the UAE said their productivity had increased and their quality of work had improved since working remotely, the survey said.

“A successful, future ready hybrid model must, in equal measure, deliver secure connectivity from anywhere, while also maintaining trust, well-being and unity among highly distributed teams,” Ms Asaad said.

Major companies around the world, including Apple, Facebook owner Meta Platforms and Microsoft, are allowing staff to work in a hybrid or work-from-anywhere environment.