Remote working in the UAE

Best practice review and future policy paper

Remote working has become an established reality for public and private organisations around the world. Key drivers of remote working today include the skills shortages and increased competition for talent in a globalised economy, and the fact that many workers now prefer and expect remote or ‘hybrid’ working options for employment.¹ Manpower’s 2023 ‘Global Talent Report’, for example, shows that 57% of companies plan to overcome talent shortages by offering more flexibility about when and where employees work.²

In that context, remote working is enabled by universally accessible technology, and the use of high-bandwidth digital communication, streaming live video, file sharing and interactive online working tools, which have increased substantially in recent years. With the usage going up dramatically, global revenues from the sector have increased too – from US$7bn in 2015 to US$19bn in 2021.³

However, remote working is still viewed with some contention. Surveys and independent research show that while it is popular with workforces and has extensive economic and workforce wellbeing advantages, a number of public and private employers still remain sceptical about remote working.

Yet the argument for a proactive policy that supports remote working is compelling: evidence shows that a hybrid work model that combines a traditional centralised workplace with a working from home option, as well as other forms of remote working, can increase productivity, inclusivity and workforce wellbeing.

It can also widen the available skills base to include, for example, more women and people with caring responsibilities at home, as well as widening the pool of candidates with more niche skills and qualifications, who are no longer constrained by physical proximity to a fixed office location. Other benefits may include cutting traffic congestion during peak times, something the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority is currently studying.⁴

Governments now have to formulate policy and regulatory frameworks that reflect existing remote working trends and shape future developments. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for example, figures from research company YouGov show that around 46% of the working population currently works remotely in some form⁵. At the Remote Forum in Dubai, His Excellency Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office, said, ‘Remote work is now a main way of work and not an option,’ adding that we should move away from regarding remote working as a temporary trend and see it instead as a ‘competitive advantage that improves the quality of life of residents and visitors of the UAE’.