The Remote Work in the MENA Poll2021, conducted recently by Bayt.com, the Middle East's #1 job site, and global online market research company, YouGov, revealed that over two-thirds of Lebanon respondents believe that remote working will either increase or remain the same as now after the pandemic situation has been fully addressed. Only10% believe that the remote working situation will go back as it was before the pandemic.
Benefits of Remote Work
As a result of the global outbreak of COVID-19, most organizations in Lebanon enabled remote working for their employees. Respondents have highlighted benefits of remote work such as working in a comfortable work area (63%) and saving travel time (62%). More time with family/ friends (50%), more monetary savings (46%) and ability to hire global talent (45%) follow.
Shreyansi Gupta, Head of Marketing at Bayt.com said: “Our Remote Work in the MENA Survey explores emerging trends while the region transitions into a new normal. The success of remote work has reimagined how corporate work gets done, as well as where the work takes place. Most employees crave flexibility after working from home for months, which is likely to transform a company’s culture, employee engagement, the way the work gets done and how office space is used.”
As Lebanon enterprises enable remote working at scale for a majority of their workforce, most companies have ensured that employees have seamless access to their workplace apps in the device they carry and develop meaningful relationships digitally. All respondents (100%) say that they have all or some of the resources required to do their job remotely.
Work Style Preference
Employees enjoy the conveniences of home offices, and those with young children have more flexible schedules –7% of the respondents would prefer working entirely from home, while almost7 in10 respondents (69%) would prefer a mix between working from home and returning to office/ on-site.
The COVID-19 pandemic may have presented Lebanon employers the opportunity to rethink the way they work. Currently,54% of the respondents work from home on all or some days of the week.
Remote Work Challenges
According to the survey,59% of respondents believe that frequent technical challenges is one of the most common challenges associated with remote work. Challenge to separate work and personal life (46%), frequent interruptions (46%) and isolation leading to affecting mental health (41%) follow.
Zafar Shah, Research Director at YouGov said: “Making the shift to this new way of working has been uncharted territory for the majority of employers and employees alike. Although the transition to remote work has been positively received by a large portion of the survey respondents, some have reported challenges. To mitigate this, managers should encourage intentional, effective and efficient communication at all levels of the organization.”
Data for the Remote Work in the MENA Survey was collected online from18th August -14th September2021. Results are based on a sample of3,206 respondents from the following countries: UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan and others.