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 California-based technology company Cisco.
Offering flexibility to employees is also key for companies to attract and retain talent in a post-Covid-19 working environment, with 61 per cent of UAE professionals saying they would be less likely to look for a new role if given the opportunity to work either remotely or in the office only one or two days a week, Cisco said on Tuesday.
The Cisco Global Hybrid Work study polled 28,000 full-time employees from 27 countries including the UAE, UK, US, India, China, Australia, South Africa and Germany, among others. The research was conducted between January and March 2022. In the UAE, 1,050 employees were surveyed.
“Employees have experienced the benefits of hybrid work firsthand 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 Covid-19 pandemic.
Dubbed “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 28 per cent 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 are allowing staff to work in a hybrid or work-from-anywhere environment, including Apple, Facebook owner Meta Platforms and Microsoft.
Last month, Airbnb, the global online marketplace for homestays, said it will allow its employees to work from anywhere permanently, in a bid to further improve flexibility.
Even Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, told The National earlier this year that “we have to move to a hybrid [working] model”.
While UAE companies have taken positive steps to help their employees adapt to hybrid work, 70 per cent of respondents to the Cisco survey said their company needed to rethink its culture and mindset for it to be truly inclusive.
However, employees who were able to work remotely reported that it made them happier and more motivated in their jobs, Cisco said.
Globally, hybrid work is the most preferred model across all ages, with about 70 per cent of Generation Z, millennials, Generation X and Baby Boomers all preferring the flexibility it offered. Those who want a fully remote set-up are a distant second at about 20 per cent.
The UAE is also among the countries where employees are least in favour of fully remote work, with 9.7 per cent agreeing that this was their preferred way of working. Only 9.5 per cent of respondents in the Netherlands want to work fully remote, while in China it is 10 per cent.
Employees in the Philippines were most in favour of full-time remote work at almost 38 per cent, followed by Canada on 35 per cent and South Africa at 33.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, the survey found that more 76.3 per cent of people globally had been able to save money over the past year thanks to hybrid work, with average savings totalling $153.54 per week, or $8,000 a year.
Savings accounted for a 14.5 per cent increase in disposable income on average, with 80 per cent seeing an increase in their disposable income of at least 5 per cent, it added.
“A good proportion of the savings have come because of reduced expenditure on key items,” Cisco said.
“A sizeable 86.6 per cent ranked savings on fuel and/or commuting among their top three areas for savings, followed by decreasing spending on food and entertainment at 74 per cent.”
The years Ramadan fell in May
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
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Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Three trading apps to try
Sharad Nair recommends three investment apps for UAE residents:
- For beginners or people who want to start investing with limited capital, Mr Nair suggests eToro. “The low fees and low minimum balance requirements make the platform more accessible,” he says. “The user interface is straightforward to understand and operate, while its social element may help ease beginners into the idea of investing money by looking to a virtual community.”
- If you’re an experienced investor, and have $10,000 or more to invest, consider Saxo Bank. “Saxo Bank offers a more comprehensive trading platform with advanced features and insight for more experienced users. It offers a more personalised approach to opening and operating an account on their platform,” he says.
- Finally, StashAway could work for those who want a hands-off approach to their investing. “It removes one of the biggest challenges for novice traders: picking the securities in their portfolio,” Mr Nair says. “A goal-based approach or view towards investing can help motivate residents who may usually shy away from investment platforms.”
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In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
- 800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
- 150 tonnes to landfill
- 50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
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Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
