Follow the latest World Government Summit 2023 live coverage
The gig economy needs to be more clearly defined to protect workers' and companies' rights, a Dubai summit has heard.
Fadi Ghandour, executive chairman of investment company Wamda, said it is unclear who will provide the infrastructure and training to those working on a part-time basis.
The gig economy - a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work - has seen a significant rise over the past few years, with people looking to diversify their income stream, often working remotely.
Mr Ghandour was speaking on Tuesday at the World Government Summit in Dubai, during a panel session titled Gig Everything.
“There is no turning back on remote work. It's here to stay, but it produces all sorts of questions on trust,” he said.
“It also produces a question on learning, training and availability of infrastructure that allows you to do remote work.
“Countries like where I come from, the availability of the internet was a big challenge when there was a lockdown.
“The cost of the internet is a big challenge. Who is to provide for the infrastructure of the remote worker... who will provide you with your laptop? I haven’t seen that defined.”
Governments around the world are trying to catch up with this new economy being led by millennials and Generation Z.
The UAE has introduced several new laws that give flexibility to employees, including a remote-working visa that allows foreigners to live in the country and work for companies based abroad.
Residents in the UAE can also take part-time work along with their full-time job, as long as their work hours per week do not exceed 48.
This type of work model would benefit those who want to earn extra income, especially stay-at-home parents, young people aged 15 to 18 eager to get a foot on the career ladder, and full-time workers who can get approval from their employer to secure additional part-time employment.
Laila Al Suwaidi, acting director general of the UAE’s Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, said that it carried out a study in 2019 that showed younger people in the country leaned more towards remote working and freelance work.
“They want to be more flexible, they need more autonomy, and they need to work at any time,” she said.
“They are focusing more on results and outputs rather than ‘I need to be physically with the staff’ or that ‘I need to sit with the supervisor’.
“For them, it’s about delivery. We also found that 24 per cent of them prefer to work with flexible teams.”
She said it was important to understand this kind of workforce more, as the world advances further into this kind of economy.
