Here’s the thing, I can understand the appeal of working remotely full time. It’s empowering to be in control of your own schedule, however doing this for 12 months (which was my experience) is incredibly isolating.
Sometimes my daily interactions were limited to just talking to someone on a screen. I got my work done, but was it always 100% satisfying? No. Don’t get me wrong, there were good things that came from working at home. My social life improved a lot, but professionally, I missed people.
By nature, we’re all social creatures. We crave interactions. Back in the day there were watercooler moments or coffee breaks where everyone could congregate and get to know one another. If you take this away, you just have people working in silo, not connected beyond reaching targets and goals.
It’s tricky to get the balance right now that the pandemic is behind us. Employees want flexibility; an option to work from home, whilst enjoying the buzz of office life. Perhaps the key to the whole remote vs hybrid vs in office work is a blend of everything.
Depending on the role, there is scope to work remotely for a shorter period of time too. It’s not uncommon in the Middle East for people to travel over the summer and still keep up with their job responsibilities. Fresh vantage point equals fresh ideas. It’s not all beach life and sangria. Honest.
Ultimately, work life today isn’t black and white. Business requirements will always dictate if employees physically need to be on site or not. For some roles, this is absolutely still the case, but we’re now seeing more jobs go fully digital, opening up the candidate pool to those in different countries as well.
I will say this; The Middle East is an incredible place to work, bouncing back admirably post-pandemic. In Dubai, in particular, they are driving forward digital expansion at an impressive rate, creating new roles ahead of other markets and offering those who make the leap here access to more opportunities for development.
After all, why would you want to sit huddled in your winter woolies chatting to a screen when you could be out here immersing yourself in a different culture, sharing ideas and making your mark? To me, there’s no contest.
What do I think is the future of work? Hybrid all the way for now, but the story doesn’t end here I’m sure. 9/10 companies plan to implement ‘return to office’ policies by the end of 2024, so don’t get too comfortable at that kitchen table… a shake up is coming. Watch this space.
