The future is unclear, but remote work and digital nomads are here to stay. How will countries like the UAE build infrastructure to take advantage of the new opportunities in the market?

By Xische Editorial, April 6, 2021

We don’t know how long remote work is going to be a part of our lives. But it’s not going away anytime soon. Leading companies such as Goldman Sachs have been vocal in their opposition to employees working from home (but this might have something to do with the famously long hours said employees are expected to clock for the company). On the other side of the spectrum, large companies around the world have announced new commitments to remote work. 

One of the UK’s largest banks, Nationwide, said that its 13,000 staff could work “from anywhere” last month. While we don’t know what a post-pandemic work set up will look like, we know that it’s going to be different. That reality puts the onus on forward-thinking countries, cities, and companies to put new structures in place to stay ahead of the curve.

Consider this fact: office space rentals are booming in US cities like New York and Seattle. According to the national VTS Office Demand Index, demand office space in New York jumped 120% in 2021 and is down 40% from pre-pandemic levels.  San Francisco and Los Angeles have almost regained their losses since the beginning of the pandemic. These are critical data points. Cities are rebounding at the same time that millions of workers are still engaged in remote work. 

Forward-thinking cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi that have established themselves as centres of innovation and industry have a unique opportunity. Not only do they offer ideal office locations with excellent facilitates, but they have embraced remote work with new freelance and remote work visas. Dubai blazed the path forward with a new one-year remote work visa designed to attract a new class of digital nomads from around the world. Modelled on similar visas in technology-forward countries like Estonia, the Dubai remote work visa has several benefits, like no income tax, that other countries simply can’t offer. 

The proliferation of remote work is driving a new battle over global talent. Securing this talent is vital for the UAE’s future growth prospects as a knowledge economy. Digiday describes the situation in no uncertain terms: “As the new visa trend takes off, businesses will need to think differently about how they engage and retain workers. Suddenly, companies of all sizes must look beyond their locale and think globally. The talent battle is not only between companies but between both companies and countries. This is a challenge for organizations seeking to transform their operations, but early adopter distributed companies are keen to highlight the business benefits.”

The UAE’s challenge is to streamline remote work and freelance visas across Emirates and on the federal level. Subtle differences among these visas can be difficult to understand for foreigners that don’t have experience operating in the country. To become a truly global destination, the UAE will need a unified system that is exceptionally easy to negotiate. 

The global economy remains in a holding pattern concerning remote work. Some companies are tepidly offering employees the option to return to the office. Others have embraced the remote future and are looking to get rid of office space permanently. As this shift continues to unfold, the UAE can use the time to streamline its remote work visa to appeal to more significant numbers of global digital nomads. By upgrading intelligent infrastructures such as secure blockchains and artificially intelligent platforms, the UAE will emerge as one of the world’s premier destinations for remote work. 

With the proper infrastructure in place, the government can focus on other remote work issues. In a lengthy piece for The Atlantic, Arthur Brook outlines the myriad psychological challenges of working remotely. “Work is where many people have the bulk of their social interactions,” he writes. “In a recent survey, 70 per cent of employees said friendship at their job is the most important element of happy work life. Research shows that employees say a co-located office environment is where they establish not just work collaborations but also their social ties.”

For digital nomads, these challenges can be even more profound. With more than 200 nationalities present in the UAE, the country is one of the most vibrant global melting pots. What better place to research and craft new approaches to remote work and alleviate the psychological barriers of working outside of the office. 

The future is unclear, but remote work and digital nomads are here to stay. How will countries like the UAE build infrastructure to take advantage of the new opportunities in the market? What needs to be done is clear, and the benefits for the country’s economy are beyond dispute. There is no better time to innovate than right now.