Working From Home – The New Normal?

Homeworking might once have been restricted to entrepreneurs, novelists or other roles that don't require an office space, but since the COVID-19 pandemic started employees from all kinds of sectors have been forced to work from home. Thankfully, technology has developed to the point where the 'portable office' has become realistic for a wide range of jobs, but what are the long-term implications of this exodus from the employer's office?

Working from home (WFH) in the private sector has tended to be the exception rather than the rule in the UAE. Many employers were resistant to the idea of WFH, often simply on the basis that short commutes between home and the workplace negated the need for most employees to WFH. However, in March 2020 the landscape literally changed overnight when strict UAE government-mandated restrictions suddenly came into force in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Employers and employees adapted to the new norm of remote working with