Has the office become a burden?

Has the office become a burden?

Life is returning to offices in the UAE and the wider Middle East region as workers go back to their desks wearing masks and attempting to maintain a safe distance from one another. While some have embraced the change of scene and in-person interaction after four months of lockdown, others are still reluctant to return fully to the office space.

In a survey conducted by Wamda, 60 per cent of startups in the region are now offering their employees the flexibility to work from home and the office, while 20 per cent have decided to implement remote working as their primary policy. This, in the Middle East would have been inconceivable pre-corona, but attitudes have changed, and the lockdown shifted notions of productivity, creativity and management.

"I was very much against working from home, the reason being I thought I would be unproductive because I have a family and children, but I've probably never been as productive,“ says Hosam Arab, founder of UAE-based financial technology startup tabby. "It is very clear that people can be exceptionally efficient if they're allowed to be working from home.“

The advantages of working remotely are not only greater efficiency and more productivity, but easier access to a