Riverbed and Aternity have unveiled their Hybrid Work Global Survey 2021, which revealed that 84% of UAE business and IT decision makers believe that at least a quarter of their workforce will remain hybrid post-pandemic, with 38% saying more than half their workforce will be hybrid. Nearly half are prepared to long-term hybrid work.
Fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, hybrid work environments provide a range of benefits, with 66% of UAE respondents agreeing that hybrid work helps with recruiting talent and competitiveness, and 84% of global respondents believing hybrid work will have a lasting and positive impact on society and the world.
Nearly half (47%) of UAE businesses believe they are completely prepared to support long-term hybrid work, compared to the global average of just 32%;and while globally, 88% of organisations are concerned about digital disparity between in-office and remote employees, this figure is considerably lower (52%) in the UAE.
“We’ve reached that critical point in time when a high-performing hybrid workplace is required for organisations to push to the next level of employee and customer satisfaction and sustainable financial success,” said Dan Smoot, President and CEO of Riverbed | Aternity. “What’s very clear is to gain the maximum benefits from hybrid work, organisations must invest in technologies to modernise their IT environments and underinvesting can have severe consequences.”
The report also covers cybersecurity, future investments in technology and the barriers organisations face in embracing hybrid work arrangements. In terms of cybersecurity, the report highlights a lack of visibility, a deluge of data and the lack of tools to combat threats and more as potential problems. In terms of general issues, the report underlines poor home network performance, employee motivation and a lack of the correct equipment as barriers among others. Responders claimed that they were planning on making a range of investments over the next 12-18 months to target, increasing visibility and application performance, cybersecurity, company-wide work policies and more.
