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Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the world witnessed a historic shift in the job market. The changes remote work has introduced have happened so gradually one may not have noticed.
While some companies used to offer the ability to work from home as a perk, it has now become the norm for most businesses. And what was once a rarity among a select set of workers is quickly becoming a defining feature of the future of work.
In the Middle East, TBWA\RAAD is paving the way to that trend. The agency has just launched its Remote Working Benefit, with an aim "to give its employees more balance and flexibility, contribute to their overall well-being and drive a positive and happy morale, engagement and fulfillment."
During an agency town-hall held last week, Reda Raad, CEO of TBWA \ Raad, announced to all employees that they will have the option of working remotely for four weeks each year, from anywhere they want.
The agency had earlier introduced several other initiatives to support a healthy work-life balance for its employees, including flexible working hours and one-day work from home per week.
TBWA\RAAD hired Claudinia Harper as Director of People back in January, with the core mission to enhance the employee experience and contribute to scaling the TBWA culture, cultivating an environment where talents can innovate, collaborate, and thrive. Since then, she has put employees’ well-being and work-life balance at the forefront of her duties.
While the broad impacts of remote work have yet to be measured across industries and for extended lengths of time, initial studies have found it can increase productivity and lower employee turnover. In general, companies’ growing acceptance of remote work signifies wider acknowledgment that it’s important to offer employees flexibility and more options for balancing work and their personal lives.
Since the first quarter of 2020 remote work trends and expectations have changed. Employers weren’t prepared for their entire workforce to work from home but thanks to technology and innovation it seems to be working out well for many employers.
It is said that by 2025, an estimated 70% of the workforce will embrace remote working at least five days a month.
