Impact of Work from Home During the Pandemic in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The unprecedented health situation in the year 2020 and to some extent 2021 has forced most businesses to operate online with people working from home (WFH). Like almost all countries in the world, Saudi Arabia has suffered from the shocking unstable health situation facing the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigates different WFH impressions and behaviors that Saudi employees have built during the pandemic and how that has changed over time. We have conducted surveys in two different phases among Saudi employees that have come from varied personal and job-related demographics, including different gender, marital status, cities, managerial roles, job sectors and company sizes. Our data provides a good comprehensive coverage along different demographics. Key findings includes that for 75% of the people it was a brand new experience especially for big companies employees, people's performance and satisfaction depended on the sector that they work for and their marital status, while life work split was the top challenge and flexibility was the top advantage.