Workations continue to be on the rise as companies offer employees more flexibility.
Witthaya Prasongsin | Moment | Getty Images
The pandemic might be over, but working remotely is a trend that’s set to stay as millennials and Gen Z’s continue to work while visiting their favorite destinations.
That’s according to WorkMotion, a Berlin-based human resource platform, which analyzed 85 cities around the globe to see how easy and attractive they were for remote workers.
The report refers to “workcation” as a short term residence — of about 12 months or fewer — in a country while working remotely for a existing employer.
The cities were graded based on the following categories:
- Type of visa needed
- Remote working infrastructure
- Visitor experience
- Safety
- Health-care access
- Housing access
- Mobility
- Happiness
- Income tax rate
- Food and housing affordability
“When identifying possible destinations for [workcation], remote workers must consider a range of factors ranging from the practical to the desirable,” said Carsten Lebtig, co-Founder and managing director of WorkMotion.
“Not many cities can offer them all, but it’s undeniable that cities legislating to attract remote workers become far more attractive than those that don’t,” he said, elaborating that only a handful of cities in the study offered remote workers a digital nomad visa that would allow them to continue employment in the country they relocated to.
Only 17 out of the 85 cities offer a digital nomad visa for remote workers.
Only one city on the list had an overall score of 100, while the other top nine countries had scores that ranged from 90.3 to 99.9, according to the report.
The top 10
- Barcelona, Spain
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Madrid, Spain
- Melbourne, Australia
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Sydney, Australia
- Gran Canaria, Spain
- Reykjavik, Iceland
Barcelona achieved a perfect score in the study, with housing affordability, food affordability and visitor experiences ranking above the other factors that were studied.
The glitzy desert city of Dubai is the only one out of the 85 that offers a zero-income tax rate. It also scored more than 95 on safety and security, as well as mobility.
Prague came in third place, and was awarded a high ranking for safety and security, access to housing and housing affordability.
“Many remote workers are drawn to cities by the promise of a different lifestyle or climate. The leaders of Barcelona, Dubai and Prague can be proud to say they’ve done things right and their cities are the best destinations for a [workcation] as well as to live, play and work from,” Lebtig said.
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