Work culture must have high standards for the digital employee experience (DEX) to keep in touch with competitiveness and retain talent, especially for millennials and Gen Z.

According to the Riverbed Global DEX Survey, 64% of decision-makers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia noted that younger employees are most demanding throughout IT’s time. Similarly, 97% of respondents have said that they will need to ramp up advanced digital experiences to meet the needs of Millennials and Gen Z.

Additionally, 72% of leaders in the region surveyed said that employees would leave the company if organizations did not meet these expectations. 

The report outlined that office perks such as free coffee and snacks are not enough anymore, with 14% of leaders in the UAE and Saudi Arabia saying that a seamless DEX is more likely to keep the workforce engaged and 98% stating that integrating this is important. 

Furthermore, almost all the respondents (97%) share that investing in DEX is a top priority for the next five years.

“The Middle East has a particularly large youth demographic. With Millennial and Gen Z individuals making up significant portions of the workforce, ensuring digital systems meet their expectations is becoming key to attracting and retaining top talent,” said Mena Migally, Regional Vice President, Emerging EMEA, at Riverbed. 

However, there are obstacles to achieving a seamless DEX for employees. Over 90% of UAE and Saudi leaders cited at least one major obstacle or gap to delivering a seamless DEX. Respondents identified budget constraints, IT talent/skills shortages, lack of sufficient observability tools, lack of appropriate SaaS or cloud services, and too much data, and too many monitoring tools as the top obstacles hindering their ability to deliver the digital employee experience.