Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur can focus on safety while Singapore can benefit from providing a more welcoming environment for remote workers, data says
Remote, a company specialising in building, managing, and supporting globally distributed workforces, recently released its annual list of the Best Destinations for Remote Work, with Singapore making its debut on the list this year at #78. Meanwhile, Japan and Taiwan cracked the Top 10 at #5 and #8 respectively.
The ranking is based on an analysis of various factors including quality of life, safety, internet infrastructure, economic environment, and travel amenities.
Top 10 Destinations for Remote Work in 2024:
- Madrid, Spain
- Madeira, Portugal
- Toronto, Canada
- Auckland, New Zealand
- Tokyo, Japan
- Paris, France
- Portland (Maine), USA
- Taipei, Taiwan
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Reykjavík, Iceland
Cities in Southeast Asia, such as Taipei, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, have shown significant improvement in the rankings, with Singapore entering the top 100 list for the first time this year. This year’s updated list also considers new factors such as inflation and the availability of digital nomad visas, which are now offered by over 50 countries.
Remote also released an interactive tool for personalised recommendations, allowing users to customise their criteria which then re-ranks the Top 100 destinations for remote work accordingly.
WiT caught up with Job van der Voort, co-founder and CEO of Remote, to get into the factors that influenced this year’s Top 100 ranking, what makes the perfect remote work spot and how companies and countries can support this growing global workforce.
Q: Job, what defines an ideal remote work location?
Beyond offering a change of scenery for workers, a remote work location needs to satisfy a few basic criteria to support its main function, which is to effectively work. To this end, our Best Destinations Report looks at Internet Infrastructure, remote worker incentives, cost of living, quality of life, inflation rates, societal openness, safety, and the overall attractiveness of a location to derive our list of top remote work destinations. For Remote, we have found those factors to be the top contributors to enabling high quality work to be produced in remote work arrangements.
Q: With that basic criteria in mind, what makes Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok viable locations for digital nomads and remote workers, and what can be done to improve remote work arrangements there?
While the three countries ranked highly in our survey for very different reasons and therefore will have different areas, they will have to improve on for better remote work arrangements – across the board we are seeing lower cost of living, lower inflation rates, and incentives for remote workers have been key factors contributing to the viability of the countries.
Kuala Lumpur, in particular, ranked #2 for Cost of living, #4 for remote worker incentives, and #6 for low inflation rates, similar to Bangkok, which ranks #3 for remote worker incentives, and #10 for low inflation rates. On the other hand, Singapore ranked #2 for safety and #8 for Internet infrastructure, providing a prime example of how countries that excel in different areas can be viable options for remote workers.
Areas where Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur can improve, compared to destinations that ranked higher on our list would be in bolstering their internet infrastructure, creating a safer environment and providing a better quality of life. Inversely, Singapore, which already has strong internet infrastructure and overall safety, can benefit from providing a more welcoming environment for remote workers through increased incentives.
Q: Singapore’s neighboring cities, KL and Bangkok, have cracked the top 25, while Singapore sits at #78. Is cost of living a factor here or are there other reasons for the wide gap?
Although Singapore is placed at 78th position from an overall perspective when all factors are given equal weight, we also see that the nation can rank in the top when it comes to having strong internet infrastructure, a safe environment, and moderate inflation levels. However, these qualities may come at the expense of other factors.
While Singapore does have a notoriously high cost of living, with studies ranking the country among the most expensive places to live, this alone isn’t the only factor contributing to the country’s ranking in our Best Destinations list. Our research looks at multiple factors when identifying and ranking locations around the world. We also take pride in how our research allows users to customise the list based on the importance they assign to each of the criteria that we look at.
Job van der Voort, co-founder and CEO of Remote: Implementing digital nomad visas provides necessary support for remote workers, allowing them to stay and work for longer periods of time in various countries. However, these visas are just a single component within a larger framework that facilitates international remote work.
Q: What are some key things digital nomads and remote workers should consider when choosing a remote work destination?
While each person will have their priorities when it comes to choosing a remote work destination, both from a personal and professional perspective, our study has identified eight key factors to determine our rankings. From a connectivity standpoint, it is essential to ensure that the location of choice has the internet infrastructure to support the work you need to do and the online meetings you’ll need to take. From a day-to-day lens, the cost of living and inflation rates also are taken into consideration in order to sustain living in that location. The safety and openness of different countries also play a major role in welcoming remote workers to stay there.
Countries which incentivise remote work through special visas, financial and tax incentives, as well as other regulations will also likely see an uptick in interest from digital nomads and remote workers. Finally, beyond work, the location chosen has to also resonate and be attractive to the individual from a holistic perspective, whether it’s the natural environment, culture, or access to urban facilities.
Q: Malaysia has its own digital nomad visa (DE Rantau by MDEC) and KL seems to have benefitted from the program. Yet, many of the countries in the Top 25 don’t provide digital nomad visas. How important is it to support remote workers with such a program and does it make a difference?
Implementing digital nomad visas provides necessary support for remote workers, allowing them to stay and work for longer periods of time in various countries.
However, these visas are just a single component within a larger framework that facilitates international remote work. We’ve seen that remote workers often seek out countries that offer more than just the legal framework to work remotely. Factors such as the cost of living, internet infrastructure, access to coworking spaces, and even the local culture and lifestyle can be just as important as the availability of digital nomad visas.
Q: With hybrid work, workcations and bleisure growing in popularity each day, is the industry doing enough to cater to this significant segment of travellers?
As asynchronous work becomes more popular, the travel industry has responded – as other industries have their own way. We see companies across virtually every type of industry start to adopt flexible schedules and global hiring practices so that they can take advantage of the global marketplace of talent that remote work has enabled.
Asynchronous work has revolutionised the traditional notions of productivity being bound to an office. With asynchronous work, team members have the flexibility to tackle tasks at their own pace and during their most productive hours, rather than being tethered to rigid nine-to-five schedules. This autonomy fosters a sense of work- life balance, allowing individuals to tailor their work hours around personal commitments and leisure pursuits.
Q: Which cities that made the Top 25 surprised you the most?
The biggest surprise to me is that my own city, Amsterdam, was not even in the top 25. This is the second edition of our Best Destinations for Remote Work report and it’s interesting to see how the list has evolved over time. It’s great to see Singapore make its debut on our list this year, and these changes underscore just how rapidly the the landscape of remote work is evolving.
