KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 18): Malaysia came in at 41st place as overall the best country to work remotely, according to the Global Remote Work Index (GRWI).
In the GRWI created by cybersecurity company NordLayer, the benchmark includes four different criteria: cyber safety, economic safety, digital and physical infrastructure and social safety.
This year, NordLayer evaluated 108 countries compared to 66 last year.
Here are the top 10 countries that are best for remote work according to this year’s data:
- Denmark
- The Netherlands
- Germany
- Spain
- Sweden
- Portugal
- Estonia
- Lithuania
- Ireland
- Slovakia
The index was compiled by assessing and comparing countries using four index dimensions. Under each dimension are various attributes (sub-dimensions) that, combined, help evaluate general remote-work attractiveness:
- Cyber safety — infrastructure, response capacity, and legal measures.
- Economic safety — tourism attractiveness, English language proficiency, cost of living, and healthcare.
- Digital and physical infrastructure — internet quality and affordability, e-infrastructure, e-government, and physical infrastructure.
- Social safety — personal rights, inclusiveness, and safety.
How does Malaysia rank?
Malaysia was ranked 41 in the general GRWI list out of 108 countries studied. In particular, its tourism attractiveness (10), with wonderful weather conditions during the year, makes it a very appealing remote work destination. Other great aspects are Malaysia’s cybersecurity infrastructure (7) and legal measures (3).
However, despite having a very high cyber safety rank (22), Malaysia still has a lot of room for improvement until it becomes a perfect work destination. Economic safety-wise, Malaysia still needs a lot of growth, ranking 33 in the global index overall.
It also needs to improve the country’s social safety (72). Malaysia lags behind other countries significantly in terms of inclusiveness (65), personal rights (59) and especially the safety index (75). The country’s healthcare system is also very poor compared to other countries (69).
Behind Singapore
Compared to other countries in a similar region, Malaysia ranks pretty highly. The only country ranking higher was Singapore (28). Malaysia ranks higher than Thailand, which is 49, and Indonesia, at 68.
Singapore ranked higher because of its world-leading digital and physical infrastructure and e-governance. It also has a much more welcoming atmosphere for nomads because of its high English proficiency (3).