Notice lighter traffic in your area lately? Millions more of us are working from home since the pandemic set in last year. Some businesses had to be dragged into allowing more employees to work remotely. But the proof is growing that offsite workers can help achieve your organizational goals.
Below are some ways that remote work is changing how we do business. If you’re intrigued and want to set up an Intranet system in your organization to facilitate communication with remote workers, you’ll be way ahead of the game.
Remote Work Is Beneficial For Companies
The massive move to offsite work in 2020 was essential for thousands of office-based organizations that needed to keep running. You might think that most companies want to bring their workers back to the office this year – but you’d be mistaken.
According to a Gartner survey, most organizations want to continue some type of remote work when COVID-19 is in the rearview mirror. The survey concluded that 80% of companies want to let employees work at least part-time from home after the crisis. Plus, 46% would allow workers to do their jobs out of their homes full-time.
We can conclude that organizations find work-at-home arrangements beneficial, or they’d plan to eliminate them soon.
Remote Work Attracts and Retains Employees
A Flexjobs survey found that 65% of those surveyed wanted to be full-time remote employees after the pandemic. About 30% said they wanted to work part-time from home, and 96% reported they wanted some form of remote work.
There’s more. Twenty-seven percent of workers said being able to work remotely is so vital, they’d take a 10-20% pay cut to continue. Eighty-percent said they’d be more likely to stay at a company with remote work options.
Remote Work Is Profitable
Ever see a non-work-related watercooler conversation at the office go on for 20 minutes? It’s estimated that companies lose $600 billion per year from workplace distractions. Research suggests that remote employees are up to 40% more productive than HQ workers.
Also, 94% of employers say that organizational productivity was the same or higher when workers began to work remotely last year.
Remote Work Boosts Job Satisfaction
Last year was rough for millions of Americans. But remote workers queried in a Workforce survey reported a happiness index of 75 out of 100, compared to 71 for office workers.
Plus, offsite workers are more likely to say they’re happy with their jobs – 57% vs 50%. Overall, people working out of the house gave more positive responses to most job satisfaction questions.
Remote Workers Work Better
A Flexjobs survey found that 95% of those polled said their productivity rose or was the same when they went home for work. About 50% said their productivity rose when they work offsite.
Reasons for more productivity were:
- Minimal interruptions
- More time to focus
- Less noise
- Comfortable workspace
- No office politics
Ever assume that parents working at home can’t focus because of the kids? Even with virus challenges, parents reported more productivity, with 50% saying they are more productive in the house.
Remote Work Is Mentally Healthy
People who have flexible work choices report enhanced mental health and feelings of wellbeing. Also, workers who must work full-time from the office are twice as likely to have poor mental health.
Summary
Working remotely has shown many advantages across the board for both employers and employees. The coronavirus pandemic will eventually fade, but it’s expected that remote work for millions of Americans is here to stay.
Interesting.
Who would have thought, no? :)