What employers need to know about remote work?

Recently there has been unprecedented growth in remote work. Over the last decade, the technology landscape has undergone a massive transformation. So it was only inevitable that more employees will switch to remote work. The flexibility in the work schedule complements remote work. This fulfills the desire of workers to not only work from somewhere other than an office but to work on their own time. 

It’s not a surprise that the majority of workers are in favor of flexible working. In an International Workplace Group (IWG) report, 80% of employees say they would turn down an employment offer that didn’t offer flexible working. 

Growth of remote work 

Between 2005 and 2017, remote work grew by 159%, according to a collaborative study conducted by flex jobs and Global Workplace Analytics. This means there were nearly 4 million employees working from home and other remote places in 2015. This number has increased by leaps and bounds to reach 5 million. Additionally, globally 50% of employees are working outside the office at least two days a week, according to IWG.  

This is definitely a jarring fact for leadership. Employers still want oversight on their employees and their day-to-day activities. This isn’t necessarily a controlling nature of employers about remote work, but performance is sometimes a result of an oversight. So it’s essentially about ensuring that employers deliver on the promises expected by managers.  

In giving employees the flexibility to work from home or any remote place, requires leaders to relinquish their oversight of employees. In this scenario, important questions arise – can employees work with oversight and still deliver on productivity and success? Will an employee working remotely be able to keep pace with people working from home? 

The verdict is remote workers can deliver and in some cases do more than employees in the office. IWGreport says 85% of business leaders have seen an increase in productivity after allowing greater flexibility. 

Impact of remote work on recruitment and retention

We have seen remote work draws workers, but does it also retain employees after they start working for an organization? employed. A Stanford University study found that employees working remotely were less likely to leave for another company. In fact, after allowing workers to work from home, resignations of employees who were allowed to work from home declined to 50%. Employees saw greater benefits in working remotely. Respective managers also felt better working from home and leaders spent less time in “advertising, recruiting, training and promoting.” 

Finally, the study, after rolling out remote work to all employees saw that employees who took remote work options delivered nearly $2,000 more profit per person than employees who were working out of the company’s headquarters.  

Impact of remote work on employee’s health 

Employees who work from home tend to take fewer sick leaves. Further, working from home or a flexible work schedule has been reported to increase morale. Remote work also increases job satisfaction. According to Amerisleep, 57% of remote workers are more satisfied with their jobs. 80% of remote workers are less stressed about their jobs, the report adds.

Remote Work is here to stay

Remote work is a greater part of the future of work. Nicholas Bloom, Stanford Graduate School of Business, says companies that don’t embrace remote work may find challenges. 99% of people want to work from home, Buffer’s State of Remote Work report resounds the sentiments of the professor.  

Upwork’s “Future Workforce Report” predicts that 73% of all teams will have remote workers by 2028. Additionally, 75% of workers that are currently working remotely want to continue working remotely for the rest of their career. 

HR leaders should get ready for a turnaround as standard working procedures are changing and remote work is overtaking the old practices. Remote work is the new normal now!