After COVID: Benefits of a Remote Workforce [Infographic]

When I worked at the community college, flexible work options like working from home weren’t a benefit readily available to employees.

I knew two people in our information technology department who had very flexible work schedules, but the majority of staff kept a schedule of starting work at 7am or 8am and ending at 4pm or 5pm.

For our web services team, we had one team member who moved away from the area, almost 1 1/2 hours driving distance. Our manager worked out a schedule for them to work from home four days a week and come to the office one day a week.

This worked out well.

Email, conference calls, and phone calls during the week were no different than before the team member moved.

That all changed after a reorganization placed our team in the marketing department with a new director. We were told no one could work from home.

When the COVID pandemic hit, organizations, including my former community college employer, were quick to offer work from home options to staff.

Now that COVID restrictions are lifting and organizations opening in the United States, that brings up the question: will employers continue to offer flexible work options?

In their The Benefits of a Remote Workforce infographic, CurrentWare shares useful information and benefits for organizations to consider as they decide whether employees can continue working from home.

One key point stood out from me:

Four out of five workers would decline the job that didn’t offer flexible working options, when given two similar offers.⁹

Check out their infographic, or if you prefer, read the text version.

The Benefits of a Remote Workforce

In 2018, 44% of employees surveyed by Owl Labs said that their employers did not allow employees to work remotely. ¹

In 2020, 80% of employees expect to work remotely at least 3x per week after COVID-19 guidelines are lifted. ²

Why Offer Flexible Working Options?

Financial Benefits

• Retention: 95% of employers say remote working has a high impact on employee retention ³
• Savings: Remote workers save an average of $4k per year with reduced costs for meals, wardrobes, commuting, etc. ⁴
• Real estate: $10K saved in real estate costs per year for every full-time remote worker ³
• More time: Remote workers save 11 days per year, thanks to their lack of time spent commuting³
• Less absences: Flexible hours allow for errands and appointments without losing a full work day
• Less sick days: 50% of employees said that working remotely reduced their amount of sick days⁵

Productivity Boosts

• Less interruptions: Context switches kill productivity! Interruptions can cost as much as 40% of productive time
• More time for sleep: Proper rest aids productivity. An average of eight hours rest makes workers nearly twice as productive as those that get five. ⁸

Hiring Advantages

• Global talent pool: 77% of businesses use flexible working options to attract and retain talent. ⁹
• Attractive perks: Four out of five workers would decline the job that didn’t offer flexible working options when given two similar offers. ⁹

Barriers to Remote Work

Lack of Resources

• Remote workers need access to reliable high-speed Internet connections fo video conferencing, file sharing, and emails.
• Workplaces that are not prepared to support remote workers lack the policies, tools, and training to successfully accommodate them.

Data Security

• Mobile devices and travel: greater risk of theft or loss, insecure public wi-fi, compromised public USB chargers stealing data
• Personal devices: poor cybersecurity hygiene, less robust security tools, sharing their network with vulnerable IoT (Internet of Things) devices
• 36% of respondents in an OpenVPN survey have had a security incident occur due to unsecured remote workers

Corporate Culture

• Employers worry that remote workers at not working. 70% polled thought that personal tasks were being done during work hours. ¹²
• Before the COVID-19 video conferencing boom, employers worried that effective meetings could ben performed remotely.

Social Isolation

• 31% of remote workers said the thing they missed the most about working in an office was social interaction. ¹²
• Remote workers can inadvertently be forgotten or neglected from social inclusion. 14% of remote workers said they did not feel they were a part of the team. ¹²

Sources

1. Global State of Remote Work 2018 – Owl Labs
2. Global State of Remote Work 2020 – Owl Labs
3. Costs and Benefits – Global Workplace Analytics
4. 6 Ways Working Remotely Will Save You $4000 Annually, or More – FlexJobs
5. 2017 State of Telecommuting in the U.S. Employee Workforce – FlexJobs
6. REPORT: Remote Work Brings Benefits, but Attitudes Are Divided – Indeed Blog
7. APA: Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching (PDF)
8. New StayWell Sleep Study Examines the Effect of Sleep on the Modern Workplace
9. IWG Global Workspace Survey – Flexible Working – IWG plc
10. High-Speed Access for All: Canada’s Connectivity Strategy
11. Remote Workforce Cybersecurity Survey – OpenVPN
12. Are Remote Workers Actually Working? – Quickbooks