Covid-19 accelerates remote working for future of work

Are you one of those workers who have been working from home during Covid-19 pandemic? Following the arrival of Covid-19, transitioning from working at an office to being at home was not for the faint-hearted. After months, this new work system unexpectedly brought comfort and increased productivity for workers.

Working from home triggered by this pandemic paves a way for the future of work to implement remote working which has come to the forefront of workers’ interests. Apart from the pandemic and speaking of the future, remote working that can be implemented is Work from Anywhere (WFA).

It is not specific to working from home, but it can also be at a cafe, a house of relatives, or a hospital according to the conveniences and needs of the workers. This will not only benefit workers on that account, but it will also provide several advantages for the company.

Working from home: Productivity improvement of employees

Have you ever thought that having to commute for work makes it unproductive? We can take examples from several cases as follows:

• In Jakarta, Indonesia, workers spend 400 hours in a year commuting to and from work, as reported by the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy.
• Meanwhile in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), spending 2 hours is a reality that must be faced by many workers there.

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The distance and time required to commute may vary and facing inevitable dramas during commute is a common thing. A delayed train, seat fights with passengers, or noises drain enough energy even before workers get to their desks.

A study conducted by the University of Montreal in 2015 suggested that the more time workers spend on commuting, the more susceptible they are to chronic stress. As a result, employees will not be able to perform optimally which leads to unsatisfactory results. In the end, it will be detrimental for the company itself.

With the implementation of WFA, apart from not having to commute which certainly saves time, another benefit is that employees psychologically feel better for they can determine their comfort zone in terms of workplaces, and that gives a good impact on their outcomes.

As reported by Connect Solutions about 77% of productive workers working off site, 30% of them said they could complete more work in less time, 24% said they completed more work in the same amount of time, and the remaining 23% said they were willing to work longer than usual hours on-site.

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The advantages for employees and employers

As claimed in a survey from FlexJobs, the average workers can save around $ 4,000 annually by working off-site, which includes:

• Transportation costs
• Lunch costs
• Clothing for office
• Coffees

In respect to the companies, other than benefiting good performance from improved productivity, they can also gain an advantage on employee loyalty. As stated in Owl Labs, 55% of remote employees would look for another job if they are no longer allowed to work remotely, and are likely to stay in their jobs for the next 5 years in working remotely condition. Another major benefit is expense savings which include:

• Office rent and tax: Companies do not need to rent a large space if their employees work remotely. Accordingly, employers can avoid paying expensive rents on large premises. This also affects a suppression of tax costs.
• Lunch: Many companies now provide on-site lunches for their employees. By working remotely, companies can save some amount of money on this one.
• Snack for meetings on-site: When a meeting is held, either with an internal or external team, it is appropriate to serve the guests of the meeting with some snacks. However, there is no need for this if working remotely is implemented as remote meetings can also be run.

Covid-19: is working from home really the new normal?

What about the supervision of working remotely? The answer lies in trust, commitment, and the use of technology. Most of remote jobs nowadays utilize technology, and there are a lot of job positions make use of it to complete their regular work.

WFA literally means working anywhere, which includes working in an office as well as outside of such an environment. Rules are still enforced in this matter, though. Superiors can make a schedule of face-to-face meetings at the office or online meetings with the provided technology as a control function.

The thing about working from home is the result of being truly productive. As Tom Ferriss, an American author said, “Focus on being productive instead of busy.”