17 Key Benefits of Remote Work for Employers and Employees

Having the flexibility to meet personal obligations, family needs, and other life responsibilities allows employees to work when they feel fresh and rested to accomplish most. In a traditional work environment, workers are forced to be morning persons and perform at their best during a specific set of hours. Even as employers are busy figuring out the best ways to transition to a hybrid remote/in-person work arrangement, many people, including a majority of Generation Z, want to work onsite, at least part of the time. Only 2 percent of respondents to a recent survey replied that they want to work remotely full time. In Owl Labs’s report, 70% of remote employees say virtual meetings are less stressful than in-person meetings.

• Many professional development and networking opportunities are hard to balance with a 9-to-5 schedule.
• Gartner’s recent survey finds that about 70% of employees wish to continue some form of remote work.
• In this scenario, it’s best to research the benefits of remote work to see if it’s suitable for your organization.
• The companies I’ve studied solve it with transparent and easily accessible documentation.

Instead, they need to schedule virtual meetings to discuss routine project management tasks. While digital meetings can be less disruptive than in-person meetings, they are rarely the highlight of the workday. Video conferencing platforms are an important piece of technology for remote employees to have in their toolbox.

Thirty-five percent of job holders can work from home full-time, and 23 percent can do so part-time

Find a comprehensive job description template and best practices in this post. You’ll learn about the key responsibilities, qualifications, and skills required for an AWS developer role, including hard skills and soft skills. Supporting remote work shows potential customers and current and potential employees that you care about the environment. Not only do you give employees more work-life flexibility, but you also give them a chance to develop leadership abilities by increasing autonomy and responsibility.

At GitLab all team members have access to a “working handbook,” which some describe as “the central repository for how we run the company.” It currently consists of 5,000 searchable pages. All employees are encouraged to add to it and taught how to create a new topic page, edit an existing one, embed video, and so forth. Ahead of meetings, organizers post agendas that link to the relevant sections to allow invitees to read background information and post questions. Afterward recordings of the sessions are posted on GitLab’s YouTube channel, agendas are edited, and the handbook is updated to reflect any decisions made. Workers were often also given control over their schedules, allowing them to make time for school pickups, errands, or midday exercise without being seen as shirking. More than a mere workplace trend, the concept of working from anywhere at any time is the future state of work.

React Developer Job Description (Template + Tips)

Office spaces can sometimes have a lot of noise, disruptions from co-workers and managers, and office meetings, making it difficult to focus. Plus, they get to create an atmosphere where they feel the most comfortable and productive (e.g., in a quiet room with headphones or at a park with a laptop). It stands to reason that if your staff is primarily remote, you won’t need to maintain as much (increasingly expensive) office space. This reduces operating and equipment costs, allowing you to reinvest those funds into more profitable areas, such as employee training, higher salaries or expansion. In some cases, companies can arrange coverage around the clock depending on where team members are based. Virtual work has never been more connected than it is today, with collaboration and communication apps helping to keep far-flung employees in touch.

Unless you’re a large company, you’re competing with companies with more resources to outbid, out-perk, or out-cool you. For businesses outside of metropolitan areas, finding employees can be difficult. According to Global Workplace Analytics, employers who allow employees to work from home part-time save about $11,000 per year per employee, a number that would increase for fully remote employees. Skipping the commute and open-plan office gives employees more time to focus on their work and leisure, increasing productivity. Remote working gives employees more time and control to make healthy choices. With no commute, no lunch rush, and no long hour away from family, the remote workforce tends to be happier.

Remote work: Is it time to return to the office? : 5 Things podcast

Many office employees don’t necessarily want to take time off work when they’re sick. They do so anyway because they’re afraid they might infect their coworkers. If they have the option to work from home, they can work safely from the comfort how companies benefit when employees work remotely of their home office or even from their bed. Prior McKinsey research has shown that for those that left the workforce during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, workplace flexibility was a top reason that they accepted new jobs.

• The study’s findings can help firms understand the effects of various flex-work options, and support certain types of employees as they negotiate with employers.
• For instance, you won’t be micromanaged as closely as you might in a traditional office setting.
• This is because remote teams use written communication more than teams in traditional offices, which can lead to more clear and concise communication overall.
• Individuals are encouraged to assess their work-life circumstances and individual situation and communicate their concerns and needs with their supervisor when exploring and reimagining work moving forward.
• MobSquad moved him to Calgary, and he kept working with the same employer.