Why Work From Home Is Here To Stay
Throughout the pandemic, working from home and remote work became staples of the American working life.
Now that Covid-19, if not beaten, is at least, in abeyance, working remotely doesn’t appear to be following suit.
In fact, it appears that remote work from home arrangements are stronger than the Covid-19 pandemic and may, in fact, be the future of work in this country.
Remote Workers Like Working From Home
The folks at The Ladders, an executive recruitment board, say that workers are going to be staying in the home office for a long-time to come.
Their data show that about a quarter of all jobs in American companies that are professional in nature will be conducted remotely (see what is remote work, if you’re not quite sure what this term means) by the end of 2022.
And their trends predictions suggest that it won’t slow down in 2023.
Of the jobs posted on their service, 4% were remote or hybrid work opportunities pre-pandemic, which hit 9% at the peak of the pandemic at the end of 2020, and it is now at around 15%!
Workers, it appears, were happy to say goodbye to the office under Covid.
Employers Like It Too
This shift in the way that the workforce operates is not just driven by workers, companies have found they like the benefits too.
They have slashed their overall workplace costs, many have reduced the amount of office space that they rent and they’ve found that workers are as productive when working from home as they are in the workplace.
Employees that work from home are also less likely to be discontented and more likely to remain in their job as content parts of the workforce for longer than office-based employees.
Data from surveys show that many employees have said they would take a pay cut if they were allowed to continue work from home arrangements.
In fact, there are many statistics that suggest remote working is a good thing.
Remote Working Is The Future
There were reports early in the pandemic that managers of businesses couldn’t bear the loss of headcount in their physical team and that flexible working would come to an end the moment that there was a permanent end to the pandemic. (See why managers hate remote work, for more on this).
However, there’s no doubt that this isn’t the observable trend in business now. In fact, many managers have been trained in managing remote teams and are enjoying the benefit of working without offices themselves, now.
They appreciate the ability to target the best talent for their workforce and to be able to broaden the scope of delivery hours through global remote working.
A Cure For Work-Related Stress?
There is strong evidence that the biggest benefits of working from home are the psychological benefits that workers report.
74% of workers in the State of Remote Work Report (conducted by Owl Labs) in 2021 said that they found working remotely to be beneficial to their mental health.
The report concluded that working from home was now “the new normal” and that if employers wanted to maintain an edge in the market, they would need to set about using technology to bridge the gaps between traditional work and remote-style work arrangements.
This was clearly heard in the offices of major corporations around the world as conservative companies such as Goldman Sachs, PWC, etc. which had made it clear that they saw home working as coming to a close with the pandemic, all did an about-face and have now introduced work from home policies for all staff.
Final Thoughts On Remote Work
It may have been Covid that got the ball rolling but it’s gone beyond the pandemic now. The future of work for many workers is remote.
