How Remote Work Has Changed Two Years into the Pandemic

Two years ago, NBA player Rudy Gobert tested positive for Covid-19 before the start of a Utah Jazz game. Many people thought nothing of it, that is until a few hours later when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver suspended the NBA season effective immediately. That’s the moment when Americans knew Covid was serious. Tom Hanks contracting the virus didn’t help ease Americans’ anxieties either.

Soon after, many worldwide companies began the task of readying their employees to work from home. Remote work for years has had many negative connotations. Employers tend to be skeptical of people working from home since they can’t keep an eye on them and feared that distractions at home would be too much. Thankfully, they were wrong.

Technology

For years, working from home was next to near impossible because of the lack of technology. Remote jobs then consisted of customer service positions and sales jobs where you’re out on the road most of the time. Now, with major technological advancements, almost any job can be remote. Smartphones, laptops, and complex software programs, (some developed during the pandemic) have shown that working in an office might become a thing of the past.

Virtual chatrooms such as Zoom and Slack have made it much easier to train and communicate with home-based employees. The need for in office meetings has been declining for years and the Covid pandemic only accelerated the decline. New technologies are popping up everyday that can benefit the workforce. Virtual reality headsets have taken the world by storm and some companies have begun to utilize the virtual spaces created by virtual reality for meetings and calls instead of using a physical office.

Savings

A major reason employers and employees stick with remote work, even as the pandemic is dying down, is the cost savings. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, simply not driving to the office saved workers more than $90 billion. Some companies saw the amount of money that was being saved and decided to permanently stick with a remote work force. This saves them thousands in office leases and other miscellaneous costs such as office maintenance and food. The little things add up.

Some employers have resorted to using virtual offices as well. A virtual office enables businesses to work from home and still have benefits that a physical office provides. Live receptionists answer all incoming calls and transfer them to the appropriate destination. A professional business address and meeting spaces are also provided without spending the high costs associated with maintaining a physical office. Virtual office companies like Opus Virtual Offices offer these perks for a low price. Much lower than a traditional office lease.

A Strong Future Ahead for Remote Work

The numbers don’t lie. Not only are businesses saving cold hard cash by having their employees work remotely, but studies show that employees work harder and are more productive when they work from home. A Stanford University study found that employee productivity increased by 13% when working from home. This, coupled with the hours saved not commuting to an office, has many employers reconsidering using their physical office spaces.

Working remotely has also given workers more free time to spend with friends and family, a perk many workers don’t want to lose. The planet has also benefited from businesses going remote. Pollution caused by cars plummeted during the height of Covid when practically everyone was working from home.

Remote work is here to stay. While many businesses have said they intend to transition back to a physical office space, the numbers may convince them to continue to stay remote. As new technology emerges and the labor shortage deepens, businesses must adapt and offering remote positions may now be the way to attract new workers.