The peculiarities of the world that we now live in has made it possible for many workers to take up the option of working remotely or working from home. Employers are starting to realize that allowing their employees to have flexible schedules and a preferred work environment greatly increases employee happiness and consequently, their level of productivity at their jobs.
Recent studies have shown that more than 5% of Americans work remotely and the percentage of people working from home part-time is expected to rise to 50% by 2025. A different survey also establishes that 92% of people working remotely would love to continue in that manner. This just shows how much popular remote work is becoming and how many people are beginning to jump on this train.
The growth of the internet and social media are undoubtedly important factors as to the growth of remote work. The number of jobs and profession that allows flexible schedule and productivity from working remotely are increasing by the day and this is the reason why the number of remote workers is constantly on the rise. Some of the numerous jobs that can be done remotely include programmer jobs, blogging, copywriting and freelance essay writers, remote sales and marketing jobs, graphic designer, web developer/ software engineer, health coach, etc. There are a lot more jobs that can be done remotely and some of the countries that allow remote working the most are Singapore, the USA, Australia, Germany, UK, and France.
With the advancement of technology, there is a growing trend of business models becoming mobile. About 70% of professionals all over the world do some remote working at least once every week and this has come to benefit both the employers and the employees.
Merits and demerits of remote working
Although remote working is a concept that is on the rise in many industries, it does have its benefits which many companies and staff are already enjoying but like many other things, it also has its own downsides as well which the employee suffers mostly.
You can bet that most companies will not allow their staff to work away from their office space if it doesn’t benefit them somehow. Here are some of the benefits that employers enjoy.
Pros of Working Remotely:
Increased productivity:
When employees are allowed to go home and work by themselves remotely, they have been more productive as they have more time to work and are under less pressure than when they had to work within a rigid and structured time frame with much more pressure.
Increased employee satisfaction and retention:
Employees have been able to satisfy their employees even more and have been able to retain them by giving them the flexibility and freedom to work from home. This has led to a reduction in employee turnover, and more time is being spent on more productive things rather than having to expend time and resources regularly interviewing new candidates, and then trying to train new staff.
Less interpersonal conflict:
Technology today, has made it easy for people to be in touch with themselves even if they are a million miles apart. This has made it possible for teams to work remotely and still work brilliantly with little or no conflict between them compared to having to see each other at work every day. Co-employees can now get assignment help from each other without having to see themselves. Working remotely can even make it possible to strengthen employee bond and deescalate conflict much easily.
Increased transparency:
Working in an office setting can sometimes make it difficult to know exactly how much work each employee is doing. But remote work allows the employer to track each employee easily and judge them on the basis of work done.
Less use of physical office space:
It might be expensive for companies to have to pay rents yearly for a large office space which can accommodate all their employees. By allowing the employees to work remotely, the use and need for a large office space reduce. A much smaller space might be required and this will cut down on the cost for building or renting an office space.
As much as the employers have a lot to benefit from allowing their employees to work remotely, the employees themselves benefit from working remotely.
Flexible schedule:
Working from home often comes with a lot of flexibility in the schedule of the worker. The workers generally have more time to spend on their work, they do not have to work under a tight schedule, and can focus on delivering good quality on the work they are doing. This flexibility allows them to do more things that they naturally might not have time to do work in an office, like having family dinners or picking up the kids from school, and yet they are still able to get the work done. Being able to do other things while you’re working will always keep people happy.
Reduced commutation:
Depending on where they live and the distance to their workplace, many people spend minutes, even hours, trying to transport themselves from their homes to their work and back. This traveling can be very tiring itself, especially if they have to regularly face traffic jams. Not to mention that it takes a lot of money, apart from sapping time and energy. Working remotely can, therefore, save people time, money, and energy that they would have otherwise wasted every day going to their office and back.
Greater freedom:
An increased level of freedom is something that comes with a more flexible schedule for remote workers. Because they are not caught up in the 9-5 web, they have the freedom to do other things and go to other places while still creating time to do their jobs.
Increased transparency:
Remote working ensures that the workers are not misjudged based on the number of hours they are at work. They are rather judged based on the quality of their work. And with less stress, increased happiness, a flexible time, and more freedom, remote workers have all the recipes that they need to consistently deliver high-quality jobs, especially if it is a job like custom essay writing that demands a lot of time and research.
There is a common saying that every that has its advantages also has disadvantages. It is hard to tell how true that is in other real-life situations, but as far as remote working is concerned, it is very true. Here are some problems with remote working:
Cons of working remotely :
Absence of community:
Since workers have to work from their homes, it could eventually create a lack of work community for them. A work community is something that is common within the office setup as you see the faces of your different co-workers every day. But working remotely takes this away and this could possibly create a loss of cohesion amongst coworkers and the comradery feeling may be lost as a whole.
Communication barrier:
Although the internet has done a lot to bridge the communication gap created by the distance the fact remains that it is totally impossible to pass across intent and emotion with texts. It would not be as effective as it would have been if the person was there physically. One factor that can further increase the problem with communication in remote works is the difference in time zone. An employee can be half-way around the world by the time urgent information is passed across. But the difference in time zone might mean that they do not get the information as early as they should which could be a problem.
Lack of bond among coworkers:
When most of a company’s staff work remotely, it is really impossible for them to bond together and get to know each other really well. This becomes a major problem if they have to work as a group. Physical presence and physical interaction always helps with improving cohesion and teamwork and also boosts productivity. Remote work, however, doesn’t allow this and this might lead to a problem with team productivity.
Having a routine and staying motivated:
This is probably the most obvious argument for remote work not being for everybody. With all the numerous benefits that come with remote work, it might be difficult for some people to develop a routine to help them work effectively and keep them motivated. Within that box of 9-5, there is a set routine for people to follow. But when they are on their own, people find it difficult to motivate themselves to work. This might cause them to become less productive even though they have more time. So, remote work really is not for everybody. It requires a lot of discipline and self-control that many people might not have, not because they are lazy but because they are not used to it.
Home distractions:
Working at home leaves you susceptible to so many distractions that would have been avoided by going to the office. Being at home, you will definitely want to clean the house, do some laundry, cook, chill out with Netflix, etc. these are all benefits of remote working but the moment they start to eat deep into your time and you do not have enough time to work, then it becomes a problem. Working remotely requires some discipline for you to do away with the distractions and work when you have to.
Conclusion
Remote working does come with many pros and cons to it. So, it is important for the remote worker to be able to reduce the cons wherever possible and major on the pros. However, not all jobs can be done remotely. Each job has a different nature. The nature of some jobs makes it possible for people to work remotely, while the nature of some other jobs are more suited to the office environment and cannot be done remotely. So, in essence, not everyone can become a remote worker. If you want to become a remote worker, you have to pick up a job that allows remote working first.
