More and more companies are bringing remote workers into their workforce, adding talent that might not have been available through any other means. The internet has afforded businesses of all kinds the opportunity to do more with less, and that means employing skilled workers without requiring them to be physically present in an office or headquarters.
The Case for Remote Workers
It’s a fact: telecommuting has increased more than 115% in the past ten years. That being said, companies of all sizes are realizing that there are many great reasons to consider hiring remote workers for an organisation, regardless of how large or small it is or what industry it operates in. Here are just a few of these reasons:
- Bringing on remote workers can boost morale for those who value their work/life balance. Giving employees the flexibility to be able to accomplish their work goals and objectives from a location of their choosing gives them more confidence that they can better manage the multiple moving parts within their lives.
- Productivity tracking tools like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions give employers granular control and insight into the daily activities of their employees.
- Employees are beginning to expect work-from-home or telecommuting options as part of their compensation packages. So, if you’re not allowing for at least partial telecommuting arrangements, you could be missing out on a vast source of great talent.
One of the most common reasons why employers are opting for remote workers is because they know that employees value quality of life. And, in some cases, they value it more than the money they’re being paid to do their jobs. As dynamic as the global workforce has become, it’s no surprise that organisations of all stripes are leaning on technology to empower their workers – wherever they may be located – to do more with less.
Here’s another fantastic reason why remote working will likely be an integral part of the workforce of the future: real estate is expensive. The costs involved in buying or leasing a workspace to use for the purposes of holding meetings and facilitating teamwork can often be one of the biggest expenses a company incurs on a monthly basis. The modern company of today is viewing this expense as less than necessary, thanks in large part to the advent of telecommuting.
A Glimpse into the Future
While no one has a crystal ball, we can make educated predictions about what the workforce of tomorrow might look like judging from the current productivity trends we’re seeing across the world.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, many jobs that have historically been considered full-time, in-office types of jobs are now being considered ‘flex’ jobs, and they’re growing at an accelerated pace. Here are just a few job titles that have increasingly high telecommuting components to them:
- Physicians Assistant. You may think that a Physician’s Assistant needs to be in the medical office to complete their work. The reality is that these in-demand healthcare workers can often assist their coworkers with routine paperwork and administrative duties from an off-site location. This job is projected to grow 37% in the near future.
- Information Security Analyst. For a highly technical job like this one, telecommuting is becoming more and more of a vital aspect of the work involved. This job is projected to grow at least 28% in the coming years.
- This may seem obvious, but to complete the complex calculations needed for mathematicians to do their jobs, a corporate office or brick-and-mortar location isn’t exactly necessary. Job growth for mathematicians is forecasted to grow by nearly 30%.
However you look at the emerging job economies throughout the world, one thing is certain: remote working is fast becoming an indispensable way to maintain productivity while giving employees the latitude to live their lives on their own terms. It truly is a win-win for everyone involved.
Equipping Remote Workers for Success
If there’s one thing that just about every remote worker needs, it’s a personal computer with a reliable, high-speed internet connection. Thanks to Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) technology, dedicated business phones aren’t even needed anymore. What’s more, due to impressive advancements in cyber-security technology, sensitive or confidential information can be securely transmitted with an acceptable level of risk. This puts to bed any worries about data breaches or hacking, so long as the right hardware and software are used in unison.
So, getting back to the question: is remote working the future of work? While we can’t say for sure whether all future jobs will be able to be done, at least in part, remotely, what we can say is that the current trend of telecommuting workers isn’t slowing anytime soon. It’s best to embrace this new paradigm of work and prepare for it to become more and more a part of our daily lives in the future.
Author Bio
Kevin Conner has started and owned several businesses in his career and always maintains that flexible and remote working have got the best out of his teams. His latest venture is Broadbandsearch.net, a comparison website run and maintained by an entirely remote team.