Benefits & Detriments of Working From Home
By: Rafael Reyes
Working from home isn’t a new concept, as a matter of fact, some may have had it as a perk pre-pandemic. Obviously, the pandemic shot up the growth and popularity of working remotely and we realized it was a possibility that could work as long as companies allowed it to, in this case, forced to. But the height of COVID-19 has become something of the past and most aren’t taking the same cautious measures, so we wonder if working remotely will continue to sustain through 2023.
BENEFITS OF REMOTE WORK
Everyone and I mean just about everyone wants to work remotely or at least on a hybrid schedule. Because of that, allowing your employees to work from home or hiring remote workers has instant advantages. For example, schedule flexibility and work-life balance increase workers’ morale which in turn increases company retention, reduces absenteeism, and may even attract more applicants that are looking for that kind of work.
One benefit that is debated is if remote work increases or decreases productivity, it’s tough to gauge as it can depend on many variables. After all, a great worker will not become less productive just because of remote work and vice versa. If I can speak for myself, there are ups and downs but ultimately have more control of my schedule has allowed me to manage my time accordingly making me more productive with my work. If you want to learn more check out Remote Work Productivity Study Finds Surprising Reality: 2-Year Analysis
DETRIMENTS OF REMOTE WORK
Although we all want the liberty to work from home, I think we can all recognize the downsides like how it can be harder to balance work and life in a remote schedule. But the most important thing in my opinion is that you and your staff will have to take cybersecurity even more seriously as you are at higher risk for breaches and leaking confidential information.
The advantage that remote work doesn’t have is direct contact, this can make some feel lonely and even impact mental health, on top of that it’s harder to maintain a company culture if you only work virtually. This is why I recommend reading Tips On Managing Remote Teams by Ruben Murillo so you know are one step closer to being ready to manage your remote staff.
Several businesses have embraced home office work as a good and cost-effective way of doing business as it allows them to tap into a vast talent pool across the world, but others may be hesitant. It’s true in some cases being present in person is imperative, in general, being face-2-face with someone allows for better communication and hence allowing staff to be more productive, right? Well not necessarily, what about your more introverted employees? Perhaps they shine in the work chat on slack, 8×8, or Teams. This is why we must end this debate not with our opinions but by looking at scientific data in order to decide if this would be the right move for your company.
REMOTE WORK IN 2023
It’s hard to say if remote work will remain the same or increase in 2023. What I feel I can say though is it will definitely not go back to the way it was pre-pandemic. As aforementioned everyone wants to work remotely, almost 10% of online job searches in September mentioned “remote work,” a huge increase relative to September 2019. Many businesses want workers to return to full-time in-office schedules and with the absence of stay-at-home orders there has been a decline in remote work but experts expect that decline to stall and have about 20% of full workdays to be from home in the post-pandemic economy. Some even believe working-from-home rates will increase in the coming years.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It’s looking like WFH (Work-From-Home) isn’t going anywhere, so you as a business owner might want to look into the possibility of managing your remote team. This blog is just the tip of the iceberg but I hope I was able to provide useful knowledge that helps you decide what is best for your business.
This blog was written by the staff at Ventes Mexico LLC Ventes Mexico is a top-rated outsource recruitment firm located in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Founded by an American, with 16 years of living in Mexico, Ventes Mexico operates in the USA and Mexico. The company specialized in remote staffing and headhunting. Each of its employees is 100% bilingual (English/Spanish).
