Is Working From Home The Future Of Work
By 2035, a billion people around the globe are going to be living and working as digital nomads. But the question here is, will working from home be the future of work?
People would consider staying inside their homes before 2020 as “ worth nahi vyarth hai”. If we say it in English, staying at home was a waste of life for many of us. We used to label ourselves as outgoing, party animals, or wanderers. Weekend getaways and long vacation trips to the mountains or beaches were common things to do.
But in the last two years, from work culture to family values, shopping trends to education, everything has changed. The notion of in-office jobs has changed to remote jobs.
The availability of the internet to almost every nook and corner is allowing people to connect with the world from anywhere. In fact, a few years from now, 1 out of every 3 working people will live a life of digital nomads.
But,
What Is a Digital Nomad?
A digital nomad is a remote worker free from all the constraints of a typical work environment. A few days on the beaches, then months in the mountains is the way they live.
One day from home, another from a coffee shop and then in a co-working space, digital nomads are always on the move. They are the employees just like us but not working from the office.
Interesting, isn’t it? But the main question that arises here is, will remote work stay here in 2023?
Let’s answer that.
What Is the Future of Remote Jobs?
Flexibility is now a necessity and not just a benefit. We can easily reckon this from a survey by Pwc, titled India Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2022. According to the survey, 81% of the Indian workforce favors remote jobs, and 31% are already in a hybrid work environment.
Moreover, this isn’t limited to India. By 2025, 36.2 million Americans will go remote as per Global Workplace Analytics.
So, it is safe to say that work from home model has a future globally. However, as everything comes with its own pros and cons, so does this work model. Whereas employees desire hybrid or fully remote jobs, many employers, are resisting this model and asking their employees to return to the office.
Benefits of Remote Job/ Work from Home
Companies will have a more productive and focused workforce:
Long-morning traffic jams are one of the biggest mood spoilers and reasons why employees feel unproductive, agitated, and tired. Now imagine waking up with a fresh mind, going about your household chores without stress, and not having to rush to the office. All you need to do is sit back on your couch or bed, open your laptop, and get to work. Amazing, right?
Again, imagine a scenario where you wanted to go to Kerala for so long, but were not able to take time off.
Now think of that long-awaited vacation to Kerala that was getting delayed because you couldn’t get time off from work. But now that you’ve gone remote, you can make that trip happen without hampering your work.
And, if you are an employer, consider how such working conditions can result in a high level of productivity. Employees will now be more satisfied and happy. They will be working with more focus and dedication which will, of course, benefit your organization.
The organization will have access to talent from all over the world:
Two years back when in-office work life was the only thing, organizations would face a shortage of good talents. Suppose the office is in Mumbai and the candidate is from Jharkhand. That candidate is a perfect fit for the role but s/he can’t relocate. This used to be a lose-lose situation for both the organization and the candidate.
But with remote working, you as a company can tap talent from all over the globe and reap the benefits of their expertise. Geographical location will no longer be a restriction.
Work from home model promotes inclusivity:
Even today there are families where women are not allowed to go out and work. Not only women, handicapped people, and transgenders are among others who face the brunt of our so-called modern society. That modern society where people still are not ready to accept the third gender.
This makes it difficult for them to even find a job. Similarly, handicapped people face a range of challenges.
However, with remote jobs, they will not be subjected to any judgments, harassment, or anything else. They will be able to work from a safe space. Women will be able to earn their own living while staying at home and performing other household duties.
Companies will not have to incur huge infrastructure costs:
Companies would save a lot of money on infrastructure if the majority of their workforce connects remotely. Employees will only require a laptop and access to the internet to complete their tasks.
They will also be able to connect to the global team easily with the help of applications like skype, zoom, etc.
Companies that provide work-from-home opportunities will have higher employee retention:
Employers must prioritize employee retention today when the attrition rate is expected to reach 22 lakhs by 2025, alone in India. Therefore, if companies begin to offer remote jobs and position themselves as flexible employer, increasing employee retention and maintaining a loyal employee base will be a cakewalk.
Disadvantages Of Remote Work
Some employees may report a lack of teamwork and a sense of isolation:
Humans are thought to be incapable of living alone. This is obviously not always the case, but it does occur. While some employees can concentrate better when they are isolated, others find it difficult to not be able to communicate with team members face to face.
Although there are various platforms for employees to connect via video calls and conferences, many find that sitting together and brainstorming ideas is more effective.
Employers will face challenges when it comes to onboarding new employees:
Onboarding a new staff member and getting them acquainted with other teammates and work can be a great challenge. It necessitates a highly structured and consistent process, as well as significant managerial effort.
The remote team will be hard to monitor:
When you stay at home, procrastination takes a different form. Furthermore, managers in remote jobs are unable to monitor the amount of work done and break taken by the employees.
Whereas when in the office, employees are always reminded to stay on track and perform efficiently and effectively, which is impossible with remote work.
Employees face distractions and lack a good working environment:
Working from home surely brings a good work-life balance to the table. But this is not it. There’s more to the story.
A survey by Glassdoor where 1000 employees were interviewed, states that 32% feel watching TV is a top distraction whereas 27% believe childcare is a distraction.
Not every home can provide the same level of the working environment as an office space.
Is The World in Favour of Remote Work?
It is, for the most part. People are increasingly interested in working from home.
Working from home experienced a surge at the start of the pandemic where initially people were not at all in favor. But slowly and steadily they began to realize its numerous benefits as we battled through.
TCS, India’s largest infotech and outsourcing company has announced that it will move 75% of its workforce to work remotely by 2025 permanently.
Recently, a total of 100 UK businesses have agreed to a permanent four-day work week with no reduction in salary to their workers.
So companies are coming forward and agreeing to remote jobs, albeit slowly.
Final Word
One thing which can be a tough task to do and is also time-consuming is recruiting global quality talent. Diverting from actual work and concentrating on other things like finding, interviewing, and recruiting candidates is not an option when own an organization. Running a background check to verify Whether the candidate you’ve chosen is a good fit or not, is yet another hectic task.
Here comes BookMyTalent, which does half of the work for you, i.e, finding the best talents from around the globe. All you have to do is visit our official website and go through the simple steps of searching for the candidate you think suits your profile.
To help you learn more about each candidate, we provide a detailed profile as well as an introductory video. Upon identifying the top 2-3 candidates, select schedule an interview right there on our page and get in touch with them hassle-free.
So, start hiring your remote developers now because remote work/ work from home will be there in the future. Embark on a journey of new work culture if you haven’t yet because it’s always better to be late than never.
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