Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Working_from_Bed_-_A_Man_Works_from_Home_with_a_Laptop_in_Bed.jpg — https://www.microbizmag.co.uk
Remote working has become the norm since 2020. It’s mostly down to the covid pandemic but of course only possible for white-collar workers. Nevertheless, programmers have been working from home for years, but only now has the general public been conditioned to remote working. There are many benefits and drawbacks to this new type of work, which we will cover in this piece.
It seems more of a generational thing whether one is pro or anti-working from home. Many baby boomers cannot fathom any other circumstances than working from the office. On the other hand, millennials and gen z prefer remote working, allowing them to travel. It will be a generational tussle, and the trend doesn’t look like it will just go away.
For workers, working from home has many benefits. Not having to do the morning commute is one of the major ones, but there are much more. For parents, remote working allows them to look after their kids whilst at home – negating the need for costly childcare. Moreover, when working remotely, workers save on transport, food, and most importantly time. Some jobs require a long, arduous commute to the office in places like New York or London. And when you arrive, you just go to a computer on a desk to perform your daily duties. Of course, all this can be done from home, which is more convenient for the worker. But what are the arguments for requiring employees to work from the office?
Well, there are a few. Firstly, it is argued that workers are more productive at the workplace compared to at home. And this is probably true. At home, there are more distractions and no one is watching over you. You would never play games at the office but might decide to at home. But here is where discipline comes in. If you enjoy playing games like PUBG or Fortnite, or even casino games like roulette and blackjack, set aside some time to play when work is done. For table games, you can check comparison websites only like VegasSlotsOnline, which let you play demo versions. In addition, when you are ready to play, expert reviews are available and you can claim a top welcome bonus.
The working from home trend has brought productivity to the forefront. At the office, most of the time is about showing up, and “looking busy”. But what is the point of that? A company does not make more sales by “looking busy”. Many studies written here in CascadeBusinessNews have shown that 2 hours of deep work is far better than 6 hours of sporadic work. The argument of an employee being less productive, if working from home is asinine, if it’s true they should be fired.
Many people are simply not willing to go back to the office either. They have gotten comfortable with working remotely and even have the opportunity to travel. Ultimately the return to the office crowd will lose this battle, it will just take time to finally realize. Technology has allowed us to instantly communicate and collaborate, there is no need to do these things in person. However, face-to-face interaction is more beneficial than a Zoom call, but for regular meetings, calls or messages are more efficient.
With many employees preferring to work from home, it affects businesses that were once reliant on offices full of people. Enterprises like restaurants, shops, and transport located nearby have seen revenues dramatically decrease. Yet, other industries such as food delivery have flourished because of remote working.
As always, there will be a compromise with many companies offering workers a hybrid system. It requires employees to work at least a few days a week at the office, with the other days at home. In the near term, this will continue, but the policy is at the sole discretion of the manager. This has led many young people to look for remote jobs, rather than having to go to an office. Before the pandemic, you could get a remote job but most were offline, now job sites such as Indeed are awash with working from home opportunities.
