COVID-19 has completely given the crowded office a makeover. One of the largest changes is companies right now is allowing their teams to switch over to remote working from home. Now, many companies are learning how employees can work and collaborate from home, ours included. And what seemed like a solution to a temporary problem may be the new way business is done. Earlier this month, I decided that my team was going to remain remote permanently. This wasn’t an easy decision for me because I’ve never been a big fan of remote workers. But after much consideration about the era we are now in, there’s just no need to come into the office every single day full-time. And I’m not alone.
Based on a recent report from Gartner, many employees across the country will have the option to work from home permanently. Even amidst a global crisis, employees are reporting greater productivity and higher job satisfaction, which is translating into enormous profitability for their employers. By permitting offsite work, businesses then get to access even more overhead savings, like lower real estate, equipment, and supply expenses. With rewards for both the company and their employees it only seems obvious to continue at least some remote working.
As States begin to fully open, several large companies have already stated they will continue to use work from home as an option. Companies like Twitter, Amazon, Walmart, and many other large companies among them.
Last month, Twitter sent an email out to its employees letting them know they would be allowed to work from home permanently, even after the Coronavirus pandemic has ended. Amazon announced that they will be giving employees the option to work remotely until at least October 2nd. And just a few weeks ago, Walmart announced that several of their workers, especially their tech employees will continue to work remotely. The company has no intention of having these employees back in the office anytime soon or potentially will work from home permanently. In addition, other tech giants Google, Microsoft, Zillow, and JP Morgan are following suit in allowing remote work for now and the possibility of some employees being permanently remote.
While remote working is typically thought of as working at the kitchen table with the TV playing as background noise, the future of remote work may not be just at home. The building of co-working spaces and coffee house offices will give employees the option to change up their work environment. While co-working spaces will not be open until the pandemic is under control it may be the future of corporate offices or remote working.
This new remote work life is going to be interesting for a lot of us. While I wasn’t a fan as an employer, I’m getting used to the idea and actually excited about the flexibility it provides not only to my employees, but to me. Just a few weeks ago I went to work from a beachfront condo for a little R&R. I didn’t put “out of office” on my email, because I was working. I was just working remotely from a different location than my home office and it just happened to have an incredible view. Now that’s progress.
Well, that’s all I have for now.