Millions of workers around the world are taking advantage of telecommuting or working outside the office. For proper context, telecommuters fall into two main categories: full-time employees who work at home and freelancers who work remotely from time to time. Together, full-time telecommuters and freelancers make up a big part of the global workforce.
In this infographic, we’ll show you some revealing facts and stats that telecommuting is a growing trend and could become the norm in the global workforce in the future. However, employers, employees, and recruitment firms need to know the various impacts that telecommuting might bring to every stakeholder.
The Good
1. Cost Efficient
Your overhead expenses will decrease since you’ll only spend for smaller office space, fewer pieces of equipment, and minimal use of utilities. You could also benefit from high employee retention when you allow your employees to work remotely since this is seen to contribute to greater job satisfaction. You’re also helping your telecommuters save on their daily allowance when you allow them to stay at home while they work.
2. Enhanced Employee Productivity = Higher Company Earnings
Remote workers have reported increased productivity, which could also result in more profit for your company. When your employees are free from office distractions, they are more likely to commit fewer errors and turn in quality output. This helps your company maximize your time and financial resources and avoid incurring unnecessary expenses.
3. Flexible Work Setup
Most employees who telecommute choose this type of work arrangement because it gives them flexible options that a traditional office cannot offer. They can work from the comforts of their home and follow a schedule that fits their lifestyle. As an employer, this level of flexibility can help you in attracting talent who might find remote work an appealing option.
4. Sense of Fulfillment and Empowerment
Working at home also teaches employees to become more independent and effective at managing their time. Even though they don’t have a supervisor giving instructions and reminders, they can get things done on their own. This can contribute to a higher level of self-confidence and self-control – traits that you definitely want to see in your workforce.
5. Inclusion Among Employees
You might have an employee who is suffering from a physical injury or disability, or an employee who is a single parent with children to take care of. By offering the alternative to telecommute, you’re giving employees with special needs an equal opportunity to become productive and to earn from work.
The Bad
1. Isolation from Human Interaction
Working from home with little human interaction may not be good for your employees, especially if they make an abrupt shift from traditional office work. The lack of interaction and communication with colleagues can burn them out at a certain point, affecting their emotional health, morale, and overall ability to work.
2. Separating Work from Personal Life
It’s not uncommon for work-at-home employees to do their office and household responsibilities simultaneously. This could have a negative impact on their level of concentration. Some employees might also lose their momentum and find it hard to get back on track immediately. Eventually, their productivity and quality of work might suffer, and you’ll have to do some damage control on your end.
3. Stagnant Career
It is much harder to check the performance of your employees who work remotely compared with those who regularly report to the office. This is especially true if you have not set up a method for conducting performance reviews with your remote employees.
There’s also the misconception that non-telecommuters are more hardworking than their remote colleagues because you can easily track their time and output at work.
4. Challenges in Employee Management
If you have several employees who telecommute, you might encounter difficulties in monitoring if everyone is meeting their deadlines or their required output. It might also be a challenge getting in touch with them immediately as you have to consider factors like mobility or connectivity issues.
5. Issues on Staff Relationship
In some cases, it’s inevitable for your office workers and your remote employees to secretly check on each other’s workload. Each one might look at the other as being neglectful of their duties, and unless your HR is quick to step in, your employees might find themselves in disagreement with one another.
Employers and employees continuously shift toward telecommuting. This is due to its perceived benefits when it comes to cost and convenience. On the other hand, there are also potential challenges that go with this kind of work setup, given the lack of control in some areas of managing employees remotely. As long as employers, HR teams, and employees manage to work around these issues, telecommuting might progress even more in the future.
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