Have Our Views on Remote Work Changed During the Quarantine Period?
COVID-19 shook the world in a different way and even a year after, its effects are still felt strongly. The pandemic forced a lot of changes in the economic, political, social, and even religious spheres. A good example of this is the significant change in the workplaces. We went from the traditional system of work to something more convenient, yet effective and that is what we will talk about in this article.
Coronavirus and Telecommuting
To start with, it is important to highlight that certain jobs cannot be done remotely due to their nature. For such jobs, telecommuting is not an option. However, the simple fact is that the vast majority of office jobs can be done from home and the lockdown period proved that.
Interestingly, studies have shown that working remotely doesn’t necessarily affect productivity. People also get enough time to do other things such as watch movies, spend more time with families, play in casino from the best no account casinos list and other forms of gambling which come with exciting bonuses, and a lot more.
Remote Work Before COVID
Before the quarantine period, working remotely was not as popular and ubiquitous as many workers would prefer. This of course is reflective of the strict cultures at work and the lack of interest from employers to invest in the necessary technology and management procedures needed to effectively run a tele-workforce.
The Pandemic and Its Effect on Industry Giants
The pandemic has forced a lot of industries and companies to accept telecommuting where possible, else they would suffer significant profit losses. This of course was made easier by the fact that a lot of people today are familiar with the use of remote technology.
A lot of big companies worldwide had to shut their offices. For instance in the US, as of June 2020, more than 40% of the labor force in the country had to work from home. This included both professionals and white-collar employees. The same resort to home offices occurred in other countries throughout the planet. This led to a lot of relief from daily stresses. A lot of cities such as San Jose, Bengaluru, Los Angeles among others started to experience little to no traffic jams. This was an effect of working remotely.
A Permanent Shift
A year after, it seems like the shift to reduced office work and more telecommuting is one that is here to stay. It is a reality that seems likely to be permanent. In a recent interview to the Washington Post, the economist Susan Athey said that people will change their habits, and a lot of these new habits will stick. Indeed, working remotely is one of such habits that we will have to get used to as office life doesn’t seem like ever becoming the same again.
Pros and Cons of Remote Work
We can’t talk about remote work and telecommuting without highlighting its positives and negatives.
Pros
- It brings about comfort for most workers.
- It reduces emissions as well as office costs.
- It helps individuals to balance work and family roles.
- Research has shown that it can increase productivity.
- It reduces administration cost.
- It helps to eliminate unnecessary and redundant bureaucratic processes.
Cons
The cons of working remotely from home include the following:
- It makes management of the telecommuting staff hard.
- It can lead to professional isolation which can negatively impact the overall well-being of personnel.
- The professional isolation can also hamper career development.
- The effects on productivity might be short-term as it can be uncertain especially in a scaled-up system.
- There is also a higher possibility of work interruption.
