Remote Work Is Here to Stay — Even After COVID-19 Is Long Gone
Have you adapted to remote work? As controversial as it seemed for most business owners just a couple years ago, it's become a lifesaver during COVID-19. But will the trend recede as humanity overcomes the pandemic? New data suggests no — it's here to stay.
A Gartner survey of 127 business leaders found that 82% plan to maintain a partial work-from-home dynamic after the COVID-19 pandemic ends. 47% of respondents even plan to let employees work from home permanently. The reason why? COVID-19 has pulled back the curtain on the benefits of remote work. Consequently, it would be difficult for both entrepreneurs and employees to return to the way things were pre-pandemic.
Besides remote work allowances, 43% of organizations are planning to implement flex days, and 15% are preparing to transition to four-day workweeks. Basically, no matter how you slice it, big changes are coming for how companies get things done. But with these changes come some challenges.
Organizations adopting permanent hybrid work arrangements must figure out how they'll manage widespread workforces. To address this obstacle, 61% of business leaders have increased employee check-ins. This measure seems to be working; only 13% of respondents expressed concern about maintaining team productivity through remote work.
A more subtle yet just as vital issue is the question of how companies will maintain their cultures. Shifting to hybrid work means entrepreneurs will spend more time finding and collaborating with co-founders, employees, and contractors via online platforms. But how will they provide parity between in-office and remote work experiences? 30% of Gartner's respondents say they're worried about this.
On the bright side, opportunities abound in this new era for both entrepreneurs and office workers trying to launch side businesses. The bottom line? The future of work is here. And those that stay adaptable will not only survive but thrive.
I believe that also the companies that would try to resist this change will be forced to change.
When your company is in the minority where you enforce 9-to-5 in-office work, and the other companies don't, recruiting will be difficult.
Completely agree! I don't think this movement to remote/hybrid work can be stopped. If anything, perhaps some companies will resist it while others promote it as a benefit of their workplace. But hopefully, it will eventually become a common standard for many industries with time.
I see the opposite. Already I have so many people craving the need to get back to the office and be around people. Humans aren’t meant to be alone. It’s also highly unhealthy to just sit at home all day. You need to get,out....go to work....have lunches...coffees....make friends at work....socialize. It’s part of humanity. So many I’ve talked to are going crazy at home. They want to go be around co workers.
I've definitely seen my fair share of friends going stir-crazy at home from this pandemic-enforced remote work. You're totally right -- humans aren't meant to be alone. But working remotely doesn't necessarily imply that you have to be alone.
Before the pandemic, it wasn't out of the ordinary for my day to be broken up with work sessions at a library/coffee shop/co-working space, going to the gym during off-peak hours, and grabbing lunch/coffee/dinner with friends or colleagues.
Being social is definitely integral to being human. I think the pandemic's been tough all around! Many people do need to be around co-workers to benefit from that culture and camaraderie.
But I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a lot of people who would prefer a rigid 40-50 hours a week in the office over the flexibility that hybrid work provides. For a lot of people, there are days they feel like going to the office and days where they'd rather take care of work at home. For this reason, I believe that, in varying degrees, remote work is here to stay for most modern companies.
I 100% agree Ben. I work remote and love it but I work at a co-working space to have that office-feel. What I see happening in the future is a hybrid mix and more choice. We can't forget that our cities and towns rely on office buildings and workers for their incomes (food, travel, etc.). If we all stayed home then these businesses would slowly die. So yeah, it's very important to also remember the larger, macro impact of it all. Our actions have consequences for local businesses and I only hope people do remember that.
Despite all the obvious bad things of the pandemic, I'm secretly (or now not so secretly) excited for the future of work, business and tech.
As a long time remote worker and home schooler, part of me is 'finally' people are accepting that the way I think and do things is actually 'ok' and often better.
I love how people are being forced to be creative and to re-evaluate what is important to them.
I know what you mean. As a remote freelancer for the past four years, it's been strange watching everyone adapt to this way of working that a lot of people considered fringe before the pandemic. On the bright side, many more people can now relate to our day-to-day!
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This is such great information in regards to remote work and I totally agree with you, it's here to stay!
Many companies are starting to think of innovative ways to build on remote work, like us at oVice!
We provide access to virtual spaces for our users where they can customize it and make it their own! You can turn it into a virtual office, host events, study space, etc.
Our goal is to really optimize the remote work experience by giving our users the ability to interact with their peers in real time. This helps promote productivity and collaboration and I feel it can really help you stay focused, no matter where you are in the world!
Check us out at https://tour-en.ovice.in/ to have a look around and see how it works.