COVID-19 has hugely forced companies to switch to a fully remote working mode. If before that time some companies allowed a few days per month to work from home, after the start of the pandemic, remote working has become the main mode for a lot of companies all around the world.
So, let’s first check what remote work is and then see some important stats about working remotely in this article.
What is remote work
Remote work is a style of work where an employer doesn’t define the place where an employee needs to work. This type of work means working outside of a traditional office, which usually means working from home. This working style means an employee has the flexibility to do their tasks in whatever environment they want.
There is a relative concept to remote work, which is hybrid work. This means working partially remotely and partially at an office.
Remote work stats
One of the huge surveys on remote working was done by Global Workplace Analytics in 2020 where about 3000 remote workers participated. Another research on this topic was done by the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago with 10,000 employees surveyed. There was Moreover, Deloitte did a similar survey in 2020 with 300 organizations participating.
In a nutshell, a majority of the organizations and remote workers believe that they are effective and successful while working away from the office. It was so when the pandemic started and remains so in 2022.
Key Statistics On Remote Workers
- 16% of companies globally are fully remote.
- 32% of people would quit their job if they were not able to continue working remotely.
- 44% of companies don’t allow remote work
- 73% of remote workers say they feel very successful working from home
- 55% of respondents work more hours remotely than at the physical office
16% of companies are fully remote (Owl Labs). It may sound like a small number but most of these companies have become remote space during the pandemic. This means this can be only a start of the movement towards working from home or any spot as an alternative to working from the office exclusively.
The main reason why people whose to work remotely is more flexibility and better work-life balance.
Since 2009, the number of people who work from home has risen by 159%
(Global Workplace Analytics). This shows an incredible change in a period of about ten years. Perhaps, the main shift has happened during the pandemic but it still is forecasted to rise. Moreover, technological improvement has also allowed this change.
32% of people said they would quit their job if they were not able to continue working remotely. 69% of millennials would give up on certain work benefits for a more flexible working space. This shows how important is this flexibility in working schedule is to one of the biggest layers of today’s work class.
About 31% of employees have no difficulties switching to remote working and fully understand their responsibilities and a role in their company.
Still, 44% of companies don’t allow remote work. This can happen due to various reasons. The company requires physical presence in the office because of security reasons. Also, there can be concerns of management about people’s being not productive at work.
However, 85% of managers believe that remote work will become the new norm. Most employees agree to remain flexible work after the pandemic is over. Today many people believe that this would be a new norm as remote work has so many benefits and allows people to be flexible and even earn more.
The average annual income of remote workers is $4,000 higher than that of other workers. This can be as a result of people being more productive when working at home, having more time to rethink their salary and so average salary research, or being less afraid to ask for a rise in a remote environment. Additionally, working remotely allows some people have an additional gig which people do simultaneously with a main full-time job.
Read more about products for better remote work:
Benefits of remote work
Working remotely has so many benefits that this working style is rising its popularity very quickly. It has advantages for both employers and employees.
73% of remote workers say they feel very successful working from home.
Are remote workers more productive?
77% of remote workers say they’re more productive when they’re working from home. And this is no surprise as there no people spinning around all the time and chatting and the ability to focus. However, working remotely might not work for people with kids or where a few people are working in a very small space.
Moreover, remote workers can save around $7,000 per year on transportation and food. Even more, working from home helps save an average of 40 minutes daily from commuting. This is because they do not need to drive for work and save both time and money (some people need more than an hour on one side to get to an office). And this is helpful for our environment as well. Also, people cook at home and save money compared to eating outside or buying cooked food.
Finally, companies observe an average increase of $2,000 in profit per remote worker. Employers don’t need to rent an office space, buy supplements, and pay people who clean and maintain an office.
Disadvantages of remote work
There are still a lot of challenges when working remotely.
22% of remote workers experience difficulty in unplugging after work and a report by Owl labs says that 55% of respondents work more hours remotely than at the physical office. When people work remotely, it can be hard to set boundaries between work and personal time after work.
Another disadvantage is loneliness which experiences 19% of respondence. The third big challenge is lack of communication and possible miscommunication (17% of respondents reported this).