In recent weeks, many conversations have taken place regarding the future of work. While a small number of jobs may always require a traditional office setup for success, the surprising truth that’s been unveiled by the COVID-19 pandemic is that many businesses have experienced continuity — and even improvement — in their operations with an entirely remote workforce.
This has led a variety of companies, large and small, to consider permanent work-from-home setups. For instance, Twitter announced this week that all employees can work remotely “forever,” while Fortune 500 companies like Dell Technologies and Nationwide have made plans to transition to a more remote workforce moving forward.
What’s perhaps most interesting is the response by people who have been forced to work remotely for the first time.
For a majority of first-time remote workers, having added flexibility, being able to work from anywhere, and avoiding commuting proved to be a more ideal style of work. In a recent study of first-time remote workers, 70.6% claimed that their new setup allowed them to be more productive than they were at their offices.
This study, which was carried out by analysts at Coworking Insights in partnership with Coworker, found that first-time remote workers reaped a number of benefits from their new working arrangement, extending beyond increased productivity. For both first-time and long-time remote workers, a majority agreed that their remote setup had a positive impact on their finances (77.5%), mental health (77.2%), physical wellness (77.2%), family or social life (76.4%) and their career success (60.7%).
These statistics are noteworthy, revealing that the experience of remote working has led to many advantages for first-time remote workers, both personally and professionally.
As a result of this increased productivity and widespread satisfaction, 52.9% of first-time remote workers in the study said they now aspire to work remotely for the remainder of their careers.
This may very well signal a permanent shift to a remote workforce for many employers, or, at the very least, it will compel employers to view flexibility as an integral part of employee satisfaction. In the coming months, these statistics foreshadow a shifting workforce, where more businesses will look to update their flexibility policies and fulfill their employees’ aspirations to work remotely full time.
3 Comments
This article is very interesting. I am the chair of a european project ciat action about new working spaces in the PERIPHERY. Se are organising webinar about the effects of covid pandemic on coworking spaces. I’d like to interview you.
[email protected]
This is true. Remote working also makes people more organised as they now know what needs to be done and when. With this done, commuting an average of 3 hours a day is removed and can be used for more productive work. I hadn’t realised that a survey would actually agree with me.
Your ideas for flexible coworking space are very helpful and will surely help a lot. Your coworking data insights are very real. Thank you for the deep knowledge of data reports.