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REMOTE WORK: THE NEW NORMAL AND IMPACT ON PRODUCTIVITY

As per a report by Flexjobs, the growth in remote work over the past twelve years is whooping 159% with more than 44% growth taking place in the past five years. A growth of over 8% was reported in a span of just one year (2016-2017). In March 2020, as global restrictions and lockdown ensued as a result of COVID, others quickly hopped onto the wagon.

By Ayush Jaiswal, Co-founder & CEO, Pesto Tech
REMOTE WORK: THE NEW NORMAL AND IMPACT ON PRODUCTIVITYA

s the present workforce grapples with the new normal, managing schedules and averting the risk of burnouts, once the system is streamlined to allow for better work-life balance, remote working can prove to be the boon of one’s professional life.

In a survey conducted by us on remote work in India, we found more than 85% of respondents have been working remotely for less than a year, clearly showcasing the switch due to pandemic. However, remote work had already started gaining popularity in pre-pandemic days, unlocking the true potential of human productivity and addressing the loopholes of the traditional office set up.

Here, I believe the bigger picture that emerged was that of talent being universal. Over a period of time, businesses have also started recognizing the wider talent-pool accessible to them once they go remote and are no longer confined by borders. Some of the companies that were already aboard the remote work bandwagon pre-COVID include Invision, Stack Overview, and Zapier (to name a few). In fact, more than 57% of our respondents were employed by global companies.

As per a report by Flexjobs, the growth in remote work over the past twelve years is whooping 159% with more than 44% growth taking place in the past five years. A growth of over 8% was reported in a span of just one year (2016-2017). In March 2020, as global restrictions and lockdown ensued as a result of COVID, others quickly hopped onto the wagon. Few months into the pandemic and teams going remote, giants like Facebook, Apple, and Twitter were amongst the first few to extend work from home till the next couple of years. Though work from home is going to stay and it’s not going away anytime soon, I do believe that remote work can very often be misunderstood. Though work from home is going to stay and it’s not going away anytime soon, I do believe that remote work can very often be misunderstood. Perhaps, it would help to look at work under the following self-explanatory categories:

  • Work from anywhere – co-working spaces, cafes, etc.

  • Work from home: office in your house

  • Work in a traditional office setup

  • Working in a pandemic – No social life, no vacation, no sports, little interactions

REMOTE WORK: THE NEW NORMAL AND IMPACT ON PRODUCTIVITYIt’s critical to understand that currently, we’re all working during a pandemic. So, we might be facing problems that will not exist in the near future. With a lot of things changing around us, the lines often get blurred!

Impact on Productivity

Let’s start with the question of productivity, since it is a key parameter for any business to assess its workforce, a valid question that arises is whether remote work will be able to ensure the same levels of productivity as that of on-site employees. Multiple studies have reached the same conclusion – Remote workers are more productive! Here’s why

  • Remote workers are less distracted

In this 2012 Stanford study, it was found that remote work leads to increased levels of productivity, up by 13% to be exact, thanks to a less distracting environment. Since organizations are now transitioning to open office space layouts bustling with a myriad of activities, a lot of employees no longer have access to quiet spaces and find it difficult to concentrate on their desks.

  • Remote workers work more

In Owl Labs’ 2019 State of Remote Work report, it was found that remote workers work 43% more than on-site workers and tend to be more goal-oriented than just focusing on the number of hours.

  • Remote workers are efficient

The open office distractions vanish when working at home, which comes with its own set of distractions (more on that later). In addition to increased levels of productivity, remote workers also deliver more on performance, thanks to them having more autonomy over their work. Combining results from the various reports mentioned earlier, it was found that remote workers produce results with 40% fewer quality defects.

Impact on Income

Now that you have an idea about the benefits of working remotely, let us find out how remote workers fare against their on-site counterparts. We compared the results of various surveys done over the past few years and these are our takeaways

  • Remote workers earn more: The Owllabs report found the fraction of remote workers earning salaries higher than $100,000 per year in the US to be roughly 2.2 times that of on-site workers.

  • Remote workers save more: In the report by FlexJobs and Global Workplace Analytics, it was found that remote workers save more, around $4,000 a year, other reports suggest even higher savings

  • Experience pays: As per this And Co report, 7% of workers who’ve been remote for under a year earn over 100k, this number jumps to 18% for those who’ve worked remotely for 7 years or more

Among other findings, we learned that the ability to work remotely makes employees happier, feel more trusted, better able to achieve work-life balance, and more inclined to take a pay cut to benefit from added flexibility. In short, remote work is a win-win solution for both employees and employers.

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