Without question, over the past year and a half, the workplace has changed significantly. Working from home all the time limits employees from seeing the subtleties of office interaction, such as birthday celebrations, water cooler chatter, or overhearing talks that could help you better understand the company.
However, by hiring fewer people, a business may be able to reap numerous benefits. How? Think about a typical office situation: do you picture a bustling, active office, or do you picture some vacant desks while you wait for the new hiring of the following year?
According to a Sandford University study of 16,000 employees conducted over a nine-month period, businesses can reduce their office space rent by roughly $2,000 per employee by simply making better use of the available space.
Other advantages include
Higher productivity levels
Lower real estate costs
Decreased absenteeism
Lower turnover
Employers should assess whether components of a role are best performed at home or in the office rather than how many days employees should be in the office. Creating a hybrid schedule can take many different forms depending on the role and industry. However, because the bulk of jobs in the future will be remote and hybrid, organisations must constantly enhance their operations.
Wider talent base
Many people have dubbed the COVID-19 pandemic as the Great Resignation, which has devastated the global employment market. Over the previous two years, businesses and startups have had trouble attracting and keeping employees. Being an employer of choice is more crucial than ever since it is harder than ever to recruit and keep great individuals.
The upshot has been a rise in wages and a sharp increase in labour market competition. According to numerous studies, firms can use a range of other tactics besides salary to persuade their top employees to turn down a job offer from a competitor.
Greater flexibility, for instance, is thought by employees to be the second most important feature that would cause employees to reject a job offer from a rival company. Successful businesses usually encourage remote work for all employees who are capable of it. Research from the previous 20 years has demonstrated that companies with strict regulations regarding remote work had greater output levels, employee engagement, and key performance indicators.
Smart savings
One of the many advantages of contract and remote work for both organisations and people is cost savings. Businesses hire contract staff temporarily; they are not paid on a yearly basis.
Similarly, companies are not obligated to invest significantly in staff training and development. Choosing remote and contract labour thus saves firms a lot of money.
Another way remote work may help businesses decrease costs is through executive mobility. Executives are free to work from their preferred locations. Because not everyone wants to stay in big cities due to higher living expenses, employees can move to tier II cities with reduced living costs. By building a diverse remote team and allowing staff to work in different cities across the nation and alter their salary accordingly, this move might save larger corporations thousands.
Many large corporations, like Facebook, Twitter, and Stripe, have recently made headlines by announcing pay reductions for remote employees who choose to move to less expensive and centrally located places. Although one may disagree with this approach, most employees appear to be open to accepting salary reductions in exchange for additional effort.
Improved productivity outcomes
Contrary to what is commonly believed, employees who have access to all of the modern amenities of home don’t actually result in lower production levels. Employees that work remotely benefit from flexible scheduling, a better work-life balance, and a more enjoyable working environment. In actuality, remote workers seem to be putting in long hours while still maintaining a better work-life balance and experiencing less stress.
Furthermore, remote workers are putting in longer hours because extended in-person meetings and commute times are avoided. Remote workers have a better work-life balance, and finally, they are less stressed. Businesses may also profit from remote employment by permitting applications from around the world, attracting even more talent, despite the country’s extremely low labour costs. China, Brazil, and Romania are just a few nations that provide labour at a lower cost than India.
The secret to happy employees
Employee feedback favours remote work. Several studies have revealed that the capacity to work remotely is substantially related to job satisfaction. Employee satisfaction, for instance, decreases as commute times lengthen, while an additional hour of sleep can improve workers’ all-around performance. On the other hand, unhappiness can lead to a reduction in sustainability and performance that is even more severe than in an empty office building.
Employees in remote positions “experience more positive effects on their daily work, are more engaged, and have a feeling of well-being more than those in non-remote positions with minimal flexibility,” according to a McKinsey study.
We are here to help
Coming back to our earlier question, can businesses genuinely save money by allowing employees to work remotely? The answer is unquestionably yes. Remote work is a fantastic alternative for businesses looking to reduce their costs, even after taking into account the additional investments required to set up an adequate remote office and technological infrastructure. It’s time for both employees and businesses to embrace the new workplace trends and think about the advantages of working remotely now that digitalisation is at its finest.
At iView labs, we often assert that while opportunities are unequally distributed, talent isn’t. For business owners trying to employ top talent, remote work is bridging that gap in a way that makes financial sense.
Whether you are a startups, an SME or a growing company, we help you to find the perfect tech team. All you have to do is send us a tech team brief outlining the skills you require, the number of people required, and the project duration, and we’ll take care of the rest.
If you are looking for a Technology Talent partner, we at iView Labs will be happy to help. Just fill in this easy form to get in touch with us with your queries and needs. You can also write to us at info@iviewlabs.com and sales@iviewlabs.com. Download the latest portfolio to see our work.