Since March 2020, the increasing incidence of COVID-19 infections has led to numerous restrictions in all areas of public and private life. The coronavirus disease COVID-19, in addition to all the challenges and drastic consequences, also acts as a catalyst for new forms of work. Globally, over 3.4 billion people were restricted to their homes as of March 2020. Consequently, many millions of employees were temporarily working from home (WFH) [1].
- With a remote work policy in place, enterprises ensure that operations can continue even if their physical premises are affected by a natural disaster, for example.
- Additionally, it can help to reduce stress and anxiety, increase productivity, and improve focus.
- The availability of a company agreement on working from home (Factor 3) has a positive influence on (4a) work ability, (4b) psychological and physical stress symptoms, and (4c) job satisfaction.
- “I used to have six to eight loads of laundry to do on the weekend and then I’d be exhausted going to work the next week,” she says.
- Having the flexibility to meet personal obligations, family needs, and other life responsibilities allows employees to work when they feel fresh and rested to accomplish most.
(Maybe all three!) Just keep in mind that in some cases—like employers that want you to attend in-person meetings once a week—changing locations may not be ideal. You should also make sure to check that your organization can legally employ someone based in the state or country you’re looking to move to. Because remote workers often have unique needs and lifestyles, employers may need to increase flexibility in their benefits.
Six Reasons Why Remote Work Is Good For Employees And Your Bottom Line
It’s the perfect way to combine work and productivity with a healthy lifestyle. Make your work hours count for your health and happiness by considering the transformative potential of a treadmill desk. Regarding the substantial rise in remote work, not only do employees win, but employers stand to gain a lot from a financial and performance standpoint. Hear from our talented and innovative RemoteHabits interviewees that are enjoying the advantages of working remotely. A one-size-fits-all approach does not work for any wellness program trying to attend to the needs and interests of a dispersed workforce. Having the flexibility to meet personal obligations, family needs, and other life responsibilities allows employees to work when they feel fresh and rested to accomplish most.
The boundaries between your job and your life can become blurred when you work from home. According to research from NordLayer, remote employees in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada put in an average of two extra hours of work per day in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. As you may know firsthand, when work expands and seeps into your free time like this, it can throw off your work-life balance and accelerate burnout. Many people with disabilities, such as chronic back pain or mental illness, can also benefit from WFH gear and settings personalized to meet their needs.
Employee utilization rate: How to calculate and improve it
I work from home for a technology marketing agency, so I can use these stress-relieving strategies as needed without distracting anyone. If you’d like to share credits across a team, drop us a note and we’ll get you setup. Help coworking spaces join the premium network and we’ll add 3 day credits to your account at no cost. Credits are only added after the referred space successfully joins the network as an official partner. Besides the incidental moments of activity, working remotely allows you to exercise more easily.
Lynne, as a mother to two young children, used asynchronous teaching to schedule her work around their needs, including online schooling schedules. Both of us have been able to schedule most of our work to match our availability, needing only to work around synchronous meetings. Similarly, working from home can weaken the “maternal wall” (Crosby et al., 2004), or the lower salaries and likelihood of promotion for mothers compared with women who do not have children. Further, even women who are pregnant and not yet parents face prejudice https://remotemode.net/blog/how-remote-work-can-benefit-employees-and-companies/ and discrimination in the hiring process (Morgan et al., 2013) and in the workplace if they are already employed (Williams & Boushey, 2010). By helping women avoid disclosing their pregnant or parental status, working remotely can reduce biases in hiring, performance evaluations, and pay and promotion decisions. In addition to reducing stress, the flexibility of remote work may encourage employees to engage in healthier habits, such as by spending more time walking (Chakrabarti, 2018) or eating healthier (Allen et al., 2008).
Engaging Remote Employees in Their Health and Workplace Wellness Programs
Technological advancements allow for remote meetings, and we have found that the recording of these meetings also increases control, flexibility, and productivity. In some instances, online webinars, workshops, and meetings allow for multitasking such as cooking dinner and tuning in at the same time. When WFH, employees are dependent on information communication technologies https://remotemode.net/ (ICT), which can include a wide range of technical equipment. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the spread as well as measures to contain the pandemic, many employees and companies quickly switched to WFH and other forms of mobile working at short notice. In a survey by Backhaus et al. [31], a lack of technical equipment was cited as an obstacle to WFH.