One year has passed since the fateful day when the country shut down because of the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic. This shutdown sent many workers home to work remotely in percentages that the country had never experienced. What many thoughts would be a few weeks at home has now stretched to a year, and remote work is not going away soon. 2021 will bring more working from home, and because the temporary nature of the remote work has long since passed, companies are making plans to make the most of the situation for themselves and their employees.
Remote Work is Sticking Around
Before the pandemic, there were few people who worked from home. According to a study conducted by FlexJobs, “In February 2020, only 4.7 million Americans, or roughly 3.4% of the population, worked remotely. In the past year that number rose to 42%, as the pandemic forced offices to close.” Clearly, the jump in remote workers has been astronomical, and both companies and employees are still making peace with what this means for the bottom line.
The remote work will continue, if the tech giants are any indication of the pulse of the nation. Forbes Magazine recently reported that “Tech companies such as Google, Twitter, and Facebook have already announced that they would operate remotely until June 2021 and that workers were not expected back into the office.” Going back and forth between remote and office is costly, and these companies have pulled the trigger and made the most of remote work.
What Companies Gain in Remote Work
Companies have much to gain by working remotely. The remote work force is cheaper to manage, as a company will save money on rent and utilities, as well as cleaning since no one is in the building every day.
Additionally, the workforce can be more diverse if it is remote because people can work from anywhere. Now that the dust is settling on the pandemic, employees will embrace the new normal of remote work and make it work for them. Job van der Voort, CEO of Remote, said, “One of the most amazing things about working remotely is that you can work from wherever you want, and that could mean all sorts of exotic things; you could travel to another country for a while, or it means if I don’t feel like…
