When COVID-19 compelled companies globally to send their employees home to work virtually, remote work had it’s biggest moment.
Yes, the hurry to give workers access to all the tools needed to work remotely was a bit sudden for most employers. But after everyone settled down, what swiftly became clear to many office-based teams is that employees could be productive and focused when not in the office. Employers everywhere began to understand that remote work really works.
Whether you’re on the hunt for a remote job or are already working virtually, check out this list of the advantages of working from home.
10 Benefits of Working From Home
As we’ve long known, remote work has a host of advantages for workers. We’re listing out the best of the best benefits of working from home some you may already be aware of, and some that may open your eyes even more to remote work’s impact on employers, employees, the economy, and the planet.
Better Work-Life Balance
Many remote jobs by default comes with flexible schedules, this implies that employees can begin and end their day as they please, as long as their assigned work is complete and leads to the desired outcomes. This total control over your work schedule can be so valuable when it comes to attending to the needs of your personal life.
Whatever the personal chores are, they’re much more easier to balance when you work from home.
Less Commute Stress
The average commuting time for a one-way trip in the U.S is 27.1 minutes and nearly an hour daily spent on getting to and from work, valuable time that could’ve been spent doing something more productive. According to the Auto Insurance Center, commuters spend almost a hundred hours commuting and forty-one hours stuck in traffic yearly. It gets worse as extreme commuters have to deal with a much longer commute of 90 or more minutes per trip.
But the waste of time commuting is just one of the drawbacks of getting to and from work. According to numerous researches, spending over 30 minutes commuting on one-way trips is associated with increased levels of stress and anxiety, and also commuting 10 miles to work daily is associated with health issues like:
- Higher cholesterol
- Elevated blood sugar
- Increased risk of depression
So you see, ditching that daily commuting helps you to better support your mental and physical health. The time savings also can enable you to focus on priorities outside of work, like getting extra sleep in the morning, eating a healthy breakfast, spending more time with family, or working out.
Location Independence
One of the numerous benefits of working remotely is accessing a broader range of job opportunities that aren’t limited by your geographic location. This can be especially helpful for job seekers in rural areas and minute towns where there aren’t many available positions locally.
Having no set job location entails that, pre-pandemic, completely remote employees could travel and live as digital nomads while still maintaining a meaningful career.
Additionally, remote work is an excellent way to avoid expensive rent and mortgage areas, especially for job positions (like tech) that previously used to mandate living in a city with a high cost of living. Now, with remote work, all those are behind you as you no longer need your live near a metropolitan area to have the career of your choice.
Improved Inclusivity
Remote work allows for companies to truly embrace diversity and inclusions by employing people from different socioeconomic, geographic, and cultural backgrounds and with totally different perspectives. This could’ve been impossible to accomplish when recruiting is restricted to a specific locality that not everyone wants, or can afford, to live near.
And by employing workers to work from home in the communities where they feel the most comfortable and supported, companies choose to support diversity, community, and family.
Remote work offers jobs to people who might’ve had a hard time finding steady employment at an onsite job, as people with disabilities or caregivers who desperately need a flexible schedule,
the chance to follow their career goals without having to bother about commuting to and from an office.
Money Savings
People who work from home half the time can save about $4,000 annually.
Gas, car maintenance, transportation, parking fees, a professional wardrobe, lunches bought out, and lots more can all be limited or eradicated from your spending entirely. These invariably add up and put more money back into your pocket.
And saving money because of remote work isn’t just for employees, either. As more and more companies allow employees to continue working from home post-pandemic such as Twitter, Square, Shopify, and Facebook, to name just a few they’d also significantly save a lot of money in the long run.
According to Global Workplace Analytics, a normal company can save about $11,000 annually for every employee who works remotely at least some of the time. In fact, FlexJobs stated that they saved over $5 million from remote work on areas like:
- Overhead
- Real estate costs
- Transit subsidies
- Continuity of operations
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, U.S. employers saved over $30 billion daily by letting employees work from home. This is another major economic benefit of remote work and could continue as many companies are making it a long-term solution.
Positive Environmental Impact
Those 3.9 million employees who were stated earlier to have worked from home at least half the time before the pandemic lowered the greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of taking over 600,000 cars off the road for a whole year. A huge 7.8 billion vehicle miles isn’t traveled yearly for those working at least part-time from home, that’s 3 million tons of greenhouse gases (GHG) avoided, and oil savings of up to $980 million.
Impact on Sustainability
Remote working supports a wide range of sustainable initiatives, from boundless economic growth and reduced inequalities to sustainable cities, responsible consumption, and climate change.
Also, it’s one of the quickest and cheapest ways for employers and employees to greatly reduce their carbon footprint by reducing commuting.
A Customizable Office
Being able to create your own comfortable home office is to most people an excellent benefit of remote work. Whether you solely want a more ergonomic chair or you have some health issues that would require specialized office equipment, you can set up your home office however you want and to suit whatever specific needs you may have.
Increased Productivity and Performance
Working from home usually reduces work interruptions, office politics, noise levels, and more efficient meetings. Then when you factor in the lack of a commute, and remote workers typically have much more time and fewer distractions, which invariably leads to increased productivity, it now shows how huge of a benefit it’s working from home for both employees and employers alike.
When done adequately, remote work enables employees and companies to focus on what really matters. Unfortunately, office environments most times create “false positives” that can lead to bias and favoritism. Let’s be honest, coming in early and leaving late may “look” like more work, but actual performance is a much better indicator of productivity.
A Happier, Healthier Work Life
Lastly, Remote workers have been proven to be more happier and loyal than, traditional workers, all thanks to the reduced stress of working from home. Working remotely has provided more time for their hobbies, interests, and improved their personal relationships among many other awesome benefits.
Additionally, personal health and well-being, coworker and manager relationships are more positive without the distractions and politics that come along with a traditional in-office job.
Working from home has led to better health in many ways cause of:
- More time for physical activity
- The ability to eat healthier
- Can recover from illness or surgery at home
- Less exposure to illnesses
- Ease of caring for a health issue or disability
- The option to create a comfortable and ergonomic workspace.
Working remotely can offer employees the needed time and environment to make healthy choices.
