Reasons to Work From Home: The Benefits for Employers and Employees

For months many employers and employees have been rethinking the way they do business. While the signs were there, no one really expected COVID-19 to impact our citizens, our workforce, or our economy quite the way it has insofar as we now have a new normal.

The requirement for social distancing has led countless companies to take drastic measures. Some employees were sent home without any idea of when they could start working again, some were able to work from home, and others were laid off entirely.

By now, you may be able to see some compelling reasons to work from home as an employee. But what about the company? Can employers benefit from employees working at home as well?

Keep reading for the top benefits of working remotely, both for employers and employees.

Reasons to Work From Home

There’s undoubtedly something comforting about getting into a routine and working with other employees. However, there are also some incredible perks only remote workers can enjoy.

Flexibility

Most remote staff have nearly unlimited flexibility in their hours and workload, depending on the company they work for. This gives them the freedom to work at their own pace, spend the afternoon going to their child’s school play, or pursue higher education while holding a part or full-time job.

Job Security

On a more topical stance, remote work from home can provide some immunity to things like the COVID-19 outbreak (fiscally speaking). While other workers are forced to go home to prevent the spread of the disease and forfeit their income, you wouldn’t have to change anything.

Geographical Freedom

Finally, companies that hire remote workers can employ people from nearly anywhere globally, given the employee has a reliable internet connection. Perhaps one of the best reasons to work from home is that “home/work” can be anywhere.

How Employers Benefit from Employees Working From Home

However, as an employer, you may wonder how you can possibly benefit from having a remote staff. While there is a learning curve for companies hiring remote workers, the employer can benefit greatly once the kinks are worked out.

Fewer Costs

Companies that strictly employ remote workers have much fewer expenses than on-site companies. For example, a small company with hundreds of employees doesn’t have to pay for a building to house them, whereas a brick and mortar company does.

This includes rent, insurance, utilities, supplies, equipment, and much more.

Employee Opportunities

Another perk of hiring remote staff is that it allows a company to handpick the best employees without geographical location. This opens up the potential employee pool exponentially.

Communication

Finally, one of the reasons to work from home for employees and a significant benefit for employers is the advancement of communicative technology.

Employers may be hesitant about going remote because they fear a lack of communication with their staff. However, technology allows various forms of both private and group communication.

Collaboration software includes:

• Video conferencing – think how Zoom has changed how organizations hold meetings
• Private and group messaging – Slack
• Project management software – SAP
• Workflow management tools – Monday.com

Summing Up

Remote working is here to stay. Whether you’re working part or all of the week at home, there are many benefits for both companies and the workers. As mentioned, businesses benefit from lower operational costs associated with fewer people in the workplace at one time. Workers spend less time traveling to and from work. Plus, workers save on the costs of travel too.

However, there are many challenges too including how to keep workers motivated and engaged with their peers when they are working remotely.

Looking for More Business Advice?

This is a difficult time to be a business owner or employee. However, successful people are those who learn to adapt. Take this as an opportunity to look into all the reasons to work from home or start implementing remote capabilities for your business.

If you’re looking to get a leg up, check out some of our other articles to learn everything you can about thriving during the best and worst times in the economy.