Remote Work as a Working Model of the Future
The COVID-19 pandemic changed how employers view their business model, and even companies like Vulkan Vegas realized something: remote work is cheaper.
Today, many companies offer remote positions to save on costs. They do not have to spend money on real estate to build a big office — the workers will stay home. Today, working from work is becoming an alternative business model, and it is not farfetched that businesses will use this as a standard working model in the future.
Little Relationship
It creates a barrier. The employer and the employee do not get to see each other. They also do not get to talk to each other except during meetings.
In the physical world, there are many ways by which employees can bond together. You see people in the office, washer room, and many other places. These meetings allow employees to get to know each other.
Online, there is not much opportunity to get to know each other. As such, there is little to no relationship between a manager and his team. A manager can call a meeting online, but then the employees can skip it.
Worse, the employees are present, but their minds are not. As such, this can pose a serious challenge in management. Remote work means it is difficult to call for an impromptu meeting.
Happy Employees
While management may have issues with remote work, employees have many reasons to celebrate. Below are a few:
Remoters who have children are happy with this setup. They can monitor their kids and watch over them, and they do not need to hire a babysitter, which is an added cost.
Because of all these benefits, distance workers have no reason to dislike these workplace conditions. Remote work also makes it possible for employees to achieve real-life balance. The only thing that the online worker has to worry about now is his tools.
Not all online workers can afford a high-end internet connection. As such, they may experience sluggish internet, and this can affect their work. Worst, their managers can accuse them of not being hard-working enough.
Remote Work Means High-Security Risk
Most companies that do not like the remote work model are those that belong to high-risk industries. Here are some examples:
As you can see, the owners of these sites have so much to lose if they allow their workers to work remotely. Remoters typically use their laptops, and you can never tell if these laptops are secure.
While employers can issue laptops to their employees, there is no guarantee that the employees have a secure internet provider. Therefore, these employers would rather that their employees come to work.
In addition, there are companies whose employees have access to sensitive data. In this regard, the company cannot risk it. if they allow their employees to access sensitive data from home, the same information is viewable by anyone who should not have access to it.
Remote Work Means More Productivity
Remote work can increase productivity levels, but then this is debatable. Some people say that remote workers are unsupervised. Some say that they can work better because they do not have to deal with the nuances of an office.
Both sides are correct, and it is up to management to make the necessary process corrections. In remote work, the management can require their workers to install a timer that takes a random screenshot of the worker’s monitor.
In this case, the management can see what is on the screen of the worker. If the image is not related to work, then the management can do something about it. They can reprimand the worker, issue a warning, etc.
Workers, on the other hand, can balance their lives and work in real time. They can log out of the time-keeping system to do some house chores that need their urgent attention. For example, if a baby cries, the worker can log out, care for the infant, and resume work once everything is okay.
Remote work is favorable to employers, provided that the job does not require people to be present, or that it is not risky. Companies today can save money in terms of office space and also benefits. Many remoters are freelancers, and clients do not pay for their benefits.
If anything, remote work is a win-win for both the employer and the worker. The worker can stay at home and save money on transportation, and the employer does not have to spend a lot of money on real estate.