Why Remote Work Trends Aren’t Changing Anytime Soon

Many long-time employees have experienced both the benefits and disadvantages of working from home for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this trend’s origin as a temporary measure because of social distancing protocols, it may not be disappearing even after the pandemic. Now that employees have had a taste of remote work, many of them want to continue working from home permanently.

According to Owl Labs’ State of Remote Work 2021 Report, 84% of respondents indicated that they were so satisfied with remote work that they would even be willing to take a pay cut to continue working remotely after the pandemic. Furthermore, companies are more willing than ever to implement remote work, with around 60% of companies saying that they have plans for more remote work in the future.

Despite this, 44% of companies still don’t allow remote work, which is for several reasons. Lucy Lyle, who founded the company Perch, observes, “In some companies, there is a perception that remote work goes hand-in-hand with procrastination, distraction, and subpar, unsupervised work. This doesn’t have to be the case.” Lucy Lyle continues, “If an employee is self-motivated, organized, and good at time management, they may be even more productive working from home.”

Working from home’s benefits include reducing stress, boosting morale by increasing time for other activities, and eliminating the fatigue associated with commuting. It can also save time by eliminating idle conversations around the office. Lucy Lyle says, “The idea that remote work is automatically less productive is an assumption. You have to see if your employees can handle it before dismissing the idea.”