For many big companies, the adjustment to working from home during the coronavirus pandemic was quick and painless. But, pandemic or not, many businesses realize that permanent remote employment is the way of the future.
The question arises, why do big companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook, Hubspot, Dell and Microsoft continue to work from home?
This is because online work has a lot of benefits and a few of them are discussed below:
Working from Home Has Several Advantages
Remote work, as we’ve long known, offers a slew of benefits for employees. We’ve compiled a list of the greatest of the best advantages of working from home.
1. Reduced Commute Anxiety
In Metro Manila, citizens lose a total of 257 hours on average in their commute. This is from a mobility report data from 2019 which stated that the city is the second worst traffic congestion out of 416 cities in the world.
By eliminating your commute, you can better support your emotional and physical wellness. The time saved may be used for things other than work, such as obtaining more sleep in the day, enjoying more time with family, working out, or having a nutritious breakfast.
2. Independence from a specific location
Working from home has several advantages, one of which is having access to a wider variety of employment possibilities that geography restricts. This is particularly useful for job searchers in rural areas where there may be a limited number of local openings. Since XS Multimedia, started working-from-home during the pandemic we had an opportunity to hire people from other parts of the country and this wouldn’t be possible if our openings are only available for people residing in Metro Manila.
Furthermore, remote employment is an excellent method to escape high-rent and high-mortgage regions, mainly for jobs (such as technology) that formerly required residing in a high-cost-of-living city. You no longer need to live in a significant urban area to work in a field you like.
3. Increased Accessibility
Companies may embrace equality and diversity by employing individuals from various socio-economic, regional, and ethnic diversity and views, which can be challenging when recruitment is limited to a particular location that not everyone wants to live near or can afford.
Companies promote diversity, community, and family by employing workers who can work from home in the areas where they feel most comfortable and supported.
4. Beneficial to the Environment
As what we said in number one, working from home doesn’t involve commuting to work. With majority of the population driving their way to the office or riding public transportation, it saves not only time and money but it also results to lower greenhouse gas emission that affects climate change.
Before the pandemic, 3.9 million workers who worked from home at least half of the time cut GHG by the equivalent of removing 600,000 vehicles off the road for a year. For individuals who work part-time from home, 7.8 billion car miles are avoided each year, 3 million tons of greenhouse gases are avoided, and $980 million in oil is saved.
5. Financial Savings
Full-time workers who work from home may save at approximately P50,000 per year on gas, vehicle maintenance, transit, parking fees, a business outfit, out-of-pocket meals, and other expenses. With all these financial expenses eliminated, it adds up more money in your savings account.
Employees aren’t the only ones that benefit from the savings. Companies that enable workers to work from home during a pandemic will realize substantial long-term cost reductions such as office rent, electricity, water, internet, equipment, maintenance, petty cash and company celebrations.
6. Long-term consequences
From economic development and decreased inequities to urban sustainability, climate change, and responsible consumerism, remote employment supports a range of sustainability efforts.
Reduced commuting travel is one of the quickest and cheapest methods for businesses and workers to decrease their environmental footprint that would have less impact to the growing climate change. Indeed, throughout the pandemic, the planet significantly reduced pollution, congestion, and traffic. These positive environmental benefits alone serve as a good motivator for big companies to continue remote employment for everyone.
