The workforce has gone virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic, and companies are adjusting to the new normal that is a remote workforce.
Twitter, as a company, has embraced the work-from-home trend permanently, with CEO Jack Dorsey allowing his employees to work from home for however long they wish. For tech companies like Twitter, though, embracing the new home-office way of business is perhaps a natural fit. For other companies, transitioning to a remote workforce might not have been such a seamless or organic transition.
Employees who hold positions in human resources may have felt a workforce jolt with the new demand for managing company policies from a distance. The concerns could be numerous. Are workers actually working? What are they doing online? Are they using company devices appropriately?
Here’s a glimpse at employee attitudes about remote working privileges and statistics about the remote workforce during the pandemic.
General Attitudes of Employees:
Companies shouldn’t be shocked that many employees like the idea of working from home. The freedom and relaxed atmosphere is a perk to many employees, and some even look for this benefit while job hunting.
Nearly half (40 percent) of employees see flexibility as the biggest perk of working from home
Only 16 percent of companies hire dedicated work-from-home employees
Allowing employees to work from home reduces turnover by 25 percent!
More than three-quarters of employees said that they would stay at their job if their employer allowed a flexible work schedule
Working from home once a month means that employees are almost 25 percent more likely to be productive…and happy!
80 percent of individuals would reject a job that didn’t offer remote work options
90 percent said offering flex schedules would increase office morale
Remote workers may be less stressed! 80 percent of workers said they were either ‘not stressed’ or only moderately stressed.
65 percent reported that they were more productive working from home
Almost 90 percent surveyed believed that working from home would allow them to take better care of themselves
Remote workers earn about $4,000 more than their office-bound peers
What About Companies?
The benefit of a remote workforce isn’t just all about the employee. Companies have figured out that allowing their employees to have flexibility offers numerous benefits at the corporate level, too.
85 percent of companies report increased productivity
78 percent believe that offering flexibility gives them greater choice for employees (e.g. “expand their talent pool”)
65 percent of businesses chose remote options to lower costs
How COVID has Impacted the Remote Workforce
While companies and employees have their own opinions about working from home, Covid-19 threw many in the home-office without warning…or maybe a lot of preparation. Here’s how company communications prepared workers for their new remote workspace:
Communication from employers about work from home via a “company-wide message” helped prepare workers for the new normal. In fact, 75 percent of workers reported receiving a message.
Smaller companies were less likely to send these messages, though.
What about an “official work-from-home protocol?” Only about a quarter (23 percent) of those surveyed reported receiving one.
Those who received a WFH protocol were three times more likely to choose to work from home
Interestingly, a little more than 30 percent of people said that COVID was the driving force for their company allowing telecommuting from home
More than half (52 percent) have their own workspace at home (e.g. a ‘home office’)
80 percent are happy working from home
What Did Work from Home Look Like Before COVID-19?
OWL Labs and Global Workplace Analytics released the State of Remote Work 2019 report that provided detailed insight as to how the remote workforce looked the year before the pandemic changed everything. The report surveyed 1,202 workers (between the ages of 25 and 62).
62 percent worked remotely “at any frequency”
More than half (54 percent) worked remotely about once a month
48 worked remotely once a week
30 percent were full-time remote workers
55 percent of owners or “c-level” execs reported working remotely
Only 46 percent of VPs reported working remotely
The healthcare industry reported the most remote workers! In fact, 15 percent of those working in healthcare reported working remotely.
10 percent of workers in technology/internet worked remotely
Facilities/Operations/IT departments had the highest percentage of remote workers; 18 percent reported working remotely.
More than 20 percent of remote workers reported 10+ of tenure at their company. Only eight percent of remote workers had less than a year at their job.
91 percent reported that they worked remotely to achieve a better work/life balance
79 percent reported they worked remotely because it helped them be more productive
How to Track Remote Employee Productivity with Veriato
As more businesses seek to pivot to a remote workforce in the future, companies will need the tools and capabilities to monitor and oversee their remote workforce. Use Veriato to:
- Protect proprietary information
- Monitor Internet, email and chat streams on company devices
- Track productivity
- Set alerts focused on industry or job-specific search terms (e.g. social security numbers, job hunting, bank accounts, etc.)
- Monitor access to all files
- Log keystrokes
- View all downloads
- Track printed documents
- Utilize geolocation capabilities on all devices
Try Veriato for free to see how the software can better protect your business.
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