Over a period of time, businesses have started recognising the wider talent pool accessible to them once they go remote and are no longer confined by borders. Sakshi Sharma analyses the impact of remote work on productivity and income
As the workforce grapples with the changing normal, remote working has proved to be the boon of one’s professional life. The work-from-home pattern has undoubtedly saved all of us from the brunt of the pandemic this year. However, how much does difference it make in the productivity level? Apart from pandemic, has it turned out to be a better option for the workforce? We tried to look at the trends and learn it from the experts.
Ayush Jaiswal, Co-founder & CEO, Pesto Tech, says, “In a survey conducted on remote work in India, it was found that more than 85 per cent respondents have been working remotely for less than a year, clearly showcasing the switch due to pandemic. However, remote work had already started gaining popularity in pre-pandemic days, unlocking the true potential of human productivity and addressing the loopholes of the traditional office set up.”
He adds that here, the bigger picture that emerged was that of talent being universal. Over a period of time, businesses have also started recognising the wider talent pool accessible to them once they go remote and are no longer confined by borders. Some of the companies that were already aboard the remote work bandwagon pre-COVID, include Invision, Stack Overview and Zapier, to name a few. In fact, more than 57 per cent of respondents were employed by global companies.
As per a report by Flexjobs, the growth in remote work over the past 12 years is whooping 159 per cent with more than 44 per cent growth taking place in the past five years. A growth of over eight per cent was reported in just one year (2016-2017). In March 2020, as global restrictions and lockdown ensued as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, others quickly hopped onto the wagon. Few months into the pandemic and teams going remote, giants like Facebook, Apple, and Twitter were amongst the first few to extend work from home till the next couple of years.
For Vikas Bagaria, founder, Pee Safe, working remotely has never been a challenge because of the industry he operates in. Says he, “Considering the fact that our sales team is based all over the country we have always been comfortable with calls and virtual meetings. We are working in the hygiene industry and our physical offices and warehouses opened soon. So, we did not face any brunt of working from different locations.”
Sanchit Gaurav, founder and CEO, Housejoy, shares specific schedules that his team followed while working from home. “From attending video meetings in the morning to regular follow-up calls, we made sure that there was never any gap in our approach to work. We worked from Monday to Friday and celebrated on Friday evenings. Now since 50 per cent of the team is back to office, we have not mandated the same, yet we continue to follow the same schedule,” says he.
Though work from home is going to stay and it’s not going away anytime soon, remote work can very often be misunderstood. Perhaps, it would help to look at work under the following self-explanatory categories:
Work from anywhere: co-working spaces, cafes, etc.
Work from home: office in your house
Work in a traditional office setup
Working in a pandemic: no social life, no vacation, no sports, little interactions
It’s critical to understand that currently, we’re all working during a pandemic. So, we might be facing problems that will not exist in the near future. However, with a lot of things changing around us, the lines often get blurred.
Impact on productivity
Let’s start with the question of productivity, since it is a key parameter for any business to assess its workforce. A valid question that arises is whether remote work will be able to ensure the same levels of productivity as that of on-site employees. Abhinav Girdhar, Founder, Appy Pie, says, “Remote working has enhanced productivity by adding comfort and reducing the time spent in commuting to and fro from work. It takes away multiple distractions and adds flexibility thus increasing overall productivity.” Multiple studies have reached the same conclusion — remote workers are more productive. Ayush lists the reasons:
Remote workers are less distracted
In this 2012 Stanford study, it was found that remote work leads to increased levels of productivity, up by 13 per cent to be exact, thanks to a less distracting environment. Since organisations are now transitioning to open office space layouts bustling with a myriad of activities, a lot of employees no longer have access to quiet spaces and find it difficult to concentrate on their desks.
They work more
In Owl Labs’ 2019 State of Remote Work report, it was found that remote workers work 43 per cent more than on-site workers and tend to be more goal-oriented than just focussing on the number of hours.
They are more efficient
The open office distractions vanish when working at home, which comes with its own set of distractions (more on that later). In addition to increased levels of productivity, remote workers also deliver more on performance, thanks to them having more autonomy over their work. Combining results from the various reports mentioned earlier, it was found that remote workers produce results with 40 per cent fewer quality defects.
Impact on Income
Ayush compares the results of various surveys done over the past few years and these are the key takeaways:
Remote workers earn more: The Owllabs report found the fraction of remote workers earning salaries higher than $100,000 per year in the US to be roughly 2.2 times that of on-site workers.
Remote workers save more: In the report by FlexJobs and Global Workplace Analytics, it was found that remote workers save more, around $4,000 a year, other reports suggest even higher savings. As per a survey by Upwork, a firm in California, which supplies freelance professionals to companies, Americans save time and money by working from home.
Experience pays: As per the And Co report, seven per cent of workers who’ve been remote for under a year earn over 1,00,000, this number jumps to 18 per cent for those who’ve worked remotely for seven years or more.
Among other findings, it was found out that the ability to work remotely makes employees happier, feel more trusted, better able to achieve work-life balance, and more inclined to take a pay cut to benefit from added flexibility. In short, remote work is a win-win solution for both the employees and the employers.
