Considering the Pros and Cons of Remote Work

Although the causes, responses to, and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be debated for years, one thing is certain: In response to the pandemic, American businesses and organizations launched the largest work-from-home experiment in history. With little or no preparation, workplaces shifted to a remote working plan at an accelerated pace. This shift occurred regardless of prior reluctance to move so quickly or, in many cases, prior reluctance to consider anything other than traditional work schedules that required employees to be on-site. As a result, both employers and employees have discovered the advantages and disadvantages of working from home.

High-speed Internet, webcams, and other technological advances have enabled many employees living in urban and suburban areas to get their work done and to do it on a schedule flexible enough to accommodate increased caregiving and domestic needs brought on by extended quarantines. The fact that everyone was faced with a “new normal,” but not everyone was afforded the same flexibility to respond to it, highlighted the disparity among different types of employees.

For example, many individuals were characterized as “essential” employees and were not able to work from home due to the nature of their jobs. The irony was that these employees were often subject to the greatest risk of contracting COVID-19, provided with the least amount of flexibility to tend to personal matters, and were often among the lowest paid in their organization. And employees living in rural areas who did not have broadband Internet access were often unable to complete some of their job responsibilities or unable to maintain the same level of productivity as their counterparts. In addition, many employers who didn’t have the resources to provide all their staff with the appropriate equipment to work from home were left scrambling to continue their operations, if it was even possible.

Employers and employees have a wide range of perspectives about how things unfolded during the time of heightened remote work. Some will say it worked out much better than they expected, some will say it was an abysmal failure, and others will say it was the best it could have been based on the circumstances. But, in spite of this range of responses, just about everyone agrees on one thing: We’re not going back to the pre-pandemic workplace. Remote work, in one form or another, or in one pattern or another, is going to be a permanent part of any business that expects to remain in business. However, this is not to say there are not advantages and disadvantages to it.

For years, employers understood that there were advantages to a remote workforce. What was holding many back was the belief that a remote workforce would not be as efficient or as high quality as a workplace with all or most employees in the same location, with traditional oversight in place. The results of the COVID-19 pandemic remote work experiment have proven just the opposite. In fact, a total or hybrid remote workplace can be just as efficient as a traditional workplace, if not more so. Traditionalists’ fears that employees, given the chance to flex their time, wouldn’t give their full attention to work were misplaced. Actually, as anyone who has worked from home for long periods could have told them, remote workers tend to work longer hours than before. When “the office” is in the next room, the compulsion to tackle those spreadsheets or respond to those emails is strong, even if it’s 8 p.m. or Sunday afternoon.

In addition, remote working arrangements remove a number of sources of lost productivity. Highway construction or an accident on the interstate no longer causes the late arrival of a significant part of your workforce. Bad weather or icy roads no longer leads to hours of meetings about what time staff should be released in order to ensure their safe return home.

Because efficiency is not a concern, or at least of less concern than many anticipated, and productivity can be maintained or even enhanced, many employers are likely to become even more inclined to look into the potential cost savings of a transformation to remote work. One lesson this work-from-home experiment taught us is that employees successfully worked from kitchens or bedrooms, so employers may not need to rent or own a workspace large enough for their entire staff. A smaller space means less rent and lower associated costs, such as utilities and cleaning. All the amenities of a modern office may no longer be necessary: no coffee or snacks in the breakroom.

A second lesson is that remote employees may be willing to work for less. A remote worker doesn’t spend as much money on commuting, lunch, clothing, or dry cleaning, for example. Therefore, they may be willing to accept a pay cut, or a new hire may be willing to accept a lower initial salary.

And third, opening up a role to potential employees countrywide, and perhaps globally, means that candidates with lower costs of living will be competing for the job. A San Francisco–based organization with a traditional workplace needs to pay their project managers a wage sufficient to afford living within commuting distance of that very expensive city. If an employer opens the pool to individuals who live in Wichita Falls, Texas, with its lower cost of living, the company may no longer need to pay San Francisco wages.

The past few decades have proven that organizations will embrace any opportunity to cut expenses without reducing efficiency. And the amount of revenue a company can save by transitioning to a partial or total remote workforce, even if they experience a small reduction in productivity (which isn’t even a likely outcome) suggests that widespread remote workplaces are here to stay.

Employee Considerations

Most employees initially see working from home as a blessing. It can eliminate a potentially lengthy, expensive, and unpredictable commute. It can simplify caregiving responsibilities for children, aging parents, even pets and extended family members and friends. It can reduce costs not only on the commute but also by cooking meals at home and a smaller clothing and dry-cleaning budget. It can also help create a healthier work-life balance.

All that is true. But, as with most situations, there’s a flip side. A remote work situation can lead to working long hours on a constantly changing schedule, less time to unwind because time becomes devoted either to work or caring for others, losing influence and status with one’s manager and other coworkers because there’s less personal interaction, and more misunderstandings due to a heavier reliance on electronic communication. Even hopes for cost savings can be illusory. You may need to redirect the money you save from your commuting costs to purchase a desk, chair, high-speed Internet, and other home office necessities. And, although some employers offer a stipend for expenses, it may not be sufficient to cover the costs associated with working from home.

My point is that just as the idea of remote work has its advantages, there are also some downsides to consider. Even the flood of new opportunities that will arise due to expanded availability of remote work will be a mixed blessing. As increasing numbers of organizations embrace remote work, the number of jobs you could potentially apply for increases dramatically. You no longer have to only look for jobs located within commuting distance of your home or consider relocating to pursue a particularly promising position. Jobs all across the country, or even around the world, can now be included in your search, as long as they’re open to remote work. But that also means other job-seekers from across the country and around the world can apply for the same jobs. The rise of remote work increases your potential targets but simultaneously increases the competition.

On a personal level, I am a proponent of remote work as well as the potential for a greater work-life balance that it may enable employees to achieve.??And employees who have a greater balance will likely be better employees so this creates a win-win situation.??IIt does, however, have some downsides and employees should at least be open to considering roles that require face-to-face interactions or even a hybrid schedule, depending upon their personal circumstances.?

And, for those employees who decide they would prefer to continue to work remotely and plan to have that conversation with their manager, the timing could not be better because I recently published a Lifescript Single about this very critical conversation.?

What's a Lifescript Single? It's a quick and efficient road map to a challenging conversation.??Think of a Lifescript as an opportunity to obtain talking points on-demand.

And the good news is for a limited??the Lifescript Single related to a request to work from home can be downloaded for FREE by clicking here:??https://amzn.to/3rDisme??(The Lifescript with the green cover, which focuses on a conversation between a manager and an employee who want to continue to work from home, is the free content).