The Great Remote Work Illusion!

I’ve contacted more than 200 companies in the last 3 weeks to better understand how companies adapted to remote work, and what are the plans for the future. 

Most companies said they are now fully adapted to remote work, things are great, they are enjoying it and employees are happy, taking into consideration all the constraints. Most companies plan to implement 2 days a week of home office in the future.

I am not impressed. It’s a trap! 

Most companies were postponing the implementation of remote work in the last 3-5 years, knowing that their employees really wanted and acknowledging the benefits of remote work was not enough to convince them, now that people are stuck working from home, it’s great to see the change. Or… is it? 

The biggest benefits of remote work for the companies are: 

• Lower fixed costs with offices
• Productivity increase
• Lower absenteeism
• Access to top talent worldwide
• Lower turnover
• Diverse culture

From all these benefits, the home office only helps companies with the absenteeism and a little reduction on the fixed costs. It doesn't change the way companies communicate, manage their teams and operate. The same way they use to work in the office is replicated in a remote setting by using video calls and chat tools.

While most companies are tapping themselves in the shoulders for planning to implement a 2 day/week home office policy, that will not produce any change in the organization, the smart companies are taking this opportunity to shut down offices and go distributed, these companies are the ones who will thrive. 

The limited home office policy has very little benefits, it’s like going to the gym 3 times a week and saying that you are training for the Olympics, yes you are moving somewhere, but you are definitely not going to the Olympic Games.

The magic of remote work only happens when companies are distributed. When a company starts hiring people in different geographies, from different cultures, embracing their differences to help them grow while creating an amazingly diverse culture. 

Remote work and distributed companies are part of the solution we were seeking to solve several problems like economic immigration, income disparity, poverty, global warming, lack of quality time with our families, population distribution and so many more.

For the companies, this is the opportunity to leave the real estate behind, close the offices and move towards an amazing work culture that feels good and get things done. 

This is happening worldwide, Gitlab, Automattic (Wordpress), Buffer, Zapier and many more companies that are growing every year, thrive with a distributed workforce and any company that operates online can do the same. 

In the future, we will look into this era as the era where companies who failed to adapt to remote work missed the train and lost the opportunity to grow and thrive. 

Is your company pushing forward or staying behind?