Due to the heavy influence that the COVID-19 pandemic had on working environments, many people were forced to work from home.
The topic of returning to work vs working from home has become a controversial one. On one hand, there are claims that working in an office or factory increases efficiency and productivity rates as it enforces a sense of discipline in the employee. While others believe that the comfort of working remotely is the key to employee retention as well as retaining talent. In a twist of fate, companies now offer remote working as well as hybrid options to employees showing that this has now become a choice rather than the previous obligation to work in the office.
A study was conducted by the CEO of DeskTime, a time-tracking and productivity-measuring company, regarding the efficiency of working from home vs in-office working (also taking into account the hybrid option). The study respondents were made up of 46% remote workers, 26% in-office workers and 27% hybrid workers and it found that the remote workers typically work a full hour longer than their peers. These results ultimately contrast with the expectation that remote employees are “slacking off”.
As reduced office space would also decrease the businesses’ costs, remote working has therefore become a viable option for businesses to offer to their employees.
