Since the COVID-19 outbreak, almost all IT and IT-enabled services have adopted a new work culture by allowing employees to work from home. Remote working over the last three months has positively impacted productivity and if sustained over the long term, it can have a multiplier effect in terms of reducing costs of both employer and employees, lower traffic congestion, lower pollution level and decrease the number of workplace accidents, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
An increasing number of employers are realizing that remote working can complement cost-cutting measures by reducing fixed costs such as real estate expenses, electricity bills, and expenses on basic amenities required to run the office on a daily basis. This new work culture has already been adopted by global tech giants along with other IT enabled services companies.
Twitter recently announced that the majority of its employees can opt for remote working forever. Google has also allowed the majority of its employees to work from home until 2021. Companies such as Facebook, Dell, Square, Slack, Box, Zillow and many more have initiated similar plans to adapt to changes brought about by COVID-19.
Arnab Nath, Economic Research Analyst at GlobalData, states: “It’s a win-win situation for both employers and employees and a boon in disguise for some. On the one hand, it will reduce fixed costs for employers and allow them to hire talented resources from anywhere in the world. On the other hand, it will allow employees to move away from metro cities where the cost of living is very high. Societal benefits will also be witnessed over the long run in the form of lower traffic and reduced level of air and noise pollution.”
The rising level of urban migration has emerged as a major issue that had put pressure on the existing infrastructure of major cities around the world resulting in higher pollution levels, traffic congestion and accidents. With the new emerging work culture, people will have the option of moving back to their home towns, which will ease the rising pressure on major cities.
The number of surveys on remote working globally indicates that the majority of the professionals surveyed are willing to continue working remotely. Software, videoconferencing, cloud services and collaboration platforms are allowing companies to conduct meetings, training and helping employees to stay connected.
Many times job location becomes a constrain between the employers and employees, which will easily be minimized in the new normal work culture as most of the work can be done remotely. Hiring talented people from anywhere will be easier and will help companies to stay competitive along with saving on business costs.
Nath concludes: “The changes brought about by COVID-19 will change many business practices over time as companies begin to realize that an office is not required to run the company and the culture of remote working becomes the new normal.”
