Will Remote Work Policies Continue Once the Pandemic Ends?

While remote work has been possible and somewhat popular for some time now, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made it indispensable for many businesses to survive. Nevertheless, as it has spread, it has become apparent that remote work isn’t likely to go away as our immediate need for it does. Let’s look at how remote operations are influencing businesses to see why.

The Impact of Remote Work

There have been plenty of positive effects brought on by the implementation of remote work policies for businesses to only embrace it further. A recent study by Intermedia surveyed the owners of 250 businesses and revealed a telling selection of these effects, including:

• Increases in employee availability in 19 percent of these businesses
• Increased job satisfaction—15 percent—and life satisfaction—seven percent—alike
• Decreased overhead costs
• Improved employee attitudes
• Reduced work-related stress
• Increased engagement

Out of these businesses, 85 percent had primarily functioned in a centralized office space, but with remote work exploding in prevalence as social distancing has been adopted, that number has gone down to 26 percent. Simultaneously, video conferencing increased in use by 27 percent, from a rate of 57 percent to 84 percent.

This only makes sense, as businesses must continue their operations to remain open. If remote work is the only way to do this without jeopardizing the health and safety of their employees, clients, and customers, the smart play is to embrace remote operations.

Will Remote Work Last Longer than the Pandemic?

Admittedly, it can be hard to even think about the time after the current health crisis is over, as so much has changed in the relatively short time we’ve all been living this new normal. We don’t think that remote operations will go away, though. Consider the list of benefits that businesses reported seeing. The biggest concern that many of these businesses had was the matter of engagement: how could they attract and convert clients when face-to-face conversions were once their de facto strategy?

However, these concerns were not fueled due to any influence by technology restrictions, as the explosion in conferencing we discussed above goes to show.

As a result, we can confidently conclude that many businesses won’t shift away from remote operations when they are no longer required for survival. The benefits—increased team satisfaction and at least the same levels of productivity—are just too good to pass up.

BNMC can help you embrace the remote capabilities that can help your business survive these challenges, along with many other IT tools and resources. Give us a call at (978) 482-2020 to learn more about what we can do for your business technology.