Should Businesses Still Embrace Remote Workforces?

In 10 years, one-third of employees will be working from home according to a recently published Inc. article. In contrast to this claim, IBM recalled thousands of its remote employees back to the office in 2017 and Yahoo acted similarly in 2013.

We’ve bulleted out several claims (some may have credible research supporting them) stating some advantages and disadvantages for businesses allowing remote employees:

Advantages:

• Ability to attract/retain skilled talent that is:
difficult to find locally has demanding child care needs
tired of dealing with rush-hour commutes
looking to live in other geographic areas for lifestyle reasons

• Ability to reduce operating expenses (ex: Less office space required)

Disadvantages:

• Collaborating through video conferences and instant messaging is less productive

• Building relationships virtually is more difficult than building relationships in-person

• Distractions (Ex: pets, laundry, March Madness, comfortable couches)

• Employees are distanced from company culture building initiatives (Free food, office celebrations, team building activities, onsite gyms, etc.)

written by:

Brendan Kelly

Brendan Kelly is a Business Alliance Manager focused on building partnerships with technology companies that can help The Walker Group’s clients increase efficiencies, reduce operating expenses and mitigate IT security risks. Prior to assuming the Business Alliance Manager role at Walker, Brendan spent 10+ years in new business sales and account management roles while working for both software and service providers.

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