How Likely Is It for Remote Work to Continue?

Remote work has been crucial to many businesses as they work to sustain themselves throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as businesses have adopted these new methods of operation, it has become clear that remote work is likely to be much more than a survival tactic moving forward. Let’s look to a recent survey to see how remote work is influencing these businesses.

How Impactful Can Remote Work Be?

According to a recent survey by Intermedia, there have been plenty of impacts to businesses that should only motivate these businesses to continue it.

For instance, in this study, owners of the 250 businesses surveyed indicated that they had experienced an assortment of positive influences, such as:

• 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

These businesses had primarily operated out of a centralized office beforehand, at a rate of 85 percent. Since then, that number has dropped to 26 percent as remote work has been embraced. Conversely, the use of video conferencing jumped up by 27 percent, from 57 percent to 84 percent.

This makes a lot of sense. After all, many businesses have needed to stay open in order to survive (which will continue for the foreseeable future) while simultaneously trying to preserve the safety of their employees, clients, and customers.

Will Remote Work Stick Around?

While it may still seem optimistic to look to a post-pandemic future, it is unlikely that many businesses will resume their unofficial moratorium on remote work. The largest concern that many of the survey’s respondents had were themed around engagement—how to engage and attract new and returning clients when an in-person meeting was once the preferred tactic for doing so.

It is also important to mention, however, that technology restrictions were not the source of this unease. Just look at the jump in conferencing use that we mentioned above.

Therefore, it seems overwhelmingly sure that many businesses will continue to implement remote work options in some shape or form even after the immediate need to do so has passed. After all, if a team is happier and more satisfied working remotely while still accomplishing as much as they could in the office, offering that freedom to them only makes sense.

SMART Services is here to help your business deploy and manage its remote teams and technologies, among other crucial IT services. To learn more about the litany of solutions we offer, reach out to us at 586 258-0650 .