Jaimie Green, Chief Human Resources Officer at Lordstown Motors.
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Telecommuting is a working style that permits employees to work outside of a customary office environment. Its adoption has been rapidly accelerated because of the lockdown driven by the coronavirus pandemic. In March 2020, U.S. companies experienced a sudden change when many professional jobs had to start operating remotely so that businesses could survive. Due to the pandemic's impact on the economy, quick measures were necessary to bring back stability.
Many multinational companies like Google and Facebook were early to extend their remote work policies, and Twitter announced in May that its employees could work from home permanently. A 2020 survey by Dailypay found that 84% of respondents would work remotely if permitted, and 48% said they work more effectively from home than in the office. What was seen at first as a temporary shift in working style due to Covid-19 is now considered to be a long-term change.
Technology Is Making Remote Work Easier
Millions of people around the world are working in front of their laptop screens on Microsoft Teams meetings, discussing their tasks and promoting new changes. In the present, the survival of a business is its most important priority, and so now more than ever, leaders need to reexamine and reshape their workforce and its environment.
Even before the pandemic lockdown, Zoom, Slack and Google Suites used to provide workers with necessary video communication tools, but now the use of them has skyrocketed. Zoom has enjoyed tremendous growth. These communication platforms, provided by many software companies, are now basic tools that are used every day by millions around the globe.
In addition to this, the importance of telepresence has influenced traditional working culture. In one survey, a whopping 95% of tech experts said that the organizations they were working in prioritized technological change and advancement. Companies will lean more toward digital working and those who don’t adjust to new changes will be at a great disadvantage. The expense of implementing a certain trend — that is, remote working — is less than the expense of failing to adapt to the changes.
Along with the growth of remote working, the increased capabilities of artificial intelligence and machine learning will continue to develop distant monitoring platforms and maintenance tools that will facilitate work-from-home and business success.
Telepresence Will Change The Post-Pandemic World
The shift to telepresence gives companies greater access to talent all around the world. Companies can undoubtedly benefit from talented expert workers who live far from their offices. Despite geographical boundaries, leaders of remote teams can establish a group of experts to remotely work for the goal of the business, and overseas workers can work through video communicating platform and earn foreign exchange. The much larger talent pool uncovered by distanced working can be leveraged to expand the business as well as earn it international recognition.
Telecommuting is the future of work, but it also has certain drawbacks. The bonds between colleagues that are typically strengthened by office interactions are changed in this remote environment. People have for years gotten close to and communicated with each other through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and in the same way, employees in a distributed workforce must also learn to build connections with the colleagues through Slack and Zoom and other communication outlets.
As more and more people are going to work digitally, security and privacy concerns come to the forefront. With an increased risk of malicious internet activities and cybercrime, data protection and management, as well as advanced security tools, become more necessary. Company leaders should conduct educational webinars and general awareness sessions in order to better understand and secure its data as well as personal employee information.
Long-term remote work will require huge tech spending. Monitoring platforms, data protection tools, handling authentication and security tools built in to company software are all necessary if we are permanently shifting to increased remote work. This leads to great opportunities for IT professionals to showcase their talent and grow their careers.
A Bright Hope For A Brighter Future
In time, life will turn back to normal and things will in part go back to the way they were — but certain changes will prove permanent and continue to evolve over time. These changes will be more cost-effective as companies embrace remote work. Some will return to their usual working style, though according to a Gallup poll, nearly 60% of America’s population would like to continue working from home as much as possible.
Companies can adapt to a distributed working style and embrace it for their own betterment. The crisis has brought about an appealing trend in work that will contribute to technological innovation for the advancement of the world.
How are you doing with the ongoing crisis? How different is your life going to be after the crisis ends? How differently are you going to work? How will you keep up with technological advancements? Consider these questions and seize opportunities and live life to the fullest. We will look back at 2020 as one of the major turning points and most challenging years of our time. Embrace and welcome the new world that stood strong during these adverse times.
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