Remote Work and Employee Productivity
- Pan Thwin
- Jan 2, 2023
- 2 min read
Employers have been skeptical of the remote work culture for several reasons, one of which being the fear of losing a good level of supervision power over their employees.
However, the effects of remote work are not the same on all employees. Some do better through physical collaborative efforts while others enjoy the liberty remote work occurs which allows them to operate at an optimal level.
In a survey of more than 2000 people carried out by Flex Jobs , reports that people who worked remotely during the pandemic found that 51% were more productive while remote, and 95% say that productivity has been higher or the same.
Buffer's 2022 State of Remote Work report surveyed 2000 remote workers worldwide, and results show that 97% of remote workers would recomment working from home to others, and 97% would like to be able to continue working remotely at least some of the time for the rest of their careers.
However, according to the same survey, 45% said that career growth is more difficult to achieve when working remotely.
An interesting fact is that "30% of men and 21% of women reported working 2+ extra hours per day' when working from home, according to Owl Labs. This means that some remote employees are working for more than 10 hours every day, which can quickly lead to burnout and stress, which is most definitely not helpful for productivity.
Another positive thing about working from home is that employees save time due to the absence of commute. According to a WFH survey of 32,000 people led by Stanford economist Nick Bloom, the absence of commuting helps employees save an average of 70 minutes per day. Employees are then able to use this time to do other things. A study from WFH Research also found that working from home can reduce employee quit rates by 35%. Owl Labs also reported that 75% agree that they are less likely to leave their employer.
On one hand, most remote employees experience burnout. This is mainly because of the lack or communicaiton in the organization, not having clear expectations of what the workplace and job expectations are, and thus causing anxiety and stress.
On the other hand, employees do seem to havea more active lifestyle since the switch to WFH. A survey from The Evolving Office shows that 75% of remote employees now have a more active lifestyle.
The freedom of being able to set their own schedule and having more time allows employees to engage in healthy activities like exercise and more breaks, leading to a healthier work-life balance.
However, remote work could mean more meetings for some employees, which they are not in favor off.
Of course, there are both pros and cons to remote work and WFH but it mostly depends on how the organization and employees handle it.
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