Working from home is a dream come true for many employees. It’s also arguably one of the few good things brought on by the pandemic. Thanks to remote work, businesses and companies were able to continue their operations despite border lockdowns and social distancing measures.
However, whether or not people will have to go back to the office is up in the air as vaccine rollouts continue throughout the world.
Obviously, not everyone is excited to go back to the way things were. In fact, some remote workers are uncomfortable returning to the office and a vast majority would rather quit than give up remote work. And with good reason.
Let’s take a look.
Safety Concerns
Getting fully vaccinated offers the best protection against the virus. However, it doesn’t stop virus transmission, so we still have to observe social distancing and good sanitation practices.
Until we achieve herd immunity and/or covid-19 is fully eradicated, none of us is fully safe. Thus, many remote employees will continue to prefer working from home to protect themselves and their families.
Forcing them to go back to the office can be disastrous, especially if they have to work with unvaccinated individuals who don’t believe in science (!). Quite a few would rather quit than risk passing the virus onto unvaccinated kids or immunocompromised members living at home.
Additional Savings
Let’s face it. You can save a lot of money when you work from home. Since there’s no need to pay for gas or commuting, you can put those savings towards your emergency fund.
Returning to the office, on the other hand, would entail spending additional money on transportation, morning coffee, and lunches out. Little wonder then that many would rather look for another job that can offer them more flexibility or even take a small pay cut than revert.
If you really can’t let your employees work from home full time, you can offset the costs by offering transportation allowances. Otherwise, just let them carry on remotely.
Work Flexibility
Nothing beats a remote work set-up when it comes to flexibility. Working from home allows you to take mindful breaks as needed, unlike in a traditional set-up with a more rigid schedule.
For example, WFH allows you to go for a quick run or sit down with your kids at lunch. For many, these perks are worth more than a raise or an irresistible job offer.
Simply put, as long as your employees get their work done, it shouldn’t matter where they clock in.
Better Work-Life Balance
Many of us discovered (or rediscovered) new (or old) hobbies during the pandemic. Some learned how to knit while others started baking their own bread, and so on. This wouldn’t have been possible with a regular 9-to-5 job.
Requiring employees to give up remote work is akin to making them give up these newfound joys. Who would willingly do that, especially when more and more companies practically offer remote work as a signing bonus these days?
Finding the right talents takes a lot of time and resources. Thus, once you have the right people on your team, do whatever you can to keep them, especially when it simply involves allowing them to continue working from home.
Remote Staff has been providing AU entrepreneurs like you with the best remote workers from the Philippines for more than a decade already. If you need help fully transitioning your company into the digital world, we are more than ready to help you.
Call us today or schedule a call back and let’s get started.
Serena has been working remotely and writing content for the better part of the last decade. To date, she's written for Pepper.ph and Mabuhay Magazine, among others, and has churned out more than a thousand articles on everything from The Basics of Stock Market Investing to How to Make Milk Tea-Flavored Taho at home.
