According to recent research, by the year 2020 40% of the workforce will be remote workers. As we see it now, 53 million Americans are already working remotely – which is a huge chunk of the population. There are a lot of lattes, cafe spots and remote working facilities needed to sustain such a workforce! A key part of this ongoing shift for workers from full time permanent work to part time/casual work has been an increase in the understanding of what it takes to be successful in your career, and how remote work doesn’t mean a step backwards – it can be a step forwards.
The act of working remotely is firmly in the sights of both businesses and workers. In the year 2016 there was a huge leap in the numbers of businesses who were offering flexible working conditions. Indeed, we already see that of 75% of companies worldwide are providing their staff with options about their hours and work arrangements. Many workers are opting to work part-time, or casual hours, because of family commitments or other life commitments.
When you look at the global business industry, it’s not hard to see why remote working is becoming more and more popular. Where before we were confined to working in a fixed office space, now technology has made working remotely more possible. Technological advances have transformed the workplace and we have seen a huge amount of growth in virtual office spaces in just a few years. Servcorp is a leading provider of virtual office solutions and are proud to bring you this short how-to on building a global business using remote working.
Cut costs with a remote team
When you are setting up a global business one of the biggest concerns is how to keep costs low while moving the business forward. When you look at a remote team cost versus the cost of a physical office, it’s not hard to see why remote working is such a popular choice for so many international businesses. While it may have been a more expensive endeavour to set up a remote team in the past, the cost of setting up a remote working program for your employees has drastically reduced thanks to the increase of cloud based services and technology. Now instead of having to invest in costly programs and services to stay connected, you can get great results for your team with an Internet connection, a few desktop apps and a computer.
Save on real estate
Another advantage of having a remote working team is that you do not have to invest a lot of money into real estate. The cost of a commercial office (either leasing or buying) is always one of the top three expenses for business, and always takes up a big chunk of any of your fixed cost. It has been reported that the company IBM managed to save $50M in real estate costs when they introduced telecommuting (remote working) in the mid 2000. No matter what size your business is, the savings can be substantial.
Happy workers = better business
Apart from the financial benefits for your business, there are plenty of other factors of play which serve to make remote working a distinct benefit to your global business. It has been reported that productivity is higher in remote teams, while employees are reported to have higher standards of happiness overall.
Many employees covet flexible working time as an important factor in getting that all too important work life balance. Our lives are complicated, and we are happier when we have a little bit more freedom to do the things we need to do while still putting in a great effort for employer. To that end, offering flexible work for your business is a key factor for attracting the right kind of talent for your business. It has been claimed that a third of all employees in 2006 would prefer a flexible working situation over a pay rise, so it’s something to keep in mind for your business.