Over the past year, many of us have had some pretty drastic changes to our lives. One work change that we may feel for a while is working from home. Being told to work from home for over a year has caused a considerable ripple effect. Now companies have to decide whether or not to continue allowing this option in the future. Many people are writing about whether companies are going fully remote, hybrid, or bringing their employees back. It will be intriguing to see the long-term impact of remote work. Below are some of the Pros and Cons of working remotely.
Pros and Cons – WFH
Pros
Time
If you had a commute, working from home cuts that down to approximately zero. This drop in commuting time has been critical and impactful for a lot of employees. For example, if you had a commute of 1 hour both ways, the amount of time you got back would be 10 hours a week. However, if you worked every week, that would be 520 hours. That is a lot of time to get back in your life to focus on other things.
The drastic change has given some employees time to focus on other things like exercising, eating/cooking food, hobbies, or just adding more time to spending with family. However, the time people are getting back alone has been probably one of the most impactful changes that workers have noticed now that they have had a chance to work from home for a more extended time.
Recruiting
Many hiring managers have faced issues finding suitable candidates “in the talent pool.” Being able to recruit remote candidates frees you up from the limitations of location-driven candidate pools. Sometimes qualified candidates are not in your vicinity. Opening up where you look can drastically change how easy it is to find the right person for your roles.
Money
We believe that remote work can positively benefit both the employee and the employer from a money standpoint. For the employee, being able to work remotely can save them the cost of their commute. While more extreme, employees also may have the flexibility to move. If a company is in a high cost of living area, this remote flexibility may give the employee the ability to move someplace else that costs less. This ability to move assumes that the employee and employer discussed this, and there is no expectation that the employee would have to go back into the office. This ability to move may come with the understanding that the employer may lower the employee’s pay because of this cost of living change. This would benefit the employer and help the employee if their overall net income is still the same, but now they get to live somewhere they prefer.
Another monetary impact that this type of change can bring is the ability to minimize office expenses. If a company decides to go fully remote or even hybrid, there may be less need for all that flashy office space you are currently paying. Even if you move to a more hybrid environment and still have employees come on a few days a week, you may realize that you need less space and pay less for snacks, office equipment, supplies, and other costs. Of course, you may need to use that money for different needs that your company is remote, but this may be a cost-saving.
Flexibility
Working from home has provided the flexibility that allows them to experience a better work-life balance. When you work from home, this might give you more time to spend with your family, work on a hobby, or find more balance between your work and home self.
On the other hand, this might also have the opposite effect. Some might feel like they are always on the clock when working from home because there is no separation between their home and office.
Cons
Culture
One of the biggest cons mentioned when discussing working from home is how it will impact the company culture. An office can drive home a companies culture. Your workplace probably has artifacts all around like a mission statement, events, a social meeting place like a kitchen, and these items can drive the company culture. When an employee works from home, you might do other things like virtual events, but it is probably not the same.
All of that being said, your company culture might change for the better because of this. Maybe your company had a culture of working long hours or pretending to be busy to show face for your boss. Working from home might have caused enough disruption to impact your culture for the better. Most people though, probably believe it is more likely to cause more harm than good.
Transparency
The other less spoken but probably equally true “Con” that some leaders and managers may have about employees working from home is that they now have less visibility and transparency into their workers day to day. When you are working in the office, your manager can see you. Even if you are secretly on your phone, they still can see that you are “working.” Working from home requires managers to change how they keep tabs on their employees and may need them to trust that their employees are working. There are still ways to make sure their employees are working, but it may involve more work to check-in.
Home
One major downside of working from home is that employees were not prepared to have their home become their office. Some people might not have space in their homes to set up a proper work environment. With EVERYONE currently being home, this may mean partners, children, pets, etc., may cause their environment to be less than ideal for getting work done. Some of this may be due to the fact we were all sent home so suddenly. Over time, we have adapted and changed our home environment to counter some of these issues, but sometimes our home does not make for a great place to work.
Zoom Fatigue
If you work from home, you need to use a web conference tool (Zoom, Hangouts/Meet, Highfive, Bluejeans) to get on a call and talk to your coworkers. For some people, this might not be an issue. Others may miss being able to walk over to someone’s desk and ask them a quick question. It is more challenging for you to have a brief discussion unless you want to type it all over Slack or even… *gulp* an email.
Working From Home May Not Be For Everyone
Full transparency, we believe that if an employee can do their job from home, they should be given that option. However, that does not mean every job is possible to work from home, or every employee wants to take that option.
Some work may not be feasible at home. For example, it is a little challenging to work for a restaurant from home. You also can not work from home if you are a plumber or electrician. These are just some of the examples of roles that are not possible at home.
Even if it is possible to complete your work from home, it might not suit you. As stated previously, maybe your home is not conducive for work. Or perhaps you prefer to separate your two worlds and strongly prefer the social interaction at work. All of these may be reasons why even if it is possible, maybe it is not preferable.
But Why Shouldn’t It Be An Option?
If you can work from home, why is it not an option? Are some companies against it because of the above “Cons”, or are they just afraid of change? Providing that flexibility would help someone and (if done correctly) increase the work-life balance that it seems more employees are beginning to prioritize. There may be some positives for the employer as well.
Defining Company Culture Characteristic
No matter where a company falls on the remote work spectrum, we believe this will impact companies from a cultural standpoint, at least for the next few years. Employees may begin to look to their current (or future) employer and see where they stand on this issue when determining their future. The companies decisions on work from home and work flexibility as a whole may be one of the primary reasons for the mass exodus of employees at their current employers. It will be interesting to see how it plays out now that everything is beginning to open again.
All opinions above are those of the writer and not of their employer(s). Nothing written above should be considered investment, business, or legal advice. These blog posts should be used for educational purposes only. This post is also not sponsored or endorsed by any company (unless expressly stated otherwise). For more information, please read our Terms.