The Remote Workforce

A significant change is currently happening towards a decade-old trend of workplace flexibility. The trend started to accommodate the employees so they can have a better variety of space types inside their physical workplace.

Many claim that modern changes to the traditional model of the workplace were already happening before Covid-19 came. The pandemic fueled the fire to it, and the employees were eventually allowed to have a working space of their choice.

Now that the pandemic finally attacked us and halted our businesses, companies are seeking a solution to help run their business smoothly. They proposed a remote workforce that can be flexible enough to act as an in-office.

The issue is that the workload has not decreased a bit, but the companies demand increased workforce mobility. It’s upon the workers how they can manage to get the work done efficiently while staying in their remote areas.

Currently, workers are adopting three new work trends forming the “World of Work 4.0.” These are the concepts:

The Idea to Hyperautomate Daily Work:

The idea to automate a process that should be automated has been in the minds of many workers.

Research suggested that most employees now prefer a middle road to work. They want the comfort of a home as well as the latest equipment and technology support to work. This private model would contain a shared-space infrastructure that can help in increasing space utilization.

More money will be saved this way, and more happy employees will be produced. Employees want more privacy now due to increased health risks by Covid-19.

Since the pandemic started, we knew something would change in life. The sudden shift to a distributed work model left many people thinking about the Future of work-life. People are reimagining what it would be like to do your job on your terms.

The decades-old 9 to 5 routine has become toxic. The office culture itself is a big question mark due to in-house politics, favoritism, HR management, ineffective meetings, and inefficient processes. This is now the time to think, the time to change.

 

Digitization is Critical:

The majority of employees are familiar with tools like Email. They also know how to function technology and come up with a quick solution. It has greatly reduced stress and provided flexibility.

Employees have become too comfortable with this new flexibility. They are so accustomed to this new way of work that research even suggested that most employed people do not want to go back to their offices with that same boring routine. 12% want the old office culture, while 72% are in favor of a hybrid remote-office model.

 

On-demand Workforce will be the Future:

Surely the Hybrid remote-office model will be greatly beneficial for businesses with organizational agility, empowered teamwork, highly driven engagement, and is aligned with all these. Those who’d be stuck with old methods will remain behind.

About 40% of the US population is already working from home. Their daily work experience has changed significantly since lockdown. Most are now doing their work both at home and in the office. It helps them maintain a balance and gives them a chance to be more creative and socially interactive.

The distributed workforce will break all the barriers of a traditional office environment.

The World of Work

The new World of Work is all about going digital. Virtual workstations have replaced the offices. Cloud storage has become the new trend. The new workspace will work only on flexibility.

Workspace 4.0:

Workspace 4.0 defines the coming digital workspace. Let's define the eight segments it will include:

• Cloud-connected virtual desktops as front-end.
• Virtual applications for remote workers.
• Secure endpoints for integrity and security.
• Collaboration tools to keep everyone connected in the office and remote.
• Policy and management issues to ensure consistent rules.
• Employees’ critical analysis.
• Print management for print material safety.
• Securing company sites and remote employees.

 

Key benefits for the Remote workforce - Better Future for Workspace 4.0

Increased efficiency at work

A recent survey from Enterprise Technology Research (ETR) shows that the productivity metric during remote work is much better. Another Gartner CFO survey tells that about 74% of the employees are planning to permanently switch to remote work even after Covid ends.

Twitter has already offered its employees that they can work from home as long as they want – even after offices get opened. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, also told employees that his employees would work remotely for an indefinite time.

 

Reaching new talent internationally

Allowing remote work structure and enabling employees to work from anywhere, will open doors to new opportunities for companies, tapping into new talent pools internationally. This increases productivity, but also the quality of the workforce. A larger international reach will increase the company's overall culture and creativity, as bringing in new talents from various cultures was proven to improve creativity and business performance.

 

Cost efficiency

Remote work also means that companies can optimize their hiring structure and take on talents from countries where salaries are different. companies can benefit from lower salaries and tax structures, when hiring internationally.

On the other hand, enabling work from home will also reduce the need for office space, saving money for organizations. This rental fee can be allocated to improving overall business efficiency and keeping employees engaged, creating a digitalized workspace that supports easy communication and connectivity, collaboration at every stage.

 

Future of The Workplace:

The Future will show completely remote companies, having no headquarters, and the office space would be reduced to a hybrid model for cost savings. Many companies are already onto that. An outdoor retailer company REI announced selling their 8-acre campus to promote remote work.

We just need to understand that relying completely on remote work can be pretty exhausting too. Employees need to interact with their co-workers physically. It keeps them calm and light in the office. Over-working over the computer for hours can lead to bad health, less social interaction, and more stressful work life. Remote work doesn't provide you physical interaction with your coworkers, but a Hybrid work model can help you with that.

 

Role of IT in the Workplace

While we are at it, let’s not forget the role video calling played in this pandemic. The way businesses handled their meetings and how every sector involved video calling into their important meetings and decisions is already phenomenal.

Hundreds of thousands of people and workers are doing their job efficiently due to video calling. Be it your yoga instructor, piano lessons, mental therapist, or accounts – everything is being done on video calling software.

Another role of IT and technology is providing us the ability to work together simultaneously. Some remote workers might have different time zones, but collaborating on a mutually agreed timeline can help increase more productivity and more opportunities to grow.

Other than video calling, some other IT tools have found a place in our workplace, and we are loving them. No work gets done without uploading it to the cloud. Tools like Asana help the employees stay focused on their to-do list.

Most importantly, IT has prepared us now. It has prepared us for any future disaster, so we become ready. IT is easier to maintain than an office. You have your essentials like a computer, keyboard, mouse, printer, and USB on the go.

You open your PC, log into your office/organization, do your given tasks, and then submit it to the bosses at the end of the day. All of this is happening without going to the office – this is the achievement of IT.

 

The arrival of Covid-19 gave workers the opportunity to explore technology. They enhanced their experience with the remote workforce by staying away from their office. The new Workspace 4.0 is refreshing for many, but more people are inclined towards a hybrid work approach to stay connected with both physical and virtual worlds. Creating a safe environment for employees is essential, but companies need to make sure that collaboration and connectivity is flawless and employees can stay engaged, connected to their peers and to the company.

Creating a well-established and structured, digitized workplace will help with that.