Due to the events of the last few years, many companies have decided to completely change their working model in favour of something much more flexible, safer and even more comfortable for their workers. All at once, homes have become small offices for many employees and teleworking has gone from being a rarity to commonplace. We now have a world of work in which there is talk of hybrid models combining remote and face-to-face working, as well as professionals who no longer want to return to the office.
Why don't workers want to go back to the face-to-face model? It has been shown that productivity is equal or even greater when a team moves to remote working, as there are plenty of tools to ensure that there are no communication or coordination problems. However, the most attractive aspect for employees is precisely the range of advantages that teleworking has over the face-to-face model.
We will now look at the main advantages of remote working compared to working in person. Given its nature, it is easy to identify its main strengths for both the employee and the employer. Although there is fine print, which we will discuss later.
It's much easier reconciling the work and personal side of our lives. Workers lose less time commuting, allowing them to spend more time with family and/or friends, or enjoy their hobbies, or even carry out domestic chores. With remote working, a whole world of possibilities opens up for enjoying life outside of work more. This also benefits the company, as it can have much more satisfied and happy staff.
Many businesses have gone all-in% on remote working, which also implies facilitate flexible working hours for workers. There's no need to set a fixed 8-hour workday, in fact, the flexibility offered by remote work makes it possible to structure the working day differently from the usual, allowing for better adaptation to each employee's needs. It's true that there needs to be a common time frame for teams that must collaborate on a project, but, generally, there are many more options for choosing different working hours. This is something that is unfeasible with the traditional model due to the office hours.
For the worker, remote working allows him/her to save on the usual travel costs that are usually involved to the workplace, as well as meals eaten out. It is true that working from home incurs other additional costs, such as extra electricity consumption or even equipment upgrades. However, many companies provide their employees with everything.he equipment they need to carry out their professional activity at home, so this does not represent a real expense. In the end, more is saved.
Avoiding traffic jams, not having to dash for a bus or miss the tube... These situations, which generally cause stress, disappear with teleworking. This allows the worker concentrate more on your work, This guarantees an increase in productivity. In fact, since staff will be more satisfied and content thanks to this new flexibility, it is common for the company's performance to increase overall. Everyone wins.
Although it's a groundbreaking model and is here to stay, it also implies changes. To begin with, workers who use this model are not entitled to the same support and benefits as those who work on a face-to-face basis. In fact, they cannot obtain transport assistance, as this is not necessary to get to their place of work. In the case of the hybrid model, there is room for this, as well as for allowances should the company offer these compensations. However, if the model is entirely remote, it is automatically ruled out.
There's also no need to leave behind the increase in the cost of electricity. A computer is not a large source of electricity consumption, but its constant activity, combined with soaring energy prices, can leave a mark on the energy bill at the end of the month, and for the moment, there is nothing established to make companies cover this extra cost which impacts the worker's economy.
This does not mean that all these traditional benefits and allowances have to be waived. Some companies have agreements with organisations such as Edenred which allow access to meal vouchers designed for teleworkers, as well as to Nursery tickets for the children or even to take advantage of Flexible remuneration. There are limits, of course, but companies are gradually becoming more open to providing support for their remote workers. Support which is, of course, necessary to achieve a pleasant working environment.
