Data from a Global Workplace Analytics study show that working from home significantly reduced unwanted distractions throughout the day, added 4.6 incremental days annually to productive time per person, and resulted in an overall 21% increase in productivity. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has recently been trying to promote the benefits of in-person work. Wed love to hear from you. Please log in as a SHRM member before saving bookmarks. According to a research experiment conducted by Stanford University professor Nicholas Bloom, James Liang, John Roberts, and Zhichun Ying, remote workers have a lower turnover rate. Employees who are happy and satisfied with their jobs are also less likely to take time off sick. Discuss with your team: How has the pandemic changed how you think about work-from-home opportunities? Fortunately, remote work can reduce the chances of COVID-related production disruptions. Paycor also conducted an analysis of benefits programs and budgets to identify potential changes and additions to the lineup. In short, contractors and remote work complement one another very well. We like ADP Payroll for its advanced employee management, strong payroll features, and great customer support. Expand your toolbox with the tools and techniques needed to fix your organizations unique needs. } Rethinking Employee Benefits for Permanently Remote Workers Employers are rethinking their health plan networks, leave policies and other offerings to ensure that The details of the analysis were not shared. A study showed that employees that work from home saved an estimated $2,000 to $6,500 dollars per year. Now, with the public health and national emergencies officially over, employers and other industry experts are evaluating which pandemic-era benefits remain popular among workersand if the speed with which new programs were rolled out could or should be replicated in the future. Remote work, work-from-home, or telecommuting, has exploded in popularity for several reasons. HBR Learnings online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Team Management. So while there are plenty of benefits of remote work, take time to consider the potential downsides to remote work and how they may impact your business and employees. This is because the ability to work from home often provides employees with a better work-life balance, which can lead to increased job satisfaction and motivation. Flexible work arrangements have as many benefits for employers as they do for employees. Save Money. If youre ready to move to remote work, start by building an estimated business budget that accounts for the shift to remote work. The company began telling managers to halt posting new jobs with a remote option, Insider reported. The two-year Stanford study showed a decreased rate of employee attrition for telecommuters. Remote employees who fail to inform their employers in a timely way when they relocate could face some unwelcome surprises, such as having medical claims denied if they receive care from a health provider in the new location that is not in the employer health plan's existing network. Employers may need to set up benefits to accommodate employees in specific locations. Benefits of Working in an This improvement was attributed to a reduction in breaks, time off, and sick days, as well as the quiet of working from home. Customize your schedule full or part time. This month, were offering 100 partial scholarships worth up to $1,285 off our career-change programs To secure your discount, speak to one of our advisors today! "'Whole-person benefits focus on everything an employee deals with at home, including family, children, pets and mental health," which may be different from that of an employee who comes into the office eight hours a day, Slay said. Remote workers generally have more control over their schedules, able to shift their start and end times, their locations, and which days they work. If your businesss work can be done remotely, you may be considering shifting operations after learning about the benefits of remote work. "The pandemic really made an impact for workforces, and employers responded by ensuring their employees had easy access to care and enhanced mental health support," said Suzanne Haslam, partner and senior vice president at insurance brokerage Woodruff Sawyer. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has recently been trying to promote the benefits of in-person work. But by switching to working from home, telecommuters decrease their overall travel time by 14 minutes and increase their likelihood of using non-motorised transport by 77%. Enhanced corporate social responsibility, This is increasingly important in todays. Better yet, remote work enables employees to avoid excess driving in the wake of fuel costs that have increased by 59.9% in the last year, according to BLSs Consumer Price Index stats. When the researchers there analyzed how workers were experiencing remote work, they found that even employees who had previously developed strong work-life boundaries found them blurring during the pandemic transition. And they did so at an unprecedented pace. For employers, this has the benefit of eliminating the hassle of having to conduct monthly reconciliation reviews. Another advantage of written communication is that it can be easily documented and referenced later, which helps to keep track of projects and progress. It is intended to provide hard numbers to inform the hard decisions organizations are making on how they will operate in the future. Fortunately, several studies suggest remote workers are equally, if not more, productive than their in-office counterparts. Telecommuting, work-from-home, teleworkwhatever you call it, remote work is on the rise and here to stay. $('.container-footer').first().hide(); To begin, think about the varied demands of working remotely and how they differ from an in-office experience. In addition, youll save money on transportation costs and other commuting-related costs, such as gas or parking fees. This creates challenges for HR and employee benefits executives trying to stay current on employee needs. It will be up to HR managers to decide on competitive benefits offerings for enticing employees, as well as insurance agents when it comes to designing their services. As a result, employers have had to adjust their benefits offerings to attract and retain talent. As a result, many workers considering new positions keep an eye out for those that allow remote work. This has put a lot of pressure on employers to devise new ways to find and retain talent, with wage increases being the preferred option. Please enable scripts and reload this page. This can result in less stress on the traffic grid, which means less stress for everyone on the road. Does that same cost-savings transfer over to the companies that employ these remote workers? Since 2005, regular remote work among non-self-employed people has grown by 173%, and across the globe, more than half of employees work from home at least once a week. While 71% of employers have a positive perception of the companys culture toward menopause, only 32% of women employees agree. We also spoke to some tech employees who are working in either a remote setting or hybrid set-up. contributing factors to remote work productivity during the COVID-19 outbreak. How to tell if your business should offer remote work? We became too mono-cultural. She is an experienced content writer, editor, and educator with a demonstrated history of working in the research industry. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Lets take a look at 17 remote working benefits for employers and employees, along with a host of relevant studies about them. Workplace coverage will be easier to move. At some point, money becomes less of a motivator, necessitating the need for other benefits to entice employees. From cost savings to employee wellness, the However, to gain those benefits, employers must make an effort to provide adequate support and training for their remote workers. You have successfully saved this page as a bookmark. However, remote work seems to help alleviate some stressors directly related to in-office work. Employee Benefits 2 Other benefits include: 3 Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has recently been trying to promote the benefits of in-person work. The 10 Benefits Of Remote Work For Employers, The Benefits Of Remote Work For Employers, 3) Remote Work Can Increase Employee Productivity, 4) Offering Remote Work Can Increase Your Businesss Competitiveness In The Labor Market, 5) Remote Work Can Remove Barriers To Success For Employees, 6) Remote Work Can Reduce COVID-Related Production Disruptions, 7) Easily Add Contractors To Your Remote Team, 9) Improve Employees Work-Life Balance By Offering Remote Work, 10) Employers Gain Remote Work Benefits As Employees Do, The Benefits Of Remote Work For Employees, 2) Employees Working Remotely May Have Flexible Work Hours, 3) Working Remotely Can Result In Fewer Distractions During The Work Day, 4) Remote Workers Can Tailor Their Workspace To Suit Their Needs, 5) Remote Workers Gain The Freedom To Choose Affordability Over Proximity To Work, 6) Employees With Children Can Work Remotely To Reduce Childcare Costs, 8) Working Remotely Can Save Employees Money, 9) Reduce The Chance Of Exposure To Illness, 10) Remote Work Can Lead To A Better Work-Life Balance. These savings can be seen in hybrid and fully-remote work setups, as businesses can downsize their office spaces or eliminate them entirely. Even if they are not able to move as quickly as they did during the pandemic, employers are taking lessons from the health crisis in terms of how they change benefits. var temp_style = document.createElement('style'); Companies with a remote, distributed team can save money in a myriad of ways, including: No more having to pay The future of work, post-Covid 19, is likely to be even more remote-friendly, with more companies offering flexible working arrangements and employees valuing the freedom of working remotely. Check out one of our free short courses in design, data analytics, coding, digital marketing, and product management. When youre not tied to a physical office, you can structure your day in a way that works for you and gives you more time for your personal life, including family commitments and social engagements. Remote Work Remote work allows your business to exponentially increase the talent pool and consider applicants within your state, from across the nation, or all over the world. Depending on where remote employees live, employers may need to set up specific benefits to accommodate employees in specific locations. As the BLS reports, there were around 9.6 million self-employed workers in 2016, which is expected to increase to 10.3 million by 2026. A What are the most important advantages of remote work? When you work remotely, you can choose the schedule that works best for you. Meta has announced that employees must come into the office three days a week starting September 5, marking a sharp turn in the pro-remote work culture the company championed during the height of the pandemic. When working in an office setting, communication might take place via email, in-person Working remotely provides a number of opportunities. Please refer to our Advertising Disclosure to learn more about how we earn compensation from affiliate partnerships and how we maintain our independent editorial integrity. The ongoing question is how to meet the needs of this workforce. Remote work can also make communication more effective. Just take a look at this Google Trends chart of searches for the term digital nomad since January 2010: Studies have shown that commuting, whether by private car or public transit, is a health risk. To help evaluate the ideas received, the firm requires certain standardized information from all submissions. The longest work commute they typically make is walking from the bed to their home office. However, the census reported that for the 12.7% of Americans with disabilities, home offices can be customized to improve accessibility and create a work environment that removes any hindrances to productivity. This includes communicating regularly using video, texts and whiteboard meetings about benefits topics rather than relying primarily on open enrollment for benefits communication. Please note that all such forms and policies should be reviewed by your legal counsel for compliance with applicable law, and should be modified to suit your organizations culture, industry, and practices. Less time spent commuting. Even structuring health plan networks around their office locations may not be appropriate in all cases. Build specialized knowledge and expand your influence by earning a SHRM Specialty Credential. Remote work with flexible work hours enables women to balance their career and family lives. Whether you prefer working from home or in a co-working space, you can find a setup that suits your needs and helps you be more productive. The uncommon benefits women want their employers to adopt Such technology is already a part of many workplaces and will continue to shape the labor market. With that in mind, heres a look at what employee benefits will look like in 2023 and beyond. Happy employees are also less likely to leave their jobs, which further reduces staff turnover and associated costs. "There are structural reasons why HR and employee benefit decisions don't happen quickly," he said. There are certain office-specific distractions employees must deal with during the day, including talkative coworkers, office noise, and meetings. In its 2019 State of Remote Work report, Buffer found that the number one cited benefit of remote work was a flexible schedule, which scored higher than the ability to work anywhere. Commuting data from the US Census Bureau sets the average one-way commute at 26.9 minutes, which translates to 4.48 hours per week, 17.62 hours per month, and 9.7 days a year spent getting to and from work. In fact, a report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research found that remote workers get an extra 105 hours of leisure time per year than office employees. Theyll provide feedback, support, and advice as you build your new career. Please confirm that you want to proceed with deleting bookmark. Availability doesnt just extend to work hours, either, as a team of researchers at Microsoft found. In addition to attracting better talent, remote work can help businesses keep the talent they already have. [Related SHRM series: } Virtual & Las Vegas | June 11-14, 2023. Get alerted any time new stories match your search criteria. Using the charts below, a team can discuss the realities of remote work whats good, whats bad, and what might get left unsaid. You may not realize it but there are significant cost-savings associated with remote work and were not just talking about employer costs. As Offices Reopen, Hybrid Onsite and Remote Work Becomes Routine]. "In the workforce of the future, the health care delivery environment will have to accommodate more geographically diverse employees," said Stone. The benefits of remote work for employers include cost savings, a larger talent pool, stronger employee support, and reducing COVID-related business disruptions. This is increasingly important in todays climate of digital transformation, where businesses need to be agile and adaptable to survive. Being remote doesnt seem to hold this team back. Despite these findings, other research shows that managers worry that employees still arent as productive at home as they are in the office. If you want easy recruiting from a global pool of skilled candidates, were here to help. For the longest time, most employee benefits programs have consisted of one-size-fits-all group policies for health and life insurance. Workers were issued a notice of the updated policy on Thursday, an employee familiar with the matter told Insider. Need assistance with a specific HR issue? Benefits and Challenges Employee Benefits For example, as employees continue working remotely or in a hybrid model, splitting time between home and office, employers may find that they are losing opportunities to connect with workers throughout the workday.