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The Benefits of a Remote Workforce (Infographic)

May 4, 2020

Employers that offered flexible working options before the COVID-19 pandemic experienced greater retention, a reduction of employee stress, and an increased likelihood that they would be recommended as an employer. Despite these benefits, 44% of employees in a 2018 Owl Labs survey said that their employers did not allow remote work.

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic will we see a dramatic spike in employers offering flexible working options? According to the 2020 Owl Labs survey, 80% of full-time workers expect to work from home at least three times per week after COVID-19 guidelines are lifted and companies and workspaces are able to re-open

Our infographic outlines the benefits of a remote workforce that employers should consider when deciding whether or not to let their employees continue to work from home in the wake of return-to-office mandates.

Want to use this infographic on your website or blog? Feel free, just provide a link back to our website when citing your sources.

Infographic: The Benefits of a Remote Workforce

The Benefits of a Remote Workforce

2018 – 44% of employees surveyed by Owl Labs said that their employers did not allow employees to work remotely ¹

2020 – 80% of employees expect to work remotely at least 3x per week after COVID-19 guidelines are lifted ²

Why Offer Flexible Working Options?

Financial Benefits

Employee Retention

95% of employers say remote working has a high impact on employee retention ³

Real Estate Savings

$10K saved in real estate costs per year for every full-time remote worker³

Less Absences

Flexible hours allow for errands and appointments without losing a full work day

$4K Saved Annually⁴

Remote workers save on the costs associated with meals, wardrobes, and commuting

Time Savings

Remote workers save 11 days per year thanks to their lack of time spent commuting ⁵

Less Sick Days

50% of employees said that working remotely reduced their amount of sick days ⁶

Productivity Boosts

Less Interruptions

Context switches kill productivity! Interruptions can cost as much as 40 percent of productive time ⁷

More Time For Sleep

Proper rest aids productivity An average of 8 hours rest makes workers nearly twice as productive as those that get 5 ⁸

Hiring Advantages

Global Talent Pool

77% of businesses use flexible working options to attract and retain talent ⁹

Attractive Perks

4 out of 5 workers would decline the job that didn’t offer flexible working options when given two similar offers ⁹

Barriers To Remote Work

Lack of Resources

Canadians With Access to Broadband Internet ¹⁰ – 97% in urban areas, 37% in rural areas.

Remote workers need access to reliable high-speed Internet connections for video conferencing, file sharing, and emails

Workplaces that are not prepared to support remote workers lack the policies, tools, and training to successfully accommodate them

Data Security

36% of respondents in an OpenVPN survey have had a security incident occur due to unsecured remote workers ¹¹

Mobile Devices & Travel

Greater risk of theft or loss
Insecure public Wi-Fi
Compromised public USB chargers stealing data

Personal Devices

Poor cybersecurity hygiene
Less robust security tools
Sharing their network with vulnerable IoT Devices

Corporate Culture

Employers worry that remote workers are not working. 70% polled thought that personal tasks were being done during work hours ¹²

Before the COVID-19 video conferencing boom employers worried that effective meetings couldn’t be performed remotely

Social Isolation

31% of remote workers said the thing they missed the most about working in an office was social interaction ¹²

Remote workers can inadvertently be forgotten or neglected from social inclusion. 14% of remote workers said they did not feel they were a part of the team ¹²

Sources

¹ “Global State of Remote Work 2018 – Owl Labs.” https://resources.owllabs.com/state-of-remote-work/2018

² “Global State of Remote Work 2020 – Owl Labs.” https://www.owllabs.com/state-of-remote-work/2020

³ “Costs and Benefits – Global Workplace Analytics.” https://globalworkplaceanalytics.com/resources/costs-benefits

⁴ “6 Ways Working Remotely Will Save You $4000 Annually, or More – FlexJobs.” https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/6-ways-working-remotely-will-save-you-money/

⁵ “2017 State of Telecommuting in the U.S. Employee Workforce – FlexJobs.” https://www.flexjobs.com/2017-State-of-Telecommuting-US

⁶ “REPORT: Remote Work Brings Benefits, but Attitudes Are Divided – Indeed Blog.” http://blog.indeed.com/2018/11/14/remote-work-survey/

⁷ “APA: Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching.” https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xhp274763.pdf

⁸ “New StayWell Sleep Study Examines the Effect of Sleep on the Modern Workplace.” https://www.krames.com/news/new-staywell-sleep-study-examines-effect-sleep-modern-workplace

⁹ “IWG Global Workspace Survey – Flexible Working – IWG plc.” https://www.iwgplc.com/global-workspace-survey-2019

¹⁰ “High-Speed Access for All: Canada’s Connectivity Strategy” https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/139.nsf/eng/h_00002.html

¹¹ “Remote Workforce Cybersecurity Survey | OpenVPN.” https://openvpn.net/remote-workforce-cybersecurity-quick-poll/

¹² “Are Remote Workers Actually Working? – Quickbooks.” https://quickbooks.intuit.com/time-tracking/resources/remote-productivity-survey/

Get Insights Into
WFH Productivity Trends

Graphs comparing productivity between in-office, remote, and hybrid employees

Promote flexibility without sacrificing accountability with insights into how location flexibility affects employee engagement and productivity.

Learn More

Sources Cited

1 “Global State of Remote Work 2018 – Owl Labs.”
2 “Costs and Benefits – Global Workplace Analytics.”
3 “6 Ways Working Remotely Will Save You $4000 Annually, or More – FlexJobs.”
4 “2017 State of Telecommuting in the U.S. Employee Workforce – FlexJobs.”
5 “REPORT: Remote Work Brings Benefits, but Attitudes Are Divided – Indeed Blog.”
6 “APA: Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching.”
7 “New StayWell Sleep Study Examines the Effect of Sleep on the Modern Workplace.”
8 “IWG Global Workspace Survey – Flexible Working – IWG plc.”
9 “High-Speed Access for All: Canada’s Connectivity Strategy”
10 “Remote Workforce Cybersecurity Survey | OpenVPN.”
11 “Are Remote Workers Actually Working? – Quickbooks.”