It has been quite a while since the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 pandemic. It turned the work sector upside down. With this, many of the world’s workforce has made an abrupt shift to working from home.
Work from home jobs implies that the employees have the privilege of performing their work from home or any location they want. They no longer have to travel to the office every day to work. It is a work from home policy wherein employees and the employer get flexible working hours. It means the companies will focus more on the completion of work rather than employees’ time schedules.
Such an opportunity is an advantage for those who have incredible time and organizational skills to manage a few tasks at a go. Thus, this concept has become a growing trend.
But, why is work-from-home becoming a trend? Are the employers happy with this? Do the employees miss the office?
A FlexJobs survey highlighted that 95% of people reported that productivity and efficiency increased as they adopted the work-from-home model. The work-from-home jobs online increased productivity and also made the employers happy. Hence, the companies are ready to accept the model permanently, making it a win-win situation for both the employees and the employers.
To understand the favorite job model of the employees, let us take a look at the work-from-home benefits and challenges they face while working from home.
The Work From Home Advantages:
Take a look at the benefits of the preferred work model by most employees.
1. Good Work-Life Balance:
Some remote jobs have now given flexible work hours that means an employee can work according to their suitable time. Now, we got a chance to live some dreamy experiences like- lesser control over work schedules, spending time with family, a happier inner self, taking out some personal time.
2. Comfortable Clothing:
Getting an opportunity to wear comfortable leggings that your friends cannot see is an invaluable pleasure. Well, who doesn’t love being in simple baggy clothes and still having all the scheduled tasks done?
You can simply wake up and start working without having to dress up!
3. Saving Expenses:
Lunch is expensive, and travel takes a lot of money if you live in a metropolitan city. But, being home, it is possible to go to the stores and cook food by yourself that makes it healthier and cheaper.
With the work-from-home policy, the employees can save money and use them to enhance their lifestyle.
4. Location Independence:
One of the most amazing perks of work-from-home jobs is getting access to a wide range of opportunities. Since employers and employees’ geographical locations are not a barrier, people from rural areas can connect to firms or organizations across the oceans or even to the sci-fi cities within the country.
For example- If you take up a job in a different city, you have to arrange your accommodation. A big part of your salary goes into lodging facilities. But with work-from-home (WFH), you can easily opt for a job in any MNC and stay at your home to work. This way, you save all the money that you earlier had to give it up for monthly rentals.
5. Improved Inclusivity:
Working from anywhere enables companies to include diverse cultured and skilled employees by hiring them to bring in a challenging atmosphere and creativity; to accomplish targets. Also, it helps people with disabilities or certain people who require a flexible schedule to get on board with consistent work and earn.
6. Customizable Office:
A comfortable set-up by creating a home office is like a cherry on the cake for remote work. It is a purely innovative and customizable form of office which you can set up at your convenience. If you require office equipment, you can customize your room that fits your needs!
7. Zero Crowds & Traffic:
The pandemic has given rise to the maintenance of social distancing, and thus a lesser number of people are seen on the streets, public transport, and minute traffic on the roads. Hence, this makes an employee and employer stuff less into the rickety transportation tube and avoid scuffing.
8. Conference Calls Done Right:
No more scrambling for a space or finding the conference room, or dealing with chatty co-workers! The home office space allows you to take up calls anytime and attend to them with ease.
The Work From Home Challenges:
The pandemic has brought in many changes to the present and not just to leaders but also to their teams. Hence, since more people started working remotely, a new set of challenges impacted productivity negatively. Few challenges brought in by work-from-home policies are listed below.
1. Collaboration & Communication:
Effective communication is difficult among individuals- be it physically or virtually. A lot of us rely on non-verbal communication. It makes communication and collaboration with colleagues a major challenge.
2. Loneliness:
Staying up on an individual basis and escaping social interaction causes a feeling of isolation and alienation inside us. Gradually, there are also times when loneliness affects the mental and physical ability of an individual.
3. A Different Timezone:
With the rise in opportunities to work from home, working hours differ across the globe as the time zones matter. However, coordination between intercontinental colleagues could be a challenge.
4. Motivation:
Even if you are self-employed or a remote employee, losing motivation is a generic and quick thing while you are at a cozy place. Losing the determination to work can lead to anxiety and stress and make a person mentally disturbed.
5. Reliable Network:
Be it wifi or a tethered internet connection over the network, a feeble connection or outdated technical usage can cause frustration affecting an individual’s mental health.
6. Wrong Habits:
Losing grip over a fixed routine or schedule can lead to unhealthy habits. Perhaps it could be loitering around the house, eating randomly at any hour, forgetting to exercise, etc.
7. The Pajama Mindset:
Though the thought of directly getting up and sitting to work at the desk is tempting, it is not advisable. It badly affects your health. You do not feel like following the morals and ethics anymore. Ultimately, it leads to a lower mindset and behavior.
The Difference:
| Work From Home | Work From Office | |
Time | Flexible working hours and completion of targets as per the will of employees | Rigid time frame and achieve tasks and goals within a particular interval, disturbing the minds of employees |
Financial Factor | Efforts and expenses of employees and employers are been reduced and saved on a major scale | Office working inculcates travel expenses of the employees and also for the company in providing certain amenities to a worker |
Productivity | Comforts at home boost up the energy from within and increase employees’ productivity | Many of them lack the motivation to work due to the energy exerted in traveling to and from the office |
Team Management | Working remotely makes it difficult and critical to manage every employee | Managers have a clear look and notion of what their team is working on inside the office premises |
Working from anywhere encapsulates many technical tools and provides remote access, visual collaboration, data sharing, etc. Employers in an organization now can operate by virtual reality and augmented reality with this policy of working from anywhere. It has thus enabled a good workflow and managed businesses more efficiently.
Closure Of Work From Home Opportunities?
Since more than three-fourth of company employees have received double shots of vaccine, several grand organizations like – Tata Steel, GE India, and PepsiCo have declared to resume offices after the end of this year 2021.
However, there are firms like – Maruti Suzuki, Mercedes-Benz India, and ITC who still prefer to continue the roster system.
Conclusion:
Therefore, Covid-19 has emerged as an era of digitalization for every individual on the globe. It brought up risks and opportunities for thousands of people across. Although work from home has benefitted a mass, it has also led to some financial issues amongst the lower families. However, the country still works towards bringing up hybrid arrangements for a safe work environment.
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