To remote work, or not to remote work?
We don’t think anything will be discussed more in 2020 than Covid-19 , however hot on its heels for the business world has been the ability for people to home work. It’s been a necessity during the lockdown, but will we see high volume home working, into 2021?
The idea to work from home for some was ‘business as usual’, for others it was a complete change. Love it or hate it, we have successfully adapted a large percentage of our work force to ensure that business (as much as possible) could continue as normal. 
However in 2021 and beyond, will the Zoom and Microsoft Team meetings be as popular as they are right now? As an employer there is a lot to consider moving forward with having their staff working from home (confidentiality, IT, rent a room implications, productivity) and let’s not even mention GDPR! And whilst it’s been a national effort to make it work, will we see as much enthusiasm for home working in the future? Allowances from both parties were made in the pandemic but will your poor internet connection or terrible mobile signal at home affect your performance or will you resent using your own laptop moving forward?
There will of course be employees who haven’t been fully trained or had any motivation working from home, how well with companies recruit and train if they are home working. It’s really important that when things return to normal people feel valued by their employer and it’s also very important that employees remain engaged in their work (so targets and deadlines are achieved). Historically it’s been much easier to train someone in the office, showing them the ropes and allowing you to shadow them too.
With no commuting costs it will be an instant saving for employees, but will employers take that into account when they are reviewing salaries each year?
What if there is a management issue, what their work load is too heavy, what if the hours become blurred between paid hours and client or company expectations. There are grey areas around start and finish times and will expectations be higher from employers as there is no travel time.
A great part of working in a fantastic team, is the social aspect, will companies and staff still want to continue with this? If they don’t it will be missed but a large percentage staff, but it’s not essential for everyone. They have been part of building team rapport and have worked amazingly well to gel teams together and create motivation for everyone.
Working remotely has it’s perks in so many ways, and working from the office is something completely different to working from your kitchen table or spare room. Like everything in life, what suits one doesn’t suit everyone, so we are excited to see what happens in 2021 and beyond.
Here at Alexander Mae, we love working from the office, but a
day working from home is a welcome treat! What do you think?
Whether you are looking to recruit your new staff virtually or you are up and running back in the office Alexander Mae would love to help…..
Or
You are furloughed, made redundant or just looking for that new challenge Alexander Mae can find your new job
Alexander Mae is based in central Bristol and we are a well-established recruitment agency who help employers find staff and help job seekers find their new role. Contact us on 0117 9055035 or [email protected]
