Once upon a time it was almost impossible to work from home, an unimaginable dream-world where only the most optimistic lived, but the way we work is evolving. We are more mobile than ever, and while there are buzz words like ‘telecommuting’ & ‘distributed workforce’ they don’t do justice to an emerging trend that is truly great. To say that this is an emerging trend may be a bit of an untruth however, because in some places it is a firmly established practice to have people who work remotely, yet this flexible lifestyle still eludes the vast majority of people who need it.
While it isn’t common practice to provide workers with these freedoms, the opportunity to be flexible in our work schedules has grown significantly in the past decade, and the rise of technology has instigated this shift. These people can work from anywhere there is an internet connection, and are better off for it. Workers and job seekers alike are placing more emphasis on flexibility, and young people entering the workforce are among the most insistent in their desire to have a healthy work-life balance.
Those who have taken the plunge rarely look back and if they do it right (it isn’t hard to do) their employees are happier, more productive and they are more loyal. Allowing employees to work remotely not only benefits them, it is benefits their employers, who save time and money by giving their workers the freedom to work when and where they want. An employee who doesn’t feel like they are just part of the daily grind will be more willing to put in the work that needs to be done and less likely to burn out, as the lifeblood of any business, the workers’ welfare should be top priority.
