During 2014, at the London Business School’s Global Leadership Summit, business leaders in collaboration with Deloitte were asked a series of questions around remote work. By 2020, 34% said more than half and 25% said more than three-quarters would not work in a traditional office. However, they got it wrong.
According to a recent survey by StackOverFlow, only 12% of developers are working remotely. Out of this 12%, 15% of the respondents were asked to complete the Fizz Buzz Test a programming interview test that’s used to filter job candidates. Remote working still has a long way to go.
However, with that being said, there are many companies reaping the benefits of remote work like Buffer, Stripe, Basecamp, and Ghost. Then, a big question to think about is why aren’t more tech companies embracing remote work? Here are 3 reasons why companies should welcome remote workers.
1. Increased productivity
In 2013, Ph.D. candidate Chris Parnin was investigating task interruption and conducted a study that recorded 10,000 programming sessions. Parnin found that it takes a programmer between 10-15 to start editing code after resuming work from an interruption.” Today, Parnin is an Assistant Professor at NC State University and teaches computation theory.
Similarly, Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford Graduate School of Business professor was looking for a way to offset growth expansion primarily, to reduce opening new offices by allowing workers to remote work. For 2 years, Bloom tracked the results, which resulted in the following:
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A 13% productivity improvement from people that worked at home.
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Resignations dropped by 50%.
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Profit-per-person increased by $2,000.
2. A broader pool of talent
In a recent article, The Telegraph reported that in terms of job satisfaction, a 20-minute commute increase to the office is as bad as a 19% pay reduction. Being able to provide these benefits to employees allows businesses to attract a broader range of applicants no matter where they are in the world.
This means that having the opportunity to work 100% from home can be a major drawcard for programmers with many extra benefits, such as:
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The ability to code at a time that is comfortable as some programmers prefer to code late at night, whereas, others may prefer to code during the day.
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Being able to spend more time with family and friends.
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Not having to deal with the constant interruptions that are so commonly associated with open-office spaces.
In turn, these benefits attract a larger pool of talent for companies who prefer things like work-life balance and flexible work over a pay rise.
3. Lower absenteeism
According to a survey by Indeed, remote workers are 50% less likely to take sick days. This is mostly due to a range of factors like:
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Not being exposed to office germs.
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Feeling more comfortable to work online.
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Being able to work flexible hours.
As a result, people are less likely to get sick when they’re working remotely. And even if they do get sick they may choose to push through their work routine if they’re only feeling mildly ill as they’re in the comfort of their own home.
Final thoughts
Tech company Buffer, well-known for transparency, team culture and remote work launched a survey and found that 99% of remote workers would like to continue working remotely at least part of the time for the rest of their careers, and 95% would recommend it to others. If this is the case, then why aren’t more companies allowing developers to work remotely?