Gas prices are rising ever higher these days, which is a big reason why working from home has become so popular in many industries. Telework Research Network said the number of those who work from home jumped 57 percent from 2005 to 2012, moving from 1.8 to 3.1 million, Computerworld reported. This is in part due to technologies like SIP PBX, VoIP, unified communications, and web cameras making working from home more like any other day at the office.
"Similarly, the nature of both work in general and IT specifically has changed as well," the website said. "In a world where corporations are functioning with fewer people wearing more hats, whose job is tied to one office or one location anymore? In a globalized world, whose colleagues sit close by? In a world of cloud and colocation, of offshore and nearshore developers, what's 'remote'?"
Consultant Gil Gordon told Computerworld that sweeping technological and cultural changes have finally switched the attitude that most had toward working remotely from negative to positive. He said there is now a basic understanding by companies that people can work without being physically in the same room as their co-workers. While offices will never completely disappear, mobility is now entrenched in the business world and many will likely take advantage of this trend in the coming years.
In a survey by Computerworld, telecommunicating was among the top five job priorities for respondents, which means having this work environment in place at a company can not only save an organization money and make workers more productive, but it can also make the company more attractive to work for.
Working from home helps employees get more done
While many companies may worry about distractions when employees work from home, a study by Stanford University showed that those who work from home are more productive than those who take care of their tasks from the office.
Numbers from this report show:
- Performance improved by 13 percent on average
- 9.5 percent said taking fewer sick days was a big reason for why they got more done
- The company Stanford looked at saved about $2,000 per employee
Niraj Jetly, CIO at prepaid corporate services company Edenred USA, said many CIOs who employees to work from home via telecommunications already recommend other companies adopt such a policy.
"A task that requires four to five hours of concentration can easily take two business days in the office," Jetly observed. "If I have to write an RFP response, and I've already brainstormed with the functionality team and I just need to write it down, it's ideal to do it from home."