Even before COVID-19 coronavirus[1] disrupted the planet, remote work had gone from that rare unicorn of workforce arrangements to a standard component[2] of many people's workweek. According to a recent Gallup poll, 43% of employed Americans[3] log at least some out-of-office, on-the-clock time. A full 31% of those who work remotely at least some of the time spend four or five days a week out of the office.
What explains the change? Some of it has to do with the rise of the freelance worker. Nearly 50% of millennials are freelancers[4], and employers are limited in how and when they require contract employees to be on-site. And, of course, there are other pressures forcing companies to reevaluate their stance on remote work, such as the 2020 global epidemic[5]. In the latter case, companies may be scrambling to solve urgent security, data, and collaboration issues related to remote work without much preparation, leaving them vulnerable to security risks[6] and introducing unnecessary inefficiencies into their workflows.
Also: Coronavirus: Effective strategies and tools for remote work during a pandemic[7]
But many employers are also allowing or even encouraging their traditional employees to work remotely, and for good reason. While the battle rages on between proponents of out-of-office time on one hand and the serendipity of workplace encounters on the other[8], it turns out there are some compelling benefits to remote work arrangements that shouldn't be overlooked.
What are the biggest benefits of a remote workforce?
For employers, those benefits come in the form of a larger potential labor pool[9]. When an employee pool isn't geographically restricted, the likelihood of finding the right employee rises. Out of area employees