[dpc]
While hiring remote workers doesn’t work for every company or business model, the advantages are seemingly endless for a large section of the job market. Common sense and multiple surveys tell us that a majority of workers believe they can do their jobs from home. Even President Obama is often heard praising the virtues of remote work. For all those who were wondering, here’s why.
We know that at-home workers have greater flexibility, in theory, improving their work-life balance. Add in the money employees save on commuting costs and the money companies save on skyrocketing utilities, and it equals a big win for Mother Nature. Hiring remote workers keeps the employer’s talent pool wide open, allowing him to employ the best in his industry regardless of location.
If he was only to hire local candidates, he would be limiting the potential of his business from over 99% of top available talent who live elsewhere in the world, for whatever reason, be it their families, cultural roots, desire to live in an exotic place, or their place of education.
Some research suggests allowing people to work from home can raise productivity.
For instance, a study by academics at Stanford University and Beijing University found Chinese call-center workers who stayed home took fewer breaks and worked more efficiently.
Allowing employees to work from home can also lower a company’s costs—especially for real estate, given the reduced need for office space.
And employees who mix working from home and office are often paid more. The median household income for such workers was over $96,000 in 2010, compared with around $66,000 for “on-site” workers, according to the Census’s Survey of Income and Program Participation.
At the very least working from home makes Americans a little happier. A 2008 study by Cisco Systems found employees who could work remotely experienced an increase in their quality of life. One possible reason for this would most likely be the fact that home working reduces commuting.
Over 8% of U.S. employees who don’t work from home traveled an hour or longer to get to work in 2011—the definition of a “long commute.” Nearly 600,000 full-time workers had “mega-commutes,” meaning they traveled at least 90 minutes and 50 miles.