87% of Business Leaders Expect to Change their Real Estate Strategy over the Next Year to Prepare for Long-Term and Permanent Remote Work
Motus, the definitive leader in solutions for businesses with mobile-enabled workforces, today released its latest report, “A New Normal: Remote Work is Here to Stay.” The report examines the trends that will influence remote work in 2021 and beyond. While U.S. organizations rapidly implemented temporary remote work policies last March in light of the pandemic, the report found that 67% of businesses expect work-from-home policies to remain in place long-term or permanently.
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Latest @motusdotcom report on #remotework finds that 67% of businesses expect WFH policies to remain in place long-term or permanently.
“For years, employers argued against adopting remote work practices. The expectation that work-from-home policies will persist signals a paradigm shift across the business landscape,” said Ken Robinson, Market Research Manager for Motus. “Over the past year, organizations have quickly and successfully adapted to remote work and proved that the workforce is fully capable of operating successfully in a remote environment. Today, nearly 56% of employees have remote-compatible jobs, setting the stage for an enduring remote workforce.”
The report also revealed that businesses are thriving in remote environments, with 83% of company leaders reporting the shift to remote work has been successful for their organization. This sentiment has increased 14% since June 2020 and reinforces the position among 68% of hiring managers that remote work is becoming easier as time goes on. While remote work was synonymous with decreased productivity prior to the pandemic, the report found the opposite to be true. In fact, remote employees reported that they experience up to 45% fewer interruptions while working from home. The result is nine extra days of concentrated work per year for each employee who worked remote half-time.
Beyond increased productivity, employers also benefit from improved business continuity, access to an expanded talent pool and greater cost savings. The absence of fixed real estate and business travel costs, for example, enable employers who embrace at least half-time remote work to save $11,000 per employee per year. Over the next 12 months, 87% of business leaders expect to reevaluate to their real estate strategy. This includes consolidating space and/or opening satellite locations to foster flexible work environments.
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“Despite the benefits of remote work, face-to-face interaction remains important to employers when it comes to maintaining their organizational culture,” said Robinson. “Employing a hybrid policy ensures that teams can benefit from both the improved focus in a remote setting and in-person collaboration. From a bottom-line perspective, decentralizing the office will also provide employers with the opportunity to repurpose top line spend on employee benefits, resources for those who need help adjusting to a hybrid work schedule and reimbursement for business-related expenses such as phones, home office spaces and internet.”
For employers interested in expanding their hybrid and remote work policies, Motus provides geographically sensitive insight into the costs of reimbursement for personal devices, internet and home office expenses through Remote Work Reimbursement, ensuring that reimbursement rates are fair and accurate for each employee.