In today’s interconnected world, more and more people are asking themselves why they even need to go to an office.
Perhaps you simply hate the commute, the lack of flexibility, or in the worst case – your colleagues. No matter which it is, the answer could be remote work.
What Is Remote Work?
Remote work is the concept of working from anywhere you like – whether at home, in a co-working space, or the local coffee shop – rather than being tied to an office or other physical location.
As remote work can be defined as work completed in an environment other than the employer’s workplace, it also includes working from home (WFH). It rather involves telecommuting, virtual or cloud working where the physical presence in the work isn’t necessary.
Remote work is primarily for people who work via the internet, without which remote work wouldn’t exist anywhere near the scale that it currently does.
Remote or Freelance?
While remote work might bring to mind a freelance lifestyle, the two don’t necessarily overlap. While remote work can be carried out even if you’re working as an employee for a company, freelancers take on their own clients (and generally work remotely, too).
It’s crucial to understand the differences between freelancing and traditional employment. Both of these paths come with their own unique benefits, challenges, responsibilities, and rights. You should absolutely get to know the typical characteristics of an employee & typical characteristics of self-employment.
As a freelancer, you might also ask yourself if you should form an LLC, or other questions relevant to the structure of your business. A remote worker who has a standard employer contract is unlikely to have to deal with these issues.
We’ve previously discussed some of the best job ideas for freelancers, ranging from copywriting to being a virtual assistant.
What Are The Benefits Of Remote Work?
Remote work has multiple benefits, for both employees and employers – here are just a few of them.
Benefits of remote work for employees:
- Flexibility over your workspace – From your sofa to the local coffee shop.
- No commute – Saves time, reduces stress, and lowers your carbon footprint.
- Improves your work-life balance – Instead of being forced to sit in the office at specific hours, structure your day the way you prefer.
- Saves you money – Lower travel costs and less eating out.
- Comfort – Work from your own home, or anywhere else you prefer.
- Global opportunities – Opens up job possibilities from around the world that aren’t restricted by geographical location.
- Possibility of a healthier lifestyle – More time to exercise, prepare healthier meals, or start an active hobby.
- Reduced work-related expenses – Save money on work clothes, lunches, transport, and more.
- Reduced stress – Avoid office politics and disagreements which often lead to a stressful work environment.
- Family time – More opportunities to spend time with family or friends during the day.
- No relocation needed – Take a job with a company located anywhere without needing to move.
- Increased autonomy – Comes often with a greater sense of independence and self-management.
- Quiet environment – Less noise and distractions than in a busy office environment.
- More control over your time – You can structure your day to optimize for your personal productivity rhythms.
- Better job satisfaction – With all the benefits listed above, many remote workers find they have greater job satisfaction overall.
Benefits of remote work for employers:
- Access to a wider talent pool – If your local area doesn’t provide a labor pool with the skills you need, you can search globally.
- Lower costs – Reduced office and equipment costs, no need to pay relocation costs for new hires.
- Potentially lower salaries – Depending on where you decide to hire.
- Happier employees – are more productive employees!
- Reduced absenteeism – Employees can still work even with minor ailments that might prevent them from commuting.
- Continuity during disruptions – Allows business operations to continue during events like severe weather, transit strikes, or public health crises and to be more adaptable to other changes and challenges.
- Employee retention – Offering remote work can help retain employees who may need to relocate or require a more flexible schedule.
- Diversity – Allows companies to build diverse teams across different geographies, cultures, and backgrounds.
- Environmental responsibility – Reduced commuter travel leads to less pollution and a smaller carbon footprint.
- Flexible business hours – Potential for extended customer service or business hours across different time zones.
- Less time wasted on commuting – Employees can use the time saved from commuting more productively or for rest.
- Competitive advantage – Offering remote work can make a company more attractive to top-tier talent. Companies that offer remote work often are viewed as forward-thinking and adaptable.
Do Any Major Companies Work Remotely?
Yes, so-called “distributed teams” are surprisingly widespread, especially in the world of tech companies.
A growing number of major companies have embraced remote work, particularly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some companies have chosen to adopt a fully remote (or “distributed”) work model, while others have opted for a hybrid approach, where employees split their time between working remotely and working in the office. Additionally, many companies now offer flexible work policies, allowing employees to choose the work arrangement that suits them best.
Here are just a few of the companies in question:
Automattic (Creators of WordPress)
- Automattic has a team of over 800 people spread across 70 countries.
- In 2017, the company even closed an office in San Francisco since employees rarely physically showed up.
- Employees are instead given $250 every month to spend in coffee shops, in co-working spots, or simply for their lunch at home.
Automattic is the company behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Tumblr, and other popular online platforms. Automattic has been fully remote since its founding in 2005, and has more than 1,600 employees working from over 80 countries. Automattic values autonomy, transparency, and collaboration, and uses tools like Slack, Zoom, and P2 (their own WordPress-based communication platform) to communicate and coordinate their work.
The company still makes sure that employees feel like they’re part of a team. Small regular meetups happen in different areas of the world, plus one huge annual get-together known as the “Grand Meetup”.
GitHub (Software Development Platform)
- While GitHub doesn’t run fully remotely, roughly 64% of its workforce is made up of remote workers.
- GitHub embraces a remote-first culture with bases across the US, Europe, and Asia.
- Their employees receive annual reimbursements to outfit the home office.
GitHub is a platform for hosting and collaborating on software projects, used by over 65 million developers worldwide. GitHub has been a remote-first company since its inception in 2008, and has a distributed team of over 2,000 employees across 70 countries. GitHub believes that remote work enables them to hire the best talent, foster a diverse and inclusive culture, and empower their employees to work when and where they are most productive
Stripe (Payment Processing Company)
- Stripe has hired remote workers since its inception a decade ago.
- However, the overwhelming preference was for teams to be in their office.
Stripe is a technology company that provides payment infrastructure for the Internet. Stripe has over 4,000 employees across 16 global offices, but also supports remote work for many of its roles. Stripe launched its remote engineering hub in 2019, and has since hired hundreds of remote engineers from various countries and time zones. Stripe aims to create a seamless and consistent experience for its remote workers, by investing in tools, processes, and best practices for distributed work.
At the time of writing, they have numerous postings on their website offering remote positions.
Want to dive deeper into the world of remote work or dream about a location-independent lifestyle? We’ve got you covered! Take a look at our best books for digital nomads & remote workers.
You can also check our nifty freelance book finder to make your book hunting a breeze! Simply select your preferred genre, rating, publishing year, or keyword that catches your fancy, and voila! We’ll serve up some fantastic book suggestions for your next adventure in reading.
With so many companies moving to remote work, and independent freelancing also rising year-on-year, it looks likely that we will only see more of these opportunities opening up in the future. The coronavirus pandemic has also contributed significantly to both a need and desire for employees to work from home.
Results from numerous employers have shown that rather than hindering productivity, the increase in working remotely has generally led to an improvement in productivity and job satisfaction.
If you’re interested in a freelance lifestyle, learn more about the benefits of being a freelancer and working remotely.
