The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted traditional work life. While some office-based employees are lucky to shift to remote working, not all industries can adapt to this setup due to their line of work. With that, we beg to ask the question: What is the future of remote working? Let’s discuss some of the insights to anticipate and look forward to.
Remote Working: Implications for Employers
Remote work has implied benefits for both employers and employees. Companies with remote work arrangements enjoy the perks of easier recruitment, reduced infrastructure expenses, improved employee retention, and higher employee engagement.
However, remote jobs have the possibility of bringing threats to companies as well. Without proper use of channels and secure platforms for work and confidential processes, hacking can be one of the major privacy and security issues to prepare for.
Learning Remote Skills
Why is it important to gain remote work skills in 2020?
Since more and more companies are shifting to more remote work possibilities and remote jobs are getting more in-demand, take this opportunity to upgrade yourself and continue learning. That said, here are the top remote skills you should learn to keep up with work trends.
Strong written communication
More than ever, emails and other online communication platforms have become vital to keep businesses operational. While you may encounter a lot of video conferencing as well, brushing up on your written communication skills help you properly cascade, collaborate, and
Adaptability
In this time we utilize technology and virtual strategies more, job seekers and employees alike need to adjust and adapt to these advancements. You have to be able to keep up with how processes will not be the same. Also, the new remote work setup opens a new range of challenges such as internet connection issues, server problems, and other technical concerns. One way or another, you need to be prepared for these kinds of situations as part of the “new normal”.
Time management
With most remote work setups revolving around work-from-home, balancing your time and resources between work and personal life can be challenging. More distractions and temptations are there to procrastinate—laying down on your bed even before you finish your work, watching TV while on duty, and juggling personal affairs and household chores during work hours.
Technical skills
For remote work, employees and job seekers must have general and relevant technical skills. General tech skills include the use of emailing and communication platforms and collaboration and project apps, to name a few. Moreover, relevant technical skills refer to those which are specific to your line of work.
Working from Home
While more and more employees who work at the comfort of their own home say they’re more productive, they also believe it’s more challenging to balance their time. With their homes as their “private place to relax”, employees need to adjust to the new work-from-home setup to maximize efficiency.
Working from home also means minimal to no commuting hours spent every day. Instead, these hours are allotted to more family time, workouts, cooking, and more “me time”.
Lastly, we know that the “new normal” brought about by the pandemic opened new realizations and challenges as well. In a few years time, we’ll see how the future of the overall workforce will change for good. For now, we must take note of this:
“It’s important to stay open to learning and experimenting with new ways of working. The current pandemic has only accelerated this process. We’ll see the other side of this crisis, and I’m confident it will be brighter.”
— Evgeny Shadchnev, CEO, Makers Academy
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