Category: Remote Work

Introduction

Remote working is one of the methods that is becoming increasingly popular in many enterprises worldwide. After being heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses are terrified of losing human workers in another unfathomable pandemic like the COVID-19 pandemic. Firms and organizations suffered massive losses in 2020 and 2021 due to fewer people being authorized to report to work due to government mandates on employers to limit the number of employees to combat COVID-19. As a result, many firms are incorporating telecommuting into their operations to supplement the conventional process in which all employees must report to a central office. Many organizations have learned the hard way despite studies indicating that remote working exists in a few corporations and enterprises. They are now in the process of adopting telecommuting in their system to replace in-office working partially. Remote working, particularly during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, proved to be a crucial method of operation since the company could continue to function despite the pandemic hit.

Purpose of this Paper

It is projected that organizations that were able to implement telecommuting on their system will continue to do so after the COVID-19 recession. This is because enterprises that had previously adopted remote working in their systems benefited more than those that depended only on in-office labour. Many firms have discovered that alternate working arrangements, such as remote working, are necessary and save them money. Based on the lessons learned in the COVID-19 years of 2020 and 2021, enterprises have recognized the benefits of remote working and are investing to diversify their mode of operation. As a result, the primary goal of this article is to examine and identify the possible benefits of remote working for businesses that adopt it. The report also aims to identify and address management difficulties associated with remote working. Finally, the paper will discuss how Spotify.com, a firm most known for telecommuting, deals with remote working challenges.

Expected Benefits of a Formal Telecommuting Program to a Company

Remote working has shown to be advantageous to both the company and its employees. According to Mohammadi et al. (7), telecommuting fosters a cooperative relationship between employers and employees, which is critical to overall effectiveness. Recent research on the subject has found that telecommuting benefits a business. Mohammadi et al. (10) discovered that remote working practices assist employers and enterprises retain skilled employees. Firms and companies are picky about their most valuable personnel. Many firms have reported losing individual employees going through life transitions because they cannot report to the companys premises to respond to their obligations. As a result, organizations that have adopted telecommuting have minimized such risk because their employees may perform their duties online. Another advantage of accepting telecommuting is reducing the strain on a companys critical facilities. According to Omoyajowo et al. (270), remote working in an organization saves money. This is because firms would not be pressured to create massive offices and parking lots.

Remote employment is considered less expensive in terms of wage compensation than typical office work. Furthermore, numerous studies concur that telecommuters do not significantly strain firm employee advantages such as free internet. As a result, organizations that have accepted remote working typically operate at a reduced cost since they do not pay gasoline or housing allowances for their employees. Telecommuting has also been related to greater overall productivity. According to Omoyajowo et al. (271), many employers over the decades have struggled with production success challenges due to insufficient resources such as land, which restricts the number of physical offices. As a result, telecommuting has enabled such organizational managers to supervise vast groups of workers, which would not have been feasible if everyone had to report to the organizations regular offices for work. Finally, it should be highlighted that telecommuting allows businesses to get the most out of their employees. As Mintz-Binder and Allen (154) pointed out, it might be difficult for in-office workers to finish large jobs within the typical working period of eight hours. As a result, remote working allows company personnel to take irregular schedules that would not be conceivable with in-office working.

Issues for the Manager of a Telecommuting Worker

While remote working provides several advantages for a firm, its implementation presents numerous problems that must be overlooked. Mintz-Binder and Allen (156) recognize managerial concerns about remote working. Following the developments during the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic, the pace of telecommuting has already been determined. This indicates that remote working is here to stay, and managers will have to work extra hard to overcome the predicted challenges of remote human force management to keep the organization on track. According to Ma et al. (13), managing remote workers is difficult due to the numerous obstacles associated with supervisory concerns. Face-to-face supervision in conventional forms of working allows supervisors to encourage employees to complete their tasks efficiently. On the other side, it becomes uncertain for managers as to whether a remote worker is delivering as promised. Furthermore, managers face difficulties creating clear expectations for their subordinates with remote working. This is a problem since in-office work allows managers and workers to communicate with one another. However, with telecommuting, the link between managers and employees is only strengthened via online conversations.

Other managerial issues that arise due to deploying remote work to replace in-office labour include a lack of communication and team cohesiveness and coping with social isolation. According to Budnitz et al., the current office environment consists of both onsite and remote workers. As a result, managers frequently find themselves leaning on one side while disregarding the other. This harms a business since success requires a collaborative effort from all personnel. Recent studies have also identified a lack of communication as a critical issue in managing remote workers. This is because there is a loss of the widespread spontaneous face-to-face encounters in the traditional office.

Detailed Real Life Experience of a Company

This section will discuss Spotify.coms real-life remote working experience. Spotify.com is a worldwide technology and media streaming firm. The corporation is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with a market capitalization of around $48.4 billion (Denis 86). The organization has implemented a hybrid working paradigm, allowing employees to participate in remote and in-office working programs. Spotifys implementation of remote working gives people worldwide the possibility to work for the firm. As a result, Spotifys most significant issue is managing its massive workforce, which is spread around the globe. For example, Spotify may not hold face-to-face meetings with all of its staff. This is true since the corporations remote working program allows skilled people worldwide to serve the organization. As a result, face-to-face meetings are out of the question for Spotify. Concerning the organizations incapacity to attend actual meetings with all of its stakeholders, the corporation is utilizing new technology to reach out to its foreign workforce. These include video-enabled chats using technologies like Zoom, Google Meet, ClickMeeting, Room, and other well-known programs that provide live interactions.

As far as the Spotify firm is concerned, worker competency verification is another obstacle impeding the successful implementation of remote working. According to Denis (87), the firm cannot conduct physical interviews, making it difficult to verify the supplied credentials. This might also be detrimental to the organization, as competencies are essential when interacting with customers, the major stakeholders in any business. Negative consumer and customer comments on Spotify undermine its brand reputation, which is harmful to its health and functioning in the long term. The corporation faces a barrier in resolving this issue since it cannot finance or schedule a physical interview for all its remote personnel.

Conclusion

An organizations remote working techniques contain benefits and cons that impact a companys efficiency. According to ongoing discussions on formal employee telecommuting, an organizations remote working strategy affects employees and employers. Research has highlighted some benefits of remote working in an organization, including employee retention, lower operating costs, less burden on limited company resources, and, eventually, higher total production. However, remote employment raises many administrative challenges, such as ineffective oversight and ambiguous expectations. Furthermore, the lack of communication and cohesion between managers and distant workers has been impaired. To summarize, telecommuting has both advantages and disadvantages in implementation and allows companies to register high productivity through extensive engagement of its workers.

Works Cited

Budnitz, Hannah et al. Whether Weather Causes Contention: Assessing The Ongoing Resilience Opportunity of Telecommuting. Geojournal, 2022. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.

Denis, Diane. The Case for Maximizing LongRun Shareholder Value. Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, vol 31, no. 3, 2019, pp. 81-89. Wiley.

Ma, Guoxin et al. Telecommuting Adaptation in Malaysia: Demographics, Beliefs and Practices. Asian Social Science and Humanities Research Journal (ASHREJ), vol 1, no. 1, 2019, pp. 11-18. UCYP Press, University College of Yayasan Pahang. Web.

Mintz-Binder, Ronda, and Patricia Allen. Exploring The Perspectives of Telecommuting Nursing Faculty. Journal of Nursing Education, vol 58, no. 3, 2019, pp. 152-159. SLACK, Inc.

Mohammadi, Motahare (Yalda) et al. Examining The Persistence of Telecommuting After The COVID-19 Pandemic. Transportation Letters, 2022, pp. 1-14. Informa UK Limited.

Omoyajowo, Koleayo et al. Drivers of Telecommuting Policy in Nigerian Organizations. International Journal of Business, Technology and Organizational Behavior (IJBTOB), vol 1, no. 4, 2021, pp. 263-275. Garuda Prestasi Nusantara Consulting.

Remote working, also known as telecommuting, is a practice in which employees are permitted to work outside of the central offices run by their employers. Companies with such policies allow employees to work from various locations, including their homes, libraries, and other shared spaces. Furthermore, remote workers could attend an organization meeting remotely, which is generally enhanced by technology. Today, remotes and online discussions have taken their course, and many organizations worldwide are transitioning from traditional corporate offices to online methods of holding meetings and managing organizations. As Arunprasad (33) noted, remote working became popular in late 2020 and early 2021, when the COVID-19 global pandemic was a primary concern. Many governments worldwide issued directives to organizations to reduce the number of employees to comply with the social distancing rule. Organizations, for their part, adopted telecommuting as a means of continuing operations despite the COVID-19 strike.

Purpose of this Paper

Although many studies have been conducted on the benefits of employee telecommuting, the practice has challenges and drawbacks for both employers and employees. According to Rajbanshi (25), some of the advantages of telecommuting include reduced commuting, increased efficiency in recruiting and hiring and increased productivity. Recent studies have also looked into the issue and added much more information about telecommuting. According to Hacquard and Justine, the practice relieved organizations of the need to construct large corporate office spaces. This is because virtual teams are more natural and adaptable, which improves business continuity in the long run. However, this paper aims to investigate and conclude the social and professional issues associated with remote working. Furthermore, the report will examine the effects of the problems identified on both individual employees and the organization, citing evidence.

Social Issues for the Individual Telecommuting Employee

Since the start of COVID-19 in late 2020, many organizations have adopted remote working as their preferred working style. However, telecommuting research is educating on the social effects of remote working on individual employees. According to Fan and Moen (171), the concept of remote working existed and was accelerated in 2020 when the global coronavirus pandemic forced organizations to invest in remote working to protect their employees from the pandemic. According to the study, the years 2020 and 2021 were difficult for employees because they were expected to embrace remote working practices unanimously (Fan and Moen 179). Recent telecommuting studies agree that many employees worldwide have embraced the flexibility of remote working while yearning for the social interaction they had while working in a corporate or traditional office setting.

Given that firms are migrating from office to online working, taking into account employees voices and well-being is an issue that must be treated seriously. This is because telecommuting poses psychological risks to employees. The main difficulty of remote working with employees, according to Arunprasad et al. (51), is the lack of social interaction. Although many employees have the necessary equipment for remote work, it has been demonstrated that many face behavioral and cultural problems when working from home (Arunprasad et al. 52). According to a recent study by Petrila et al. (60), many firms now have resources for remote working; however, around 33% of employees worldwide cited a lack of social connections with their coworkers and an unsatisfactory relationship with their organization. Another fundamental societal difficulty revealed by the research is that workers struggle to maintain a clear boundary between their personal and professional lives. This is true because employees are not bound by workplace rules such as dress code or posture when doing their duties from home.

Another social concern with remote working is disruptions and diversions. Employees working from home significantly risk distraction and disruption from various sources, including home activities, family members, and other personal difficulties (Delany 8). This is true because employees work from home, where several things require their attention. As a result, employees find it challenging to balance their personal and professional lives while working from home. Long video meetings, increased stress and anxiety, working for long hours, or the inability to shut off at the end of the day are some employees social problems associated with remote working. Further studies have identified social isolation, a lack of collaborative communication, and a lack of access to knowledge as other social issues related to remote working.

Social Issues Impact

Remote working indeed causes many social concerns for employees. As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, many employees whose firms have implemented telecommuting have identified a variety of social difficulties that need to be addressed. These societal concerns harm both the company and the individual employees. For example, Delany (9) discovered that a lack of connection between coworkers lowers employees working morale, hence their inactivity. This is a problem since less active personnel implies lower production, which impacts the organizations success. Remote employees have more flexibility since workplace restrictions do not limit them, leading to undesirable behavioral cultures, such as lethargy and unsuitable office dress rules. According to Delany (7), worker sloth and home distraction harm firms in terms of output and brand identity. Employees that are well-mannered and orderly market the companys brand name, attracting more consumers in a long time. In summary, the social challenges that remote working brings directly harm individual employees while also reflecting low organizational performance.

Career Issues

Career difficulties are contentious in todays society, as many employees are unsure whether telecommuting would jeopardize their career and profession. Is working remotely detrimental to an employees career? Speculations abound on different sites bemoaning telecommuting. According to the charges, remote employment leads to fewer opportunities for advancement and lower pay than in-office work. According to Dujays analysis, there is no discernible difference in promotion for remote and in-office staff. However, it was discovered that remote workers were paid less than their in-office counterparts. According to Delany (7), telecommuting increases employee lethargy and causes them to fail to complete their given work. This is highly hazardous to both the corporation and the individual remote workers. For example, a company may fire a non-active remoter worker to improve organizational performance. As a result, the remote workers lose their jobs while, at the same time, the organization suffers from a deficit of talented employees. Although no research has established the effect of remote working on employees careers, there is a widespread belief that telecommuting leads to fewer opportunities for advancement and lower compensation. Therefore many people are wary of it.

Career Issues Impact

The unfavorable perceptions of telecommuting are influencing employees willingness to take remote working employment. These ideals have bewitched many workers minds, and as a result, many are opting for in-office positions to advance and receive other perks quickly. Regardless of the company, employees are typically motivated and encouraged by promotions and incentives (Judge and Robbins 244). Workers who do not receive such perks are less engaged and satisfied with their jobs. As a result of these telecommuting concepts, analysts claim that workers nowadays prefer in-office settings since they appear to have an advantage over remote employees. Because it is assumed that telecommuting provides fewer chances, employees are less motivated to give their all because they believe their efforts will not be appreciated as those in the office. As a result, this influences the organizations and individual employees growth. This is true because distant workers provide more diminutive than their full capacity, affecting total corporate performance.

Conclusion

The ongoing debate over telecommuting, also known as remote working, has defined the phrase as working from home rather than in an office. As mentioned at the outset, the purpose of this study was to research telecommuting while paying particular attention to the social and professional concerns that arise as a result of the deployment of telecommuting in enterprises. It was also discovered that the concept of remote working existed but was expedited and popularized as a result of the effects of COVID-19 on enterprises. The findings of this research show that remote working poses several social issues affecting not just individual employees but also the business. Some recognized social workers complaints are lack of interaction, loneliness, diversions, and long working hours. Furthermore, this article has highlighted the prevalent misconceptions about career advancement in the context of remote working. As stated in this study, some employees consider that remote work provides fewer improvement opportunities. In summary, remote working social and career issues impact organizational success by directly affecting the individual employees.

Works Cited

Arunprasad, P. et al. Exploring The Remote Work Challenges in The Era of COVID-19 Pandemic: Review and Application Model. Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol 32, no. 5, 2022, pp. 33-56. Emerald.

Delany, Kevin. What Challenges Will Organizations Face Transitioning for The First Time to The New Normal of Remote Working?. Human Resource Development International, 2021, pp. 1-9. Informa UK Limited.

Dujay, John. Is Working Remotely Bad for A Persons Career? It Depends. Hrreporter.Com, 2020.

Fan, Wen, and Phyllis Moen. Working More, Less or The Same During COVID-19? A Mixed Method, Intersectional Analysis of Remote Workers. Work and Occupations, vol 49, no. 2, 2021, pp. 143-186. SAGE Publications.

Hacquard, Juliette, and Justine Montabone. The effects of telecommuting on teamwork efficiency in a context of new product development. 2022.

Judge, Timothy A, and Stephen Robbins. Organizational Behavior. 17th ed., Pearson Education, 2017, p. 244.

Petrila, Laureniu et al. Effective Teaching During The COVID-19 Pandemic? Distance Learning and Sustainable Communication in Romania. Sustainability, vol 14, no. 12, 2022, p. 72-69. MDPI AG.

Rajbanshi, Bijendra. Nepali IT Employees Perception Towards Telecommuting: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Environmental Impact and Management Policy, 2022, pp. 18-26. HM Publishers. Web.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to numerous workplaces switching from office to remote work. The radical increase in the number of companies allowing work from home spurred the discussion on the widespread implementation of this working practice. The topic was selected as it directly relates to my workplace, which allows for remote work. Nevertheless, working from home option should not be offered by more companies due to the overall negative impact on employee well-being and productivity.

Working from home is associated with several advantages and disadvantages for employees and employers. Although not all companies can embrace the remote work model, those that do benefit from more engaged employees enhanced productivity, work control, work-life balance, and higher retention rates (Ipsen et al., 2021; Spruill, 2022). Nevertheless, a larger body of research points to the disadvantages of remote work for employees and, by extension, employers. It is argued that working from home results in job-related uncertainty and loss of knowledge and intellectual productivity due to the lack of interaction with colleagues (Bolisani et al., 2020; Ipsen et al., 2021). Furthermore, isolation and online connection translate into stress, reduced productivity, and damaged interpersonal relationship in the workplace (Bolisani et al., 2020). Home life constraints and the absence of adequate tools for work can adversely impact ones ability to work from home (Ipsen et al., 2021). Overall, remote work is not a universally sustainable model for different industries.

In summary, remote work is not always a viable option. It should not be offered by companies that are unprepared to mitigate adverse consequences experienced by employees working from home. Business ventures are recommended to carefully research flexible work and the needs of their staff before extending the option. In addition, companies should consider and provide effective measures to contrast any negative experiences of their employees.

References

Bolisani, E., Scarso, E., Ipsen, C., Kirchner, K., & Hansen, J. P. (2020). Working from home during COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learned and issues. Management & Marketing. Challenges for the Knowledge Society, 15(1), 458476. Web.

Ipsen, C., Van Veldhoven, M., Kirchner, K., & Hansen, J. P. (2021). Six key advantages and disadvantages of working from home in Europe during COVID-19. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), 117. Web.

Spruill, Y. (2022). Why remote work isnt only beneficial for employees. Forbes. Web.

With the concept of remote work having become nearly ubiquitous, its effects on employees and organizations needs to be examined closer. A study by Maria Charalampous sheds light on the subject matter, outlining the challenge associated with the transitioning to the remote work context. Maria Charalampous is a PhD student at Coventry University, Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences (Maria Charalampous par. 1). She has seven published papers on the subject of e-working and three projects addressing the issue at hand in depth (Maria Charalampous par. 1). Therefore, Charalampous has a rather impressive record of exploring the challenges of remote work, which makes her study worth quoting.

Charalampouss current stance on the concept of remote work is quite balanced. While she acknowledges the challenges of transitioning to the e-work context, she also recognizes the necessity of the described change. In turn, the paper in which the journal was published has a sufficient history in the academia. The European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology was founded in 1991 and has been providing credible, peer-reviewed studies on the subject matter since then (Journal Information par. 5). Therefore, the article is worth considering as a credible paper coming from a reliable source.

The research proves that the remote environment has a mostly positive effect on employees affective state, as well as different aspects of their professional and social lives. However, the study also outlines that the knowledge of changes in employees cognitive functions, as well as their psychosomatic state, are scarce. Specifically, Charalampous confirms that information about important dimensions and sub-dimensions of remote e-workers well-being is absent (16). The specified statement suggests that further analysis of the challenges encountered by employees in the remote workplace context is required.

Works Cited

Charalampous, Maria, et al. Systematically Reviewing Remote E-Workers Well-Being at Work: A Multidimensional Approach. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, vol. 28, no. 1, 2019, pp. 51-73.

Journal Information. TandFOnline, 2022, Web.

Maria Charalampous. ResearchGate, 2022, Web.

Communication is perhaps the most important component in creating a productive and effective workplace. Due to the fact that team communication fosters collaboration and knowledge exchange, it supports healthy working relationships. The more a company’s employees are connected as colleagues, the more effectively the work will be done. Since computers have evolved from bulky machines to compact PCs with plasma monitors, office spaces have also undergone solid technological changes. The latter has made communication between employees challenging but it has also opened up opportunities to improve team relations.

In 2020, because of the coronavirus, a period of social disunity coexisted with the emergence of effective channels of communication. With the transition of employees of different companies to the remote principle of work, there was an optimization and increase in the efficiency of electronic communications. The transition to communication through electronic channels turns almost all participants into introverts. In addition, employee meetings themselves have become more formalized, designed to exchange only business communication. On the one hand, because of the proliferation of remote work, people may begin to perform more efficiently since they are in the comfort of their homes. However, there is also a risk that such an atmosphere will relax them, and there will be an overall decrease in productivity. This ambiguity shows that the emergence of new ways of communicating is both an advantage and a disadvantage for managers.

The increasing prevalence of remote work may mean that many employees will never see their colleagues in person. In terms of communication, this can lead to more rudeness between colleagues. Certainly, this is a disadvantage for the manager because difficulties in the relationships between employees reduce their efficiency. However, it can also be seen as an advantage because trying to solve this problem can lead to improved team cohesion.

Remote working is a form of arrangement where the employee does not have to commute to the workplace. The rise and success of remote working have been facilitated by technological development. Technological advancements offer the ability to get work done despite the worker’s location and enable communication with coworkers and clients. These forms of technology include local area networks, collaborative software, conference calling, internet access, private visual networks cloud computing, video telephony and Voice over Internet Protocol (IP) technologies. Teleworking has been assisted by the technology involved in telecommunication, such as smartphones, tablet computers, laptops, landline telephones and desktop computers. There have also been developments of software that have come in handy to facilitate remote working, such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Cisco WebEx, Stack, WhatsApp and Google Meet.

The history of remote working is traced back to the 1970s when Jack Nilles developed the name telework or telecommuting. Technology was significant that linked the satellite offices to the mainframes downtown using dumb terminals used as a network bridge. Five International Business Machines (IBM) corporation employees were used as an experiment and were allowed to work from home, which was a success (Yu et al., 2019). The number of telecommuters increased to 2,000 in 1983, and the figure continued to grow in the coming years. From 2003 to 2006, the number of remote workers increased by 4 million (Espitia et al., 2022). The number of remote workers then rose drastically following the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, many companies have mandated their workers to work from home permanently or temporarily. Other companies were involved in the payment of home office equipment. The technologies have advanced quickly, and many companies have shifted away from the traditional offices and encouraged a remote workforce adversely.

Remote working has affected individuals differently, and its success involves the effective use of technology. The employee may need to purchase equipment if the company does not provide it. Most older workers may find it hard to utilize the technologies applicable to telecommuting, unlike the younger workers (Burke & Raad, 2019). When it comes to gender, female workers fancy remote work more than men. Remote working has enabled women to gain flexibility and adequate time to care for the family (Nash & Churchill, 2020). Women have been advantaged where remote work has narrowed down the gender gap in employment. Remote working has decreased gender-based harassment and racial discrimination at workplaces.

Remote work has affected income, and some employees have experienced salary adjustments. Some allowances are taken away from the employees as they no longer have to incur the cost of commuting. The people in urban and suburban areas are more involved in remote working, unlike those in the rural regions, as the technology development and access to resources is higher in the town centers (Peters, 2020). Remote working requires a reliable internet connection, which may not be efficient in rural areas.

Remote working has had both positive and negative impacts on society. The service industry largely can be impacted by the economic challenges due to the reduced need to travel. The number of customers who go for these services becomes fewer, leading to loss of employment and income (Islam et al., 2021). This effect may lead to a need for less service workers in the offices, such as cleaners, receptionists and cyber services. Those working are likely to need adjustments to their working spaces to suit their expected work (Papanikolaou & Schmidt, 2022). There are positive impacts on the economy where lower pollution may enable the money used to cater to pollution to be invested in other activities.

There have been health impacts associated with working from home. Remote work may lead to mental health challenges. When people work from home, they feel alone without needed support to progress with work. Situations may lead to stress and an introverted lifestyle (Oakman et al., 2020). There have also been health challenges where workers have experienced where employees have reported lower back pains. These pains have resulted from a lack of office standard furniture in homes.

There have been privacy concerns that come along with remote working. For instance, increased expanded surveillance at homes and individuals profiling might be increased. In addition, there can be the posing risks to the family when there is electric surveillance, cookies, spyware and availability of personal information (Williamson et al., 2020). When the workers work remotely, it also increases the chances of secondary unauthorized access to the company’s information and data misuse, including identity theft.

Working from home, especially after the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, has affected community life. Telecommuting has increased work-life balance as remote workers gain more time to spend with their loved ones and other community members (Xiao et al., 2021). This time created improves community socialization and connection. The quality of life improves for the worker as they get less pressure from commuting to and fro the workplace. The workers also may get a chance to share work skills and experiences with the community members who work from home.

In conclusion, technology development has played a part in encouraging remote working. There are different forms of technology such as local area networks, collaborative software, conference calls, internet access, and private visual networks that can facilitate teleworking. Others include cloud computing, video telephony and voice over IP technologies that have been useful for working remotely. Remote working has affected society in different ways causing health impacts and privacy issues and also remote working also affects the community life of the individuals.

References

Burke, M., & Raad, N. (2019). Exploring impact of future flexible working model evolution on urban environment, economy and planning.Journal of Urban Management, 8(3), 447-457. Web.

Espitia, A., Mattoo, A., Rocha, N., Ruta, M., & Winkler, D. (2022). Pandemic trade: COVID‐19, remote work and global value chains. The World Economy, 45(2), 561-589. Web.

Nash, M., & Churchill, B. (2020). Caring during COVID‐19: A gendered analysis of Australian university responses to managing remote working and caring responsibilities. Gender, Work & Organization, 27(5), 833-846. Web.

Papanikolaou, D., & Schmidt, L. D. (2022). Working remotely and the supply-side impact of Covid-19.The Review of Asset Pricing Studies, 12(1), 53-111. Web.

Peters, D. J. (2020). Community susceptibility and resiliency to COVID‐19 across the rural‐urban continuum in the United States. The Journal of Rural Health, 36(3), 446-456. Web.

Williamson, B., Eynon, R., & Potter, J. (2020). Pandemic politics, pedagogies and practices: digital technologies and distance education during the coronavirus emergency.Learning, Media and Technology, 45(2), 107-114. Web.

Xiao, Y., Becerik-Gerber, B., Lucas, G., & Roll, S. C. (2021). Impacts of working from home during COVID-19 pandemic on physical and mental well-being of office workstation users.Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 63(3), 181. Web.

In the face of what is quickly becoming the global CoronaVirus (COVID-19) health crisis, the UAE Government has been a reassuring presence to many; ensuring that the country’s economy is impacted as little as possible and that even with the newly implemented remote-working policy, that professionals have their working and learning needs met as well. I have experienced this first-hand, being part of the country’s workforce that has been mandated to work remotely during the period of quarantine and social distancing that has been recommended by the state in a bid to stop the transmission of COVID-19.

It all started in the November-December period of 2019 when the very first cases of infection of a new strain of the Coronavirus were reported in China. At the time, I was going about my routine work duties and obligations, like most of the world, completely unaware of the impact that this virus would soon have on our world. The virus was thereafter named the SARS-CoV-2, with the resultant illness widely identified as COVID-19. What followed was a health and economic nightmare, as infection rates skyrocketed worldwide, quarantines were quickly implemented in many countries, and global leaders were strategizing on how to minimize the effect of the would-be pandemic on their populations and their economies.

The UAE, under Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister, and Monarch of the Emirate of Dubai was no different. Given the infectious nature of the disease, the government quickly implemented preventative and precautionary measures to the country’s workforce. I remember attending several briefings, called by our managerial teams on the COVID-19 crisis and how office etiquette and interactions had to change.

Alcohol-based sanitizers and handwash were distributed in strategic places throughout the office, the frequency of disinfection cleaning increased dramatically, and I would pass a few people wearing masks on my way to and from my workplace. The UAE cabinet then formed a committee aimed at handling the negative impacts of COVID-19 on the national economy, which would have been reasonably expected, given the adverse impact of the disease on the working and investing population.

Eventually, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation issued a directive that no more than 30% of a private company’s workforce should physically report to offices. This effectively led to much of the country’s workforce, myself included, having to readjust to working and learning right from our homes.

I am particularly thankful for this remote-working directive, which shows the lengths to which the UAE government is willing to go to protect its workforce, and its population in general. It has, however, changed a lot of how organizations work. For many of us, starting March 29th, 2020, remote working has become our new reality, and organizational leaders and managers are dedicated to ensuring that the transition is smooth and supported by good work practices. I firmly believe that this is an effective course of action. Furthermore, I am willing to wholly develop and maintain a regular work routine and embrace the flexibility that comes with working from home, with my family and loved ones. If this is done, it may be enough to implement the remote-working system successfully.

The infrastructure that is being implemented by both private organizations and the government to support the remote-working system has also provided an opportunity for professionals to learn. There is an increased uptake of technology-adoption programs, as well as managerial classes. As a result, there is a lot of professional development currently ongoing, as members of the workforce are picking up new and innovative skills in modern technology. Of course, the government has shown its willingness to implement the smooth transition of the country’s workforce to a remote-working setting. This has been shown with the remote-working system being adopted with the support and coordination from the competent National Emergency, Crisis, and Disaster Management Authority.

I do believe that this would highly contribute to breaking the virus’ transmission chains, which is the entire logic behind transitioning into a remote-working system. Interpersonal contact is being kept to a bare minimum, and therefore the opportunity to spread is severely limited. The Economics committee will also be regularly monitoring the negative impacts of the implementation of remote-working, and giving suggestions on how to stimulate the economy and mitigate the adverse effects to the government. While this may be one of the most devastating pandemics in the modern age, We, as a people, are capable of so much, and as a nation, we will undoubtedly persevere through this crisis.

Workers have come a long way with Teleworking and that is why National Telework Week has been organized to recognize employee retention and financial benefits of remote working. Brian Christensen who is one of the employees Cisco System Inc, which is a computer networking firm, recalls how he was forced to move from his home in San Francisco to be near the company’s headquarters in California.

This is because he was always late at work due to the long distance drive. Christensen used to take 90minutes driving to work which was 50 miles away from his home. Despite the harsh conditions, he was expected to work for 10-hour days.

Christensen laughs when he looks at how things have changed as compared to the past 18years. Being the director of information systems at Cisco, Christensen now has more responsibilities to attend to. He is responsible for mobile and home service offering for 63,000 employees with $43 billion Company (Meg par. 1).

Today, Christensen is able to work several days within a week from home and that is why he encourages other clients and co-workers to do the same too. According a survey report, roughly 90 percent of employees are working at least one day a week from home.

Cisco has taken the mandate to promote employee empowerment to facilitate success in their jobs. Better results will be recorded if the employees work from home as compared to the hours they spend in the office.

Being a networking company, Cisco has taken the forefront to facilitate a movement on the benefits of teleworking not only to the benefits of employees but also as a way of making business operations to be more global by attracting and retaining workers of highest quality that will boost the productivity of employees.

Actually it is Cisco Company that has sponsored the National Telework Week which is to begin on Monday. Telework Exchange Company is responsible for organizing the event since the company also promotes teleworking particular in federal government.

The two companies believe that employees can be able to save $ 60 averagely in a week and $ 3000 yearly if they work remotely. A good example is Trademark Office and U.S. Patent which documented savings worth $19million after moving its employees to work remotely. This was more than 14years ago.

The large savings were as a result of reduced transport and real estate costs and a reduction in employee turnover. A total of $ 215 billion can be saved if full-time workers decide to work remotely. The environment will also be spared from tons of 143 million pollutants.

The number of employees working from home has increased steadily since 2004. However, in 2010 the number declined as a result of recession. Most employees feared that they might be jeopardizing their boss by telecommuting.

There are some managers who find it hard to believe in telecommuting. This is one of the reasons why it is not easy to shift every company to teleworking strategies. Only good results will enable managers to think of using teleworking strategies.

Bibliography

Meg, Breslin. Teleworking Has Come a Long Way for Workers. 2012. Web.

Introduction

The technological revolution of the 20^th century changed the way people executed work-related duties. By the start of the 1970s, there was a need to revisit commuting to work due to the enactment of the Clean Air Act. This legislation sought to address the increased air pollution by motor vehicles occasioned by the increasing need for people to travel in and out of the city every day. In 1973, Jack Niles published the first book on telecommuting. He recommended that either the “jobs of the employees must be redesigned so that they can still be self-contained at each individual location, or a sufficiently sophisticated telecommunications and information-storage system must be developed to allow the information transfer to occur as effectively as if the employees were centrally collocated” (Niles, 1973, p. 164). The idea of telecommuting continued to gain popularity within the decade.

Main body

In 1979, an article in The Washington Post by the vice president of the Committee for Economic Development (CED), Frank Schiff, popularized the idea that working at home would save gasoline. Schiff (1979) argued that if people started working from home, the demand and prices for gasoline would go down. Additionally, the service industry and information-based jobs were emerging, which allowed people to work at home. Between the mid-1970s and early 1980s, companies like JC Penny, General Electric, Sears Holdings, and American Express started rolling out telecommunicating programs for their employees (Felstead & Henseke, 2017).

However, the idea of telecommuting was not accepted immediately. Several concerns were raised concerning ways to supervise people working remotely. It would even be difficult to establish whether one was actually working. Additionally, at the time, it was believed that employees needed to work together as teams operating from a central place to accomplish a set of goals. Similarly, the critics of this idea pointed that working from home would not produce the desired results as people would face distractions, hence reduced productivity (Felstead & Henseke, 2017). However, despite the cynicism that surrounded telecommuting, companies that had adopted the idea started showing positive results.

The human resources department started measuring workers’ performance by results as opposed to the length of time spent in an office. Additionally, telecommuting was adopted in phases where individuals would be allowed to work partly at home and from the office. This hybrid approach allowed the human resources management to measure the effectiveness of each strategy. In 1987, the Christian Science Monitor reported that telecommuting was becoming a reality with over 300 companies adopting the idea and close to 1.5 million individuals actively using the concept (Knobelsdorff, 1987). In the 1990s, the US government adopted telecommuting in the General Services Administration and the Office of Personnel Management. After assessing the viability of the concept, a Presidential Memorandum was issued in 1996 directing the creation of dynamic family-friendly work programs. The trend continued to grow into the 21^st century where more companies adopted the idea. By the start of the 2010s, telecommuting had transformed into a business strategy that would reduce operational costs. In 2016, the number of individuals working from home in the US was 43 percent, while 56 percent of jobs allowed working remotely (Felstead & Henseke, 2017).

Conclusion

Telecommuting has grown tremendously after companies started using the idea in the 1970s. However, this new concept was met with criticism as organizations were resistant to change. The human resources management responded creatively by adopting the idea in phases through monitoring and evaluation to establish its viability. Currently, working remotely is a business strategy and the majority of companies have adopted it. The barrier to telecommuting has been rigid organizational structures.

References

Felstead, A., & Henseke, G. (2017). Assessing the growth of remote working and its consequences for effort, well‐being and work‐life balance. New Technology, Work and Employment, 32(3), 195-212.

Knobelsdorff, E. (1987). Telecommuting: Reality sets in.The Christian Science Monitor. Web.

Niles, J. (1973). The telecommunications-transportation tradeoff: Options for Tomorrow. New York, NY: Wiley.

Schiff, F. (1979). Working at home can save gasoline. The Washington Post. Web.

Introduction

As a result of the COVID-19 spread, the world remarkably changed. Companies were forced to let the employees work remotely, and many businesses adopted into these circumstances. It might be a tough decision, yet companies keep allowing working remotely, even though the lockdown has ended. It is crucial to consider the consequences of this profound change in people’s lives. I analyzed the opinions of employees and executives to understand why more companies allow remote work.

Criteria

At the beginning of 2020, companies had to move to remote work, yet now they have a choice. The main criteria I used to analyze whether working from home is effective or not is the performance of companies that got back to the office environment, and which allowed employees to keep working remotely. Moreover, many points affected companies after the virus spread, yet the important one is how the employees feel about these changes.

Methodology

During my research, I found many companies that allowed remote work for most of their employees. Twitter can be a bright example as its CEO Jack Dorsey lets the staff work from home forever (Kelly, 2020, para. 5). However, many employees turned against the decision, the overall performance of Twitter lowered, and the network recently faced a massive hacker attack due to its vulnerability.

Recommendations

I recommend companies not allow their employees to work remotely. Although it saves the costs for office space, it harms the company’s performance in general. Employees’ productivity is lower at home, their life-work balance upsets, and the lack of corporate culture severely affects their motivation. The quarantine caused stress, and getting back to normal is a better solution than staying in offbeat life conditions.

Conclusion

By allowing employees to work remotely, executives choose a risky way of managing their businesses. The economic recession many countries discover nowadays should motivate them to work more and better. The remote-work environment will require time to get used to, and this time could be used for bringing the economy of a company back to its pre-quarantine ratings.

I believe that companies allow workers to stay remote because the technological conditions enable them to always be in touch, and using them is cheaper than renting an office. However, it is vital to take care of employees’ mental health and help them keep a work-life balance.

Reference

Kelly, J. (2020). Here are the companies leading the work-from-home revolution. Forbes. Web.