{"id":569,"date":"2021-06-16T18:07:05","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T12:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.remotebharat.com\/resources\/?p=569"},"modified":"2021-06-16T18:25:02","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T12:55:02","slug":"7-reasons-why-2021-will-be-even-bigger-and-better-for-remote-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.remotebharat.com\/resources\/7-reasons-why-2021-will-be-even-bigger-and-better-for-remote-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"7 reasons why 2021 will be even bigger and better for remote workers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2020 may have been the worst year to start working remotely, though many of us gave it a try. Here\u2019s how things will get better in 2021.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This one was a banner year for remote work<\/a>, but 2021 is poised to be even bigger, and better, for those who continue to enjoy a flexible work arrangement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Americans who work remotely today were forced out of their offices, and challenged to manage the sudden change, along with the added obstacles brought on by the pandemic. Despite this, however, the majority express an interest in working remotely moving forward, even after the crisis is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a study<\/a> conducted by FlexJobs in February of 2020, only 4.7 million Americans, or roughly 3.4% of the population, worked remotely. In the past year that number rose<\/a> to 42%, as the pandemic forced offices to close. A recent FlexJobs survey<\/a> of 4,000 people who are working remotely found 65% want to work remotely full-time after the pandemic, while 31% would prefer a hybrid work arrangement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead to 2021\u2014the year many expect vaccines to bring the pandemic under control\u2014remote work is expected to become easier, more equitable, less isolating, and perhaps even more financially rewarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it will necessarily be as flashy as 2020 has been, with this huge overnight change, but I think 2021 has the makings of being an important year in terms of the foundation of the next level of remote work,\u201d says Brie Reynolds, senior career specialist at FlexJobs. \u201cMore employers have a stake in it now, so I think we\u2019ll see the foundation for what remote work will look like for the next five or ten years being laid in 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few of the ways experts expect remote work to expand and improve in the year ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Policymakers Will Be Incentivized to Support Remote Workers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the pandemic, remote workers were a niche market and a relatively small constituency; in 2021, they will represent a much larger proportion of the population, providing incentive for policymakers to better serve their needs. \u201cI think we could see stimulus [to support remote workers], or more broadband projects, or even talks of new tax and employment laws,\u201d says Reynolds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reynolds adds that remote work-specific policies have gotten little attention in the past, given the low number of constituents they effected. Now that remote work<\/a> is the norm for so many white collar workers, she is optimistic that there will be more political will to improve conditions for remote workers, from a policy perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Remote Workers Will Have Access to More Tools and Resources<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The higher proportion of remote workers will also give companies incentive to design products that improve the experience, while giving employers more incentive to invest in those solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat feeling of being seen and understood gets worse when you\u2019re working remotely, so companies will compensate for that; they\u2019ll start ramping up their recognition and rewards programs,\u201d predicts David Johnson, the principal analyst for employee experience at Forrester Research. \u201cCompanies are going to invest quite a bit in up-skilling managers and investing in technology that will help them better understand employee engagement when working remotely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson also expects to see better remote security, expense management, and collaboration and communication tools emerge in the coming year, among others. Some organizations have even hired dedicated staff<\/a> to manage the needs of its remote workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019ve only got 5% of your workforce working remotely, it\u2019s hard to justify upgrading to the solution that\u2019s more seamless and easier for people that are outside of the office,\u201d he says. \u201cAll of a sudden, if you have half your employees working outside the office, it becomes more justifiable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Remote Work Will Feel More Natural<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The most difficult part of remote work, according to Johnson, is the initial transition out of the office. Now that most have ripped off that Band-Aid, he suspects remote work will be a lot easier on everyone in the coming year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, many Americans had to dramatically change their daily routines and habits in order to accommodate the remote work lifestyle, but by next year those growing pains will largely be behind them.\u201dPeople have established new habits now, which is the hardest work, psychologically,\u201d he says. \u201cWith that comes an increased comfort level, both for remote workers and executives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Remote Workers Will Finally Enjoy Some Work-life Separation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many of those who began working remotely in 2020 had a lot more to deal with at home than those who did so prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs someone who has advocated for remote work for a long time, this is the worst way to go about it, where you\u2019re forced to work from home and you can\u2019t leave or do anything outside of that,\u201d explains Job van der Voort, the CEO and co-founder of Remote, which helps organizations hire remote workers from around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van der Voort says that most remote workers are yet to experience the lifestyle\u2019s true benefits due to stay-at-home orders and restrictions on mobility. \u201cOne of the most amazing things about working remotely is that you can work from wherever you want, and that could mean all sorts of exotic things; you could travel to another country for a while, or it means if I don\u2019t feel like being at home all day I can go to a local coffee shop,\u201d he says. \u201cThat is the kind of freedom that remote work has the potential to give you, and it\u2019s the exact freedom you lack right now because of the pandemic, so I think the experience will massively improve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van der Voort adds that one of the biggest challenges newly remote workers are struggling with is the lack of work-life separation, especially among parents. \u201cWe hear a lot of complaints about that, but once the pandemic is over that completely flips; it\u2019s really great to be a parent working remotely, as opposed to it being harder,\u201d he says. \u201cYou get to spend much more time with them, because you don\u2019t have to commute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Remote Work Will Become Less Isolating<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By that same token, van der Voort says many newly remote workers are struggling with loneliness and isolation, but emphasizes that those issues are more a function of the pandemic than remote work itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRemote work doesn\u2019t imply that you\u2019re not working together with other people, it doesn\u2019t even imply that you don\u2019t work near other people; I know many people that prefer to work in a coworking space, which is not allowed right now,\u201d he says. \u201cThat is why I think, for almost everybody, remote work will significantly improve next year as the pandemic hopefully disappears.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Remote Workplaces Will Become More Diverse<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The rise of remote work has the potential to massively expand a company\u2019s talent pool<\/a>, as employers can hire the best and brightest from around the world, no matter where they\u2019re located. As a result, van der Voort believes the workforce is about to get a lot more international, and a lot more diverse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you no longer hire from just one part of the world, but anywhere, it\u2019s actually easier to build more diverse organizations, because the talent pool is far greater,\u201d he says. \u201cHaving a diverse group of people means you have a diverse group of voices in your organization, which leads to better thinking about how you do things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Remote Workers Can Earn More<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Just as employers can hire talent from just about anywhere, employees can now seek out job opportunities outside of their geographical area, providing them access to higher paying jobs in different markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, computer programmers typically had to move to places like Silicon Valley in order to realize their full earning potential. \u201cToday you can live wherever you want, including outside of the United States, and make the same amount,\u201d says van der Voort. \u201cThat\u2019s really the future we\u2019re heading for, and very rapidly so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent months, companies like\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0have announced plans to tie compensation to physical location, meaning that those based in areas with a lower cost of living could earn less as a result. However, van der Voort believes such policies will quickly buckle under the pressure of the free market. \u201cIf you have great skill in something in particular, you will be well compensated for it, independent of your location,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you believe you should earn more than you\u2019re getting offered, you can look for a different employer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally published at Fast Company and written by Jared Lindzon<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>

https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/90579585\/7-reasons-why-2021-will-be-even-bigger-and-better-for-remote-workers<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2020 may have been the worst year to start working remotely, though many of us gave it a try. Here\u2019s how things will get better in 2021. This one was a banner year for remote work, but 2021 is poised to be even bigger, and better, for those who continue to enjoy a flexible work arrangement. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,2,9,6,3,25,7,27,5,8,4],"tags":[18,21,22,20,23,16,19,11,14,13,17,12,10],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.remotebharat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.remotebharat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.remotebharat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.remotebharat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.remotebharat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.remotebharat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":574,"href":"https:\/\/www.remotebharat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569\/revisions\/574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.remotebharat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.remotebharat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.remotebharat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.remotebharat.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}