Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that rocked the world early this year, an estimated 44.2 million Americans have since filed for unemployment, according to Fortune.
Companies fighting to stay alive are using technology to implement new strategies to for working remotely, despite previous skepticism of capability of productivity.
Pandemic = increase in remote jobs
Remote work allows companies to continue operations and keep people employed. According to FlexJobs, there was a 10% increase in remote job listings in June 2020. Glassdoor reports that remote job openings have increased 28.3% from a year ago; despite overall job listings being down about 23%.
With no easy choices available, remote work has influenced new appreciation for organizations and individuals who have doubted it previously.
USA today spoke with Senior Executive Director Paul McDonald from Robert Half International who says:
“With technology and work collaboration tools, companies see employees are able to be productive telecommuting…You’re able to tap into a pool of candidates that’s greater than what the company may have looked at before.”
During uncertain times, financial security is on everyone’s mind. With folks working from home, they save money on things like travel and food. Businesses cut management costs with the ability to expand their reach for talent. But are workers at home maintaining productivity?
Technology maintains productivity & communication
Before COVID-19, many “old-school” executives believed that productivity was only be found in the office. The transition to fully remote conditioned challenged this perception.
CEO Andy Halko of Insivia was one an “old-school” boss who believed, “If you see them in person, you think they’re working.”
Halko explained to USA Today that, “…A lack of collaboration would be detrimental to the (work) culture.” This is a fair assessment. Fully-remote work consists of a small minority of businesses in the U.S.
Yet now, Halko is singing a different tune: “I think that’s a fallacy…” resulting in lease termination of on Insivia’s main building and offering 100% remote work to all employees.
Thanks to our luck of living in the technology age, millions of people can manage a workload without being in the office. Collaboration tools like Zoom and Slack are shining in the times of COVID-19. Although it took some time to get used to, proof is in the post-COVID workforce that technology makes it possible to be productive remotely.
Some jobs are booming
According to LinkedIn, these are the fastest growing jobs since the pandemic has affected the U.S. workforce:
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