While companies may be reviewing how their workforce is constructed, it’s clear that remote working is going to be integral to most people’s working practices. It’s been a rapid learning curve for many businesses: forcing many to go ‘digital’ outside of any planned transformation, but few will deny that remote working isn’t just an occasional benefit, but part of a future workforce strategy.
As with use of the contingent workforce, Gartner has identified remote working as a key trend. The Gartner analysis found that 48% of employees will likely work remotely, at least part of the time, after Covid-19. 74% of business leaders have also vowed to move a portion of their on-site employees to permanently remote positions once the pandemic is over, and social distancing restrictions are no longer enforced.
The fear of any further disruptions, too, will see businesses wanting to maintain a remote working approach, whilst a number of the workforce may wish to establish this part of their standard work environment.
When organizations were forced to move to a work from home structure, many had to integrate new technology to maintain operational functionality.
It is likely that many of these fresh tools will remain permanently integrated with each business, consistently measuring project management, customer engagement and communications, so that businesses can give their workers the freedom to work remotely without the concerns of losing visibility into productivity.
Combining two trends, many people who already work on an independent basis, particularly in delivering more strategic and high-level initiatives, are used to both working remotely, and managing remotely. This instant readiness of the independent workforce, makes them even more appealing for businesses looking to kickstart their growth.
