Still, the remote work honeymoon can’t last forever, as the desire for face-to-face interaction becomes more and more pressing. With vaccines rolling out at an impressive rate and summer right around the corner, there are rising concerns that working from home isn’t going to be the attractive perk it was just a few months ago. So how long is the remote work honeymoon going to last? We talked to Matt Abbott, the general manager of The Sourcery, a recruiting firm for startups, to better understand how employees and employers view the future of remote work and what it means for your job down the line. The negative effects of the work from home life aren’t just on an individual scale either. According to Abbott, the collaboration aspect of the business world is also taking a hit, due to how few people are meeting together in a non-virtual setting. On a very basic level, people are social, even in a business setting. And if you want to make sure people are enjoying work beyond simple productivity, working in-person needs to be part of the overall plan. One study from Martec Group, which surveyed 1,214 individuals from a wide range of industries, demographics, and seniority levels, found that workers were struggling heartily during the pandemic with mental health, job satisfaction, job motivation, and company satisfaction. This further demonstrates that remote work isn’t enough of a perk to make people feel better during these complicated times. Suffice it to say, the coronavirus pandemic has acted as an unprecedented catalyst towards more work-life balance, giving people the flexibility to tackle the everyday tasks that often fall by the wayside when you’re at work eight hours a day. The perks of remote work aren’t just felt by current employees either. According to Abbott, the hiring process is infinitely more relaxing now, as candidates can apply to jobs from the comfort of their own homes. Heck, they can even find a new career while wearing pajamas, as long as they’ve got a professional shirt in frame of their Zoom call. Yes, the pandemic has taken its toll, but there are some serious perks to working from home, even for an extended period of time. The study from the Martec Group showed that, while stress level and productivity may be waning, work life balance and schedule flexibility are improving, which is great for those that were starting to feel a bit overworked. The ability to pivot has always been valuable in business, but with post-pandemic life around the corner, your team is going to need a different way to work. Flexibility will be key, and finding ways to stay in touch while fostering good mental health and productivity will be vital to the prolonged success of any business. The future of remote work isn’t nearly as cut and dry as many would like. The world isn’t going to go back to the way it was, nor will it remain the pandemic wasteland of virtual happy hours and 4-hour Zoom meetings that we’ve become accustomed to. Change is inevitable, and the future of remote work depends on your ability to adapt along with it.
