Key Points

• Remote work can be more productive than office jobs.
• There are far more remote workers today than there were even just five years ago.
• Successful implementation of remote work is important for the survival of any modern organization.

What does the future of remote work hold? The shift to remote work has been rather abrupt. While it seems somewhat gradual in retrospect, the numbers behind it don’t lie. That said, the future seems promising for remote work. While we don’t have access to a crystal ball here, we certainly have no shortage of data to comb over and peruse while making today’s assessments.

Now, one thing is certain, remote work is here to stay. We know for certain that remote work has seen a sharp increase in use across organizations of all sorts over the last decade. This is in part thanks to a few external factors, but we’re also seeing some new organizations arise that take a remote-first approach. As such, let’s take a look at the numbers and get down to brass tacks about what the future of remote work might hold.

Remote Work Before the Pandemic

Before 2020, around 46% of organizations across the United States had zero provisions for remote work (Ozimek). This isn’t entirely surprising, as the world went through swift changes thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before COVID-19, it wasn’t uncommon to see remote positions relegated to the domain of freelancers.

Think about your web designers, graphic designers, and so forth, and this was the majority of the workforce for remote work. In part, this represents the pre-pandemic paradigm for most organizations. The prevailing thought was that productivity and organizational cohesion were maintained by staying in person, in a structured office environment.

Many of the recurring complaints about remote work remain largely unchanged. Technological issues, a lack of transparency, and reduced accountability were common complaints leveled at remote work. However, some companies have learned to adapt in the wake of the pandemic. Some organizations are even flourishing in unexpected ways since the shift to remote work.

Understanding the Shift

Remote work’s rise to notoriety is a natural by-product of the COVID-19 pandemic. The early months of the pandemic saw companies shuttering temporarily, losing major revenue in the process. As such, a shift certainly was needed. Remote work opened quite a few doors for organizations that didn’t rely on physical spaces to get things done, like software development, apps, and other services.

The shift was a necessary evil for some organizations, as they risked letting go of their entire workforce without adapting to the changing needs during the height of the pandemic. As such, 46% of no remote workers quoted earlier before the pandemic became a shockingly low 2% (Ozimek).

Additionally, we can additional shifts. According to the same report from UpWork’s economic chief, Adam Ozimek, around 2.3% of companies surveyed had fully remote teams circa 2019. After the pandemic, this rose to 20%. Further, only around 13.2% of workers conducted themselves remotely before the pandemic. Afterward, we see a dramatic rise to 56 to 74% (Ozimek). For many organizations, this was how they stayed afloat even during the worst timespans of the pandemic.

The Future of Remote Work

So, what does the future of remote work hold? While no one can tell the future, there are certain trends and forecasts we can see from historical data. Further, we’re seeing more and more companies shift toward remote workforces. As such, you can make somewhat accurate inferences from the data gathered.

Remote work isn’t some cure-all, so let’s just set the record straight. Some organizations aren’t going to benefit from shifting their entire workforce to remote working conditions. Just as a general example, most organizations focusing heavily on manufacturing aren’t likely to benefit from the shift to remote work.

However, the global workforce is transforming. The efficacy of remote work has been seen, and some organizations have taken notice in a big way. While many of the think tanks surrounding work continue to espouse the benefits of in-person work, that doesn’t seem to be the wave of the future moving forward.

Continued Shifts to Remote Work

The most obvious prediction we can make for the future of remote work is continued growth. It’s only been five years since the global pandemic ground things to a halt. While historically, that’s a mere stone’s throw, for businesses that is almost a lifetime of data to pull from. The facts remain somewhat simple.

New tools and properly implemented infrastructure make remote work a viable alternative to the likes of physical office spaces. With the right sort of leadership in place, one that ably adapts to the constraints and needs of the digital domain, remote workers can flourish in ways that physical workers simply can’t approach.

This is thanks in part to a few factors. We’re seeing overall increases in mental health thanks to remote work, at least as far as employees are concerned. When you cut out the likes of a lengthy morning commute, stable working conditions, and any additional stressors, then people can relax. A relaxed workforce is ready to work.

Increased Productivity

Despite conventional thinking, research has shown that remote work leads to increased productivity. As more companies shift from measuring productivity in man-hours and look instead toward output, the proof will be in the pudding. The future of remote work is likely to take notice of this increased output. Flexible hours, comfortable environments, and properly scheduled work time allow remote workers to excel in ways their in-person counterparts can’t begin to approach.

As such, it is only natural that organizations shifting toward remote work do so for increased and effective output. The most desirable result for any organization is a happy, willing workforce. That said, it seems like some companies are waking up to the fact that remote work is a great way to keep your employees on the same page.

Remote work has a noted reduced rate of attrition for workers, yielding far less turnover than you might initially expect. Further, remote workers have higher overall job satisfaction. As such, a push toward the future of remote work is a great way to have a happy and productive workforce.

The Rise of Remote-First Companies

Remote-first companies aren’t anything new, but more and more are bubbling up as time goes on. As more robust tools develop around remote work, it only stands to reason that certain organizations develop as 100% remote entities. They might have token representation at physical locations, like distribution centers and the like.

However, the future of remote work points more and more toward the shift away from the physical office. This has a few net benefits for organizations. While the idea of paying more and more for software services can seem somewhat daunting at first glance, that is only a minor setback in the grander scheme.

The lack of an office yields more flexibility for organizations and opens up the workforce in a major way. Think about it, if you were opening an office in one city, you’d likely pull from talent local to the area. This isn’t a consideration for the remote-first business. The future of remote work sees even small start-ups becoming national organizations, regardless of size.

Increased Economic Benefits

I touched on this previously in my previous point, but the increased economic benefits are a large motivating factor behind the future of remote work. Many organizations don’t own the physical spaces they utilize. With rent soaring, it isn’t entirely surprising to see many organizations moving offices. However, some are foregoing the offices entirely.

If you’re a remote-first organization, it doesn’t make much sense to maintain a physical space. Those exorbitant rent and utility costs can be spread elsewhere instead. Developing proper remote infrastructure isn’t cheap by any means. However, for many organizations, that will pale in comparison to the rates they’re paying for their current physical locations.

Additionally, it allows organizations to pull from higher-quality talent, a point I’ll touch on further. This might lead to fewer employees, but you’re gathering more talented and developed individuals for your workforce. As such, the future of remote work’s economic benefits looks quite bright for any fledging organization considering the shift.

A Larger Talent Pool

Going back to the talent pool for a moment, let’s consider one thing about the future of remote work. I mentioned that organizations don’t have to pull from the surrounding localities. Imagine running a remote-first business centered somewhere like Michigan, but you’re pulling talent from most of the lower 48 to staff your positions.

This isn’t some pipe dream, necessarily, but rather a reality of the future of remote work. Remote work pushes down boundaries, especially when considering the likes of relocation. Sometimes, the most talented candidate for a position isn’t the local pick, but rather someone from outside of your organization’s nominal reach.

However, when you don’t have to consider making workers pick up their entire lives to make it work, your options open up. The future of remote work shows that we’ll have our pick of the litter when it comes to talented and qualified individuals, especially as more individuals start entering the workforce from college.

Environmental Implications

If your corporate culture is aligned with environmental initiatives, then the future of remote work is quite promising. Shifting entirely to a remote workforce sees quite a bit of environmental byproducts reduced. The production of carbon dioxide that comes from having cars on the road isn’t a consideration, along with our organizational needs foregoing the use of energy and water.

We’re seeing the longer-lasting effects of these factors on the environment even today, so reducing them at the organizational level might just be the incentive you need to embrace the future of remote work.

Generations Entering the Workforce

As a millennial myself, I can safely say my entire generation is in the workforce. However, we’re seeing members of Gen Z and Gen Alpha enter the workforce with each passing year. As such, it only stands to reason that the first few generations raised as digital natives are more than willing to embrace remote work.

It is often said that employment follows the trends of generations. As such, the future of remote work is likely to continue to grow as people raised on digital devices with internet access become part of the dominant workforce.

Other Useful Tools and Concepts

Looking for other useful tips and tricks? You might want to consider how to maintain company culture while shifting towards a remote-first workforce. Company culture is one of the major identities of any brand and reflects the ethos and standards of your organization. Our guide focuses on some tips and tricks to make sure the company culture doesn’t slip as you move to a remote workforce.

Additionally, you might want to look at how to boost productivity in your remote teams. While the data has shown that remote teams are more productive on the whole, that’s only part of the equation. Leadership needs to make sure they’re taking the right steps to guarantee continual success with their employees.

Conclusion

The future of remote work looks bright, despite some prevailing uncertainty as we move forward. Many companies are considering the shift to remote work, and that is likely to continue in greater numbers as time marches on. Don’t be caught in the lurch, take the right steps and you can ride the same wave to continued success.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Ground Picture/Shutterstock.com.