2022 Inspired Remote Work Stats To Make You Feel Less Alone (Updated)
This year we didn’t really have the luxury of deciding whether remote work is worth the hype or not. It seemed like that decision was made FOR us. But we’re going strong, and we’ve been doing good, keeping the good numbers up, and trying to make the best of this situation.
Right now seems like a good time to mull it over, go over the stats, and find out:
- How everyone is doing
- How the trends in productivity have changed
- How remote work has affected work-life balance for every remote worker
- How COVID-19 has drastically changed the remote work dynamic forever.
- How teams overcome the many challenges that accompany WFH
I feel like you are going to relate to everything that these surveyed teams felt as they were going through the remote work phase during the pandemic.
If You Must Know..
- Back in 2010, there were about 9.5% of employees working remotely every week in contrast with the 36% that were doing the same at the beginning of 2022.
- Between the years of 2017–18, the trends in telecommuting saw an increase of about 22%.
- Employees that would choose to work remotely, or at least part-time for the rest of their careers is about 42%.
- About 83% of all on-site and remote workers say that the opportunity to work from home will make them very happy.
This proves that working remotely has always been in the cards for all of us. Sure the pandemic sped everything up a little, but I still feel great about the future of remote work.
Trends In Remote Work Productivity
With a changing workspace, comes a new wave of productivity. Throughout the remote work initiative, my team and I have been through a lot of ups and downs but realized that once you set down a system using an aid, like a task management software for instance, and try being consistent, progress automatically follows.
For instance, did you know that a study of 500 people who had a history of working both remotely and in the traditional setting of a collective workspace, stated that they were as productive home-bound as they were at the office?
In fact, collectively speaking, remote employees work 16.8 days more in a year than those who worked at the office.
But, wait, there’s more!
What is contributing to all this productivity amidst the place that has most distractions?
- A 2019 Airtasker survey suggested that productivity is a given — since there are no daily commutes and no eating outside, we get to experience a hassle-free environment and healthy state of mind.
- 33% of the employees stated that the most effective way for them to stay productive was having a set schedule.
- Calling in sick is also something of a rare event while people are working remotely.
- In fact, falling sick is also near to impossible as the person working remotely does not come in contact with an infected person.
The Many Upsides Of Working Remotely
There have been many benefits to employees working remotely. Firstly, the employee turnover rate has gone down at an exponential rate. You would be surprised to know — there is a 25% lower chance of employee turnover at the U.S. organizations that offer remote working as an option.
But all this just begs the question: How are the remote working employees always motivated?
- Due to staying at home, telecommuters do not face much anxiety and experience less work-related stress.
- And though, remote work hardly seemed like something truly possible, 75% of the remote workers say they work more productively because there are fewer distractions.
- 53% of remote employees also state flexible scheduling as a major contributor to their productivity levels.
Did you know?
Time for some miscellaneous facts about remote work in 2022:
- This year, we saw a 9% increase in the Google Search interest related to “team building” as managers looked for something the whole remote team could bond over.
- Surveys made at the start of the lockdown led by the pandemic disclosed how 41% of all businesses were already offering remote working facilities to their employees.
- In April of 2020, 67% of all organizations were found to be looking for and investing in web conferencing and collaboration tools.
- Email is, reportedly, the most widely used method of communication for people working remotely, followed, of course, by instant messaging (47%) and video conferencing (36%).
- Out of every place one can work from, 84% of the employees prefer to work from the comfort of their homes.
The Main Challenges
Even though remote work sounds like something that has its pros and cons, there are still some challenges that are persistent enough to slow a person down. According to various surveys, we found that:
- The biggest challenge that at least 19% of all remotely working employees reported was loneliness.
- The element of security risks is another parameter teams are generally afraid of. In fact, 54% of IT professionals consider this as their biggest challenge in remote work.
- 20% of all surveyed remote workers feel that communication is a big obstacle that hampers team collaboration and, hence, productivity.
Is Your Team Ready For Remote Work Next Year?
If we talk about the teams, industries, and organizations that are on board with the idea of making remote work a fundamental part of how they work, you must know that:
- About 57% of employees who come from the financial industry are all for making remote work a future reality.
- Almost 14% of employees from the transport as well as the utility industry can and are ready to work from home.
- Among millennials, almost 69% are willing to trade any other benefits that accompany their job for the flexible working options that come with remote work.
Monetary Benefits That Come With Telecommuting
Did you know that remote work can cause quite a stir with your financial situation? From managers and sub-level employees to interns, the remote working conditions are definitely going to determine the constituents of your pocket. Don’t believe me? See for yourself:
- A recent survey brought to light that upwards of 30% of remote workers save up to $5,240 per year.
- And, that businesses actually save $11,000 annually per half-time remote worker on an average.
- In fact, it was found that telecommuters earn up to $4,000 more than non-telecommuters.
Fun fact: Being a viable option and a comfortable proposition, 25% of employees are said to opt to take a 10% cut in their pay to work remotely.
Greener Effects Of Remote Work In 2022
The work from home regiment can potentially change the face of the Earth altogether. Us, working remotely gives the planet some time off from pollution. Be it noise pollution, air pollution, or soil pollution, when we work without commuting to the office every day, we are actually providing for mother Earth.
- The levels of carbon dioxide (a prominently present greenhouse gas) have fallen. These levels are down by 25% in China and 16% in San Francisco.
- If we talk about the carbon monoxide gas in the atmosphere, due to the remote work era brought by the coronavirus pandemic, the levels have experienced a 50% reduction.
- Since this bout of remote work began in 2020, the usage of disposable plastics like bags, cups, straws, and dishes has also reduced significantly.
- And, noise pollution too seems to be going down as the levels seem to be plummeting quickly, now reduced by at least 30 decibels.
Let’s Make The Future Of Remote Work The Reality
Here are some stats that shed a light on the possibility that there is a future where remote work is the most prominent form of work:
- During 2020, 25% of organizations have taken the decision to move 10% of all employees to permanent remote work positions in the near future.
- As much as 99% of the remote workers are interested in continuing WFH.
- 42% of the surveyed employees were found to be interested in having the availability of a remote work option in the coming years.
- About 73% of companies and teams will have actively working remote workers by the year 2028.
- 75% of employees who are currently working from home say that they are on board with working remotely for the rest of their careers.
How Are Teams Giving Their Best At Remote Work?
Let’s discuss what factors are helping remote teams give their best during this work from home period.
There are just 3 factors:
- Collaboration
- Communication
- Transparency
Here at ProofHub, we have been working from the comfort of our homes for a while now. And I would be lying if I said that we were, individually, doing great work. There is nothing one can establish without one’s team. This is why we worked on being together even when there was a significant physical distance between us.
Project management tools such help us stay on the same page with our team and move through the project seamlessly, with the utmost transparency. Let me show you how a great software platform like ProofHub can help you define team collaboration, effective communication, and active transparency:
Workflows
With tools for managing remote teams, you can effectively define a workflow that your team can actually follow. If you are uncertain about how a workflow can bring your distributed team together, allow me to explain:
With a project management platform, you have your goals, your projects, your upcoming tasks, and your current agenda right in front of you. And, when you throw the workflow into the mix, it allows you to keep tabs on the team progress and contribute your part to the whole document or file that everyone is working on.
Not only does it save the time wasted on meaningless communication, but it also effectively reduces confusion and panic.
Also read: What Features to Look For In A Workflow Management Tool
Collaboration
The only drawback of remote work seems to revolve mostly around communication. Well, automation tools such as ProofHub allow you to help your team come together and work well in harmony.
These tools can help you be in constant connection with the communication features of:
- Instant messaging,
- Team discussions, and
- Review and feedback.
There are a lot of benefits of communicating with your telecommuting team with all three of these communication gateways.
The instant messaging feature gives everyone an outlet to quickly share links, images, files, and information, not to forget, funny anecdotes.
While the team discussions help you document ideas, opinions, and strategies in one place as you collaborate with everyone.
And tools such as ProofHub come with an in-built proofing tool that helps users review documents with the help of annotations and provide comments that notify the assignee immediately.
“The best tool for remote team management is here: Try ProofHub for FREE!”
Conclusion
In the book The Light In The Heart, Roy T. Bennett says “When things do not go your way, remember that every challenge — every adversity — contains within it the seeds of opportunity and growth.”
And, that’s exactly what we did when we were hit with this pandemic and had to accept remote work as our only option. If there is anything these stats do, they reinstate what we already know. Remote work is doable, it is flexible, it is beneficial and it is, undeniably, the future.
Are you ready to accept this way of doing things in the long run? Do share your thoughts in the comments!
About Author:
Sandeep Kashyap is the Founder of ProofHub — a leading project management and collaboration software. A passionate leader, Sandeep is always on the lookout for innovative ideas about filling the communication gap between groups, teams and companies. He is also a featured writer on LinkedIn and a contributing author at YourStory. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Also follow our company page @ProofHub to get the recent updates about our tool, published articles, motivational quotes & presentations.
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