Is remote the new way to work?
Offices are shut from tomorrow, all of you need to work from home! Though not the natural state of remote work, the last year taught all of us one thing- work can be done remotely and provides a bunch of benefits for our personal and professional life.
Remote work isn’t new; it’s just growing in popularity thanks to technology and the exposure to hashtags like #DigitalNomad and #WorkFromAnywhere on social media.
A few companies, that led the way long before Covid are Zapier(remote since 2012), Automattic(fully remote in 2017), Gitlabs(Remote since 2014).
Remote work has existed for a while
While modern-day remote work policies were formulated and adopted by companies after 1999, it predates even the personal computer. In 1979 five IBM employees were allowed to work from home as an experiment. By 1983, the count rose to 2000. I, JC Penny gave its call center staff the option to work from home.
By 1999, garage startups began to emerge. Most of the entrepreneurs behind such startups were struggling college students or former corporate employees who wanted to branch out on their own. As such, they were on a shoestring budget and couldn’t afford to rent an office, hire more people, or set up an administration.
The forerunners of today’s entrepreneurs worked out of their homes, lofts, and garages until their cash flow stabilized by getting the backing of investors.
The speed has now accelerated with 80K (~10% of all tech companies) already remote
While COVID forced everyone to work remotely, this phenomenon has been around for more than a decade. While post-pandemic, several of us are most likely to go back to the 9-5 in a cubicle, a large part of the knowledge economy will not. Hiring and retaining talent in the fast-growing world of the technology sector being difficult is a FACT. Remote work is an obvious next disruption in this space, and here are a few reasons why -
Access to a global talent pool allowing for high-quality talent at affordable prices Technology boom happened with an inherent geographic asymmetry, with the US (and specifically Silicon valley) and China being light years ahead of Europe, which in itself is far ahead of the rest of the world. However, the talent pool has not kept pace with the exponential growth in this space. US has ~200-250K & Europe ~150-200K new tech jobs every year, against each producing 50-60K new CS grads. There is a 4x gap between demand and supply. Explains the $200K + RSUs package that a CS fresher would get in SF. Going remote may soon not even be an option for these companies to expand the talent pool globally. Salaries are only half the story, hiring remote also helps takes away the bill on office expenses - which does burn a sizeable hole in companies' pockets (equivalent to ~30-40% of employees costs are in offices)
Disruption in collaboration tools and internet speeds has made it possible to work directly with remote employees: We have all had our struggles with Skype 5-6 years back and it would be hard to imagine how the world would have managed if this pandemic struck us then. However, with quite decent internet speeds even in the developing world, and tools like Zoom, Slack, Jira, etc. most companies were able to work even more productively than being in the office. With the remote collaboration space seeing a surge of tools, remote work is only going to get better (eg. Tandem - virtual office for replicating office like serendipity, Donut - randomly pairs you up with other people in the organization) This has essentially taken away the need to work with agencies (read dev-shops, and Infosys, TCS who made a killing on the talent arbitrage) and hire employees across the world
Employees are seeing savings on time and better salaries with remote: With the morning and evening commute gone, employees are finding more time for their families, friends and interests. They are also able to access a broader set of opportunities helping them get better pay for their work. It also helps them with more choice of what they want to do compared to being restricted to opportunities in their cities.
Leading tech companies are embracing remote as their future, setting an example for everyone else: Twitter is going remote. So is Stripe. So is Coinbase (they even shut down their SF HQ to ensure no one feels the need to be in HQ for professional growth) These companies have disrupted age-old institutions in their respective verticals. No wonder they are disrupting the 200-300-year-old work-in-office for a pre-defined duration paradigm.
Out of ~900K tech companies globally, 80K are already remote (~10% of the total). These organizations have ~4-6 Mn remote workers. The no of remote organizations is expected to almost double to 160K over the next 5 years due to the above reasons.
Like everything in the world, remote work has its pros and cons and might not be the best solution for all companies
Pros: Being an introvert, I always wanted a quiet place to do focused work. In my office, I would always go into a separate cabin to complete my work. This was odd to a lot of people and was also not possible all the time. Remote work was a revolution for me and something that I always wanted. It can have a lot of benefits, if done right.
Amazing for productivity: While at home, there is less noise, fewer interruptions and less office politics. According to FlexJobs’ 2020 survey, Just over half of respondents (51%) said that they are more productive working from home during the pandemic.
Encourages work life balance: You no longer have to miss your daughter's PTM or football match because you were at work. Remote work gives you greater flexibility to work at your schedule.
Work from anywhere- be a nomad: Want to go on a world tour? Now you don't need to wait until you are 40 and quit your job to do it. You no longer have to stay away from your significant others just because the job you love is in a different country. According to data from MBO Partners, in 2019 there were 7.3 million Americans who identified as digital nomads.
Save the office rent: Remote work brings in a lot of savings in terms of elimination/reduction of rent and other travel expenses. Google saved $268 million in expenses from company promotions, travel, and entertainment versus the same period a year earlier, primarily as a result of COVID-19. That equates to more than $1 billion annually.
No commuting: Your alarm rings at 8 am, you wake up to get ready and suddenly a thought crosses your head- you don't have to do the 1-hour commute. The world is full of possibilities now- you can exercise which you had been postponing for months because of no time, what about making your own breakfast or reading the article which has stuck in your to-reads for a month and of course, you can go back to sleep! According to Buffer's 2020 Remote work report, a flexible schedule is consistently the most chosen benefit for remote workers.
Better for the environment: In 2019, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated that approximately 142.7 billion gallons of gasoline were used in the U.S. (about 390.98 million gallons a day!). Working from home would save on gasoline and greenhouse gas emissions. But by how much? In 2015, Xerox reported its teleworkers drove 92 million fewer miles, saving 4.6 million gallons of gas, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 41,000 metric tons.
Cons: Missing those lunch table conversations? We are too.
Loneliness and team bonding: It's real. The office provides you a feeling of community. A lot of relationships are built by sitting next to each other at team parties or just talking about things that are important in your life. Though possible in the virtual world, it can get tricky due to the extra step of setting up time or calling someone. Almost all of the 150 people we interviewed faced this challenge on the supply side. There are also blurring boundaries between personal and professional life which can lead to mental health issues.
Shoulder tap conversations: Remote doesn't allow for shoulder tap conversations. To make it work, asynchronous conversations are the way to go. There have been a few tools that have come in this regard but none of them have been able to solve it fully. Interrupting each other on zoom is also more difficult.
Zoom Fatigue: Staring at the screen the entire day can be tiring- not just for your eyes but for your mind. It is when you have the 7th zoom call of the day and it is 9 pm, you realize you want to be back in the office.
Not everyone has that liberty at home: Can't just think from an elite perspective, can we? A lot of people don't have that division of space at home to work separately. Also, it might not be all rosy for women(patriarchy again). A wealth of research suggests that flexible working may actually increase work/family conflict because it is likely to lead to an expansion of work and increase the domestic burden on employees. A recurring finding is that women are more likely to carry out more domestic responsibilities while working flexibly, whereas men are more likely to prioritize and expand their work spheres
Hybrid recipe for disaster: According to Buffer's 2020 remote work report, people who don’t recommend remote work are on teams split between offices and remote workers. Hybrid leads to ineffective communication and a lot of times FOMO in the same team.
Bad Internet: Can't hear you, can you hear me? Though we are in an era where a lot of have Internet, good internet is still an issue. For example, 45% of the population in India has Internet.
For kind of teams it might work: The real question is for which organization it might not work. Even roles that were considered highly in person have shown an increase in productivity due to remote work. This works best for knowledge economy companies. So, let's answer where it might not work
Manufacturing and outdoor activities: Yes, you will have to go to the factory and manufacture things. Also, restaurant owners, clubs, hotels, etc. will need people to be on the job.
Retail: Though online is gaining traction, your local grocery stores stay intact. Unfortunately, they will have to go to the shop to work.
Anything with fieldwork: It might be difficult for a lot of NPOs where on-ground work is involved. You need to be with the communities to help and uplift them.
This means that at least ~80% of companies/workers can go remote.
Remote work, however, is difficult to sustain if done wrong. There are a few tools and tips which can make it easier.
Tools: This is not going to work without proper precautions. There are numerous tools that have come up to handle the entire value chain. Following are some of the tools to address some of the disadvantages mentioned above:
Can't find a separate room?
Background noise elimination: Krisp
Zoom Fatigue?
Screen color adaptation: f.lux
Effective Communication?
Video calling: Zoom
Video conferencing: Airmeet
Screen recording: RecordIt
Chat rooms: Slack
Async communication: Async, Yac, Tandem
Whiteboarding: Miro
Team Bonding and motivation?
Culture and fun: Donut, Letsdive, etc.
Feedback and awards: Tango Cards, Tinypulse
A few others
Project Management: Jira, Asana, Trello
Tools suggested by Zapier: https://zapier.com/learn/remote-work/productivity-apps-remote-work/#hotspots
Some tips and tricks
The book Remote by Jason F. & David Heinemeier Hansson provides a few learnings on what can make remote effective:
How to start: It takes time to break out of old habits. Do it slowly- start with one week per day and then go on.
Establishing the culture: The culture of the organization is defined by how you work, which is further defined by your values. Take out time to pen down the values you abide by and practice them.
Instilling a sense of cohesion and share forward motion: Create a system for everyone to mention weekly what they are working on and what are their plans for the next week.
Unbundling human Interaction: Human interaction doesn't have to come from your co-workers. It can come from your family or you might find it in a co-working facility.
Create a level playing field: Whether people are at work or are working from home, they should be able to contribute, learn and lead with the same effect.
Reducing the number of zoom meetings: A lot of conversations can happen asynchronously and don't require a call.
Motivating the team: The best way to motivate the team is to give them work they feel excited about and can see a clear impact. No amount of carrot or stick will be that effective.
Protecting data: Creating security protocols and algorithms is rocket science, but taking advantage of them isn't. Take the time to learn the basics to protect your data.
The amount of effective communication (especially written) required increases multifold in remote. Thus, changes are also required in the way companies hire and communicate with workers.
Remote work opens a plethora of opportunities globally:
The world becomes one place- depending on where you are. Companies will look at the global talent pool and global arbitrage that exists to make decisions. Some countries which are war-prone, have complex government rules, or have poor internet connections might still remain inaccessible
More travel: All the travel which people couldn't do because of Covid over the last 1.5 years will be compensated for and there will be much more. People will stay at different places, move frequently and this might help in strengthening the economies of a lot of tourist destinations.
More time in hands: With the time saved due to less commuting and fewer interruptions while working, people will spend more time in wellness, upskilling themselves, etc.
Diversion of funds: With companies saving on rental, they will divert these funds to provide better benefits to their employees and contractors.
There will also be some other impact on education, mobility, etc.
Global remote team implications will need a separate version.
All being said, remote is the future of work. This is here to stay and the belief is at least 20-30% of all companies will work remotely in the next 5 years.