Remote Controlled
Why working a tech job remotely is and will continue to be a better option
It is becoming increasingly clear that working remotely or working from home may be a better answer and business model for certain tech companies. It has a vast amount of advantages with very little downside. Lots of bigger names in the business like Twitter, Square, and Coinbase have announced that they will allow workers that want to work from home to continue to do so indefinitely. Let’s dive into why more and more people are choosing the stay at home.
Geographical Limitations
When it comes to hiring, why wouldn’t you want to pull from a larger pool of candidates. Remote work allows for such a greater amount of people to be considered for a role when it is not stifled by the location of the workspace. With the advents of Skype, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Slack and many other virtual technologies, there is very little need for a team to meet in person. With the added bonus of not having as much overhead costs for the business, the money that would normally go to rent out commercial property can be invested further into the business or divided up for better pay for employees.
Health
Not everyone is thrilled about taking a vaccine that has been rolled out quicker than any other we have every seen in history. Some have welcomed it with open arms, while others are still very weary. Whether you are vaccinated or not, the threat of Covid is always still looming over everyone of us and it is not clear when that threat will be mitigated. One thing that is clear, however, is that you are much safer out of harms way. Limiting your possible exposure is something that we can all agree is a good approach to staying healthy. Working from home allows us to do just that. Not only with Covid, but with the Influenza virus and seasonal colds.
Commuting Time and Costs
Tech jobs are often more plentiful in major cities and urban areas which equates to either paying a heftier price for a spot to live around the downtown office or having to spend extra time/money on the commute. Basically having to spend anywhere from 5–10 extras hours every week unpaid and sitting in traffic does not sound ideal to me. Let’s not forget about having to pay for spot in a parking garage, that will set you back as well.
Increased Productivity
I’m sure everyone has been exposed to at least one of those chatty Cathys around the office that always seems to come over to your desk or workspace and talk you up about some office gossip at some point in your career. That sort of thing can be drastically reduced to a few slack messages whenever convenient if working from home. Some remote jobs even offer a little bit more flexibility, so that if you aren’t as much of a morning person, you can get a little later start to be more in line with your energy levels. Findstack reports that 77% of remote workers say that they are more productive and 75% say that they have less distractions.
Quality of Life
Most importantly is the difference in quality of life. Most remote workers find that their work-life balance is way better proportionally when compared to working in the office. Being able to take a break when needed. Spending more time with friends and loved ones. Not having to fight your way through traffic or catch a train to the office. All of these are very valid reasons to not work in an office setting and contribute to a much higher quality of life day-in day-out.
Final Thoughts…
Going through an entire coding bootcamp without ever having stepped foot in a building solidified for me that some of the ways we have gone about business in the past are due for an overhaul. Showing up to work just for the sake of showing up to work is becoming outdated and I think the benefits of working remotely are becoming more and more apparent. Just because it has always been done a certain way, doesn’t mean it is the best way.
Thanks for reading and if you enjoyed the content, feel free to give some other blogs a look or connect with me on my LinkedIn!
