COVID 19: legitimisation of remote careers

By Nada Alnuzha

Life as we know it may never return to its normal state without us having to carry the battle scars from the effect that COVID 19 has had on a global scale. The pandemic redefined the concept of ‘value’ as people began to place more importance on safety by staying home. Consequently, many workplaces made the decision of shifting to remote working, as employees were urged to work from the safety of their homes. In return, this has led to a change in the working environment as well as the way tasks are carried out.

Due to the affects of the Coronavirus, an opportunity for change has been given unexpectedly to us on a silver platter. There is a possibility for a gradual progression towards a more innovative approach in the professional careers field. With the exponential spread of the pandemic over the past few months, workplaces have introduced working remotely as part of the safety measures taken to stop the spread of the infectious virus. This change was very sudden, but the decision had to be implemented as soon as possible. Face-to-face meetings were suddenly swapped for online meetings, conferences to video conferences and seminars to webinars. Although working remotely was an emergency response that took place within a short amount of time, it was enough to open our eyes to the possibility and the legitimacy of working remotely without the need for the daily commute. Also, businesses may choose the alternative of shifting from national to becoming multinational businesses, as job opportunities become available to applicants from different parts of the world. A higher candidacy range means that if an applicant does not live in the same city or even country but they prove to be qualified for the job, there is a higher chance for them to become employed remotely without the need for relocating to the city in which the job is located.

Working remotely could be viewed as professional as working from an office, with an equal amount of effort exerted in both settings. The pandemic offered the chance for employees to carry out their professional careers in the comfort of their own homes. In response to this fundamental change, recognising the value of working remotely is no longer a far-fetched idea for established companies. As of April 2020, there was an estimated 16 million knowledge workers in the USA who have switched to working remotely. Amongst these numbers, many remote workers have used different strategies in order to reach a level of work productivity and satisfaction (Slack, 2020). Moreover, companies may benefit from the increase in remote workers and the decrease in the amount of employees commuting to the workplace; which would lead to the company’s overall expenses to decrease. Undoubtedly more time is needed for companies to fully realise the benefits of working remotely through a more thoroughly structured strategy for working, managing and organising work efficiently.

The outbreak of COVID 19 has resulted in normalising remote working, as traditional office work has been replaced with working from home through the use of technology to connect employees together. This has resulted in the awareness of the benefits of remote working and the flexibility and inclusivity that comes along with it. In addition, companies who embrace remote working may have an additional advantage, as they allow more employees to work from home, their overall costs begin to decrease accordingly.