Important Remote Work Statistics To Know in 2020

The advent of digital technology makes it possible for business experts to work from anywhere in the world. All a remote worker needs to be successful is a WiFi connection, time tracking tools, productivity apps, and a mean set of skills.

Not only is remote working an excellent gig for workers that enjoy flexibility, but it’s also beneficial to companies around the world.

Hiring a remote worker allows you global access to talent across the globe at affordable rates.

If you’re looking into working remotely or hiring remotely, you’ll want to take the time to do your research.

Here are the top stats about remote work in 2020 that will help you gain better insight into the world of remote work and whether or not it’s the right fit for you.

BlueFace predicts that by 2025, remote working will compete with office locations.

According to a survey by AND CO and Remote Year, remote work is increasing.

In fact, according to the survey, 55% of the respondents said they worked remotely 100% of the time.

There was another 28% who said they worked in the office and at home.

With these remote work rates only increasing, BlueFace predicts remote working will rival inhouse work by 2025.

Remote work is growing in popularity, and why wouldn’t it? Remote work benefits both the worker and the employers.

Here are a few top benefits:

• Remote work provides flexibility and productivity. Stats showed JD Edwards teleworkers were shown to be 20-25 percent more productive than their office colleagues. Additionally, American Express employees who worked from home were 43 percent more productive.
• Remote work saves employers and workers money. If workers that could work remotely did so half the time, it would result in over $700 billion in national savings. Additionally, businesses would save an average of $11,000 per year for every part-time telecommuter, and telecommuters would save anywhere from $2-$7K a year. This also doesn’t take into account how much cheaper it is to hire remote workers than it is to bring someone in-house.
• Remote work is good for the environment. The less you commute, the less you contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Hiring more remote workers can contribute to reducing climate change. In fact, if U.S. workers worked remotely half the time, the greenhouse reduction would have the same effect as taking the New York State workforce permanently off the road.
• Remote work is a motivating work perk. According to a study by Softchoice, 74% of North American office workers reported they would change jobs based on a work from home policy.
• Remote work contributes to job satisfaction. 53.3% of developers said working remotely was a priority when looking for a new job, and the highest job satisfaction was reported by developers who were entirely or almost entirely remote.

With these stats in mind, it’s clear why remote work may overtake office work in future years. If you’re looking into hiring remote workers, there is no better time than now.

66% of Flexjob survey respondents said their productivity improved when not in an office, and 76% said there are fewer distractions outside of offices.

If you’re considering hiring remote workers or working remotely yourself, you’ll probably be interested in how remote work affects productivity levels.

According to different research studies, remote workers self-report they are more productive when working remotely, and that there are much fewer distractions.

Here are some other notable statistics on productivity levels as related to remote working:

• 83% of employees feel they don’t need an office to be productive, according to Workforce Futures.
• A Stanford study found that when call center employees worked from home, their performance increased by 13%. Of that, 9% were working more minutes, and 4% were from handling more calls per minute.
• A Cisco-sponsored study performed and results concluded that partially working from home resulted in a 12% increase in productivity. After AT&T’s telework initiative, the company reported saving $150 million in extra hours of productive work from these employees.
• Cisco’s Internet Business Services Group also reported an annual savings of $277 million in productivity because of remote work.
• In a survey by Polycom Inc, two out of three respondents said they were more productive working remotely than when they worked at an on-site office. Additionally, three out of four respondents mentioned working remotely helps them with work-life balance.

If you are looking to increase the productivity of your workers, then offering remote work should be a top priority. If you’re a worker looking to find ways to increase productivity, avoid distractions, and improve your work-life balance, consider remote work.

AT&T reported savings of $30 million a year in real estate alone from their telework initiative.

It takes a lot of work for a company to be profitable. There are a couple of different ways to improve revenue streams.

The first, of course, is to make more sales. The other way is to spend less money and come under budget.

Remote work is a surefire way to cut costs and save money.

Here are some interesting stats that show just how much some companies save by hiring remote workers:

• As mentioned above, AT&T saved $30 million a year in real estate alone.
• Businesses can save as much as $11,000 per person, per year by allowing them to work from home, according to Global Workplace Analytics.
• Dell cited savings of $12 million a year from reduced office space costs.

Interestingly enough, not only do companies save money, but remote workers save money too. Check it out:

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average worker spends nearly an hour traveling to and from their home and office every day–more than 300 hours in a year. Dell estimates that employees who worked remotely ten days a month saved about $350 a year in commuting costs.
• Global Workplace Analytics likewise suggested that on-site workers spent around 11 days in traffic per year as well as $2,500 to $6,000 on various expenses related to showing up at an office.
• Remote worker respondents to a CoSo Cloud survey said they saved as much as $5,240 per year by working from home.

When companies offer remote work opportunities, everyone saves.

2017 State of Remote Work found that companies that have remote workers see 25% less turnover.

Owl Labs’ study, The Global State of Remote Work, reports that 50% of respondents that work remotely are “happy and productive” in their job.

This is critical considering how much it costs to rehire an employee when turnover happens.

To give you a better idea of how expensive it can be when you have high turnover rates, let’s look at some stats.

Here are some hard numbers about the cost of hiring a new employee:

• Small business owners spend 40% of their working hours on tasks that do not yield income, including hiring.
• Costs of recruiting can be anywhere from 15 to 25% of the employee’s annual salary.
• The LinkedIn job board runs on a pay-per-click model, which means you could spend $1.20 to $1.50 per click on your job ad, depending on job title, location, and competition.
• Monster’s job board costs $375 for 60 days and $395 for 90 days for one position.
• A background check can cost anywhere from $5 to as much as $80 per applicant.
• It can take 8-26 weeks for an employee to become productive and start earning money for your company. This means an average company loses anywhere between 1% and 2.5% of their total revenue on the time it takes to train a new employee.
• Hiring an employee in a company with 0-500 people costs an average of $7,645. Another study states that the average cost to hire an employee is $4,129, with around 42 days to fill a position. And Glassdoor reports that the average company in the United States spends about $4,000 to hire a new employee, taking up to 52 days to fill a position.

There are all sorts of costs associated with hiring new employees. If remote work leads to 25% less turnover or 50% as reported by another study, imagine how much money you can save just by reducing churn.

79% of employees said they would be more loyal to a business if it offered more flexibility. 32% said they had left a job because of the lack of flexibility, according to Flexjobs.

The flexibility allowed by working remotely is a huge factor in whether or not an employee will seek out a job at your company or stay at your company when they have a job.

Stats also show that some demographics appreciate remote work over others. Here are some findings to support this claim:

• Mothers are one group that enjoy remote opportunities. One study reported that over 50% of women wanted to quit or reduce their working hours after having a child, and this was only half as likely among work at home moms. Another study showed that 56% of women in the tech industry leave their jobs mid-career. 51% said being a working mother made it hard for them to move forward in their career.
• Older Americans also report wanting more flexibility and work from home options. According to a study by AARP, 74% of older Americans wanted flexible schedules from their job, and 34% wanted to work from home.
• Millennials are on board too. 85% of Millennials said they’d prefer to telecommute 100% of the time. 50% said they would be okay with telecommuting some of the time.

When looking deeper into the research, studies suggest that the more flexibility and remote positions a company can offer, the more pleased and loyal employees will be. This is especially true for specific demographics in the workforce.

70% of remote workers felt left out of the workplace.

While remote work is widespread and growing, it isn’t all daisies and roses. Some disadvantages are essential to address.

The first caveat to prepare for if you’re going to hire remote workers is that remote workers often feel lonely.

70% of remote workers felt left out of the workplace, according to Igloo. A State of the Industry Report by Buffer had similar findings.

If you are going to hire remote workers, or work remotely, then preparing to combat loneliness should be part of the gig.

Employers can plan for this in several ways, including the following:

• Stay connected digitally. Thankfully, several digital resources help in-house teams, and remote workers stay connected. This includes anything from communication and meeting software to chat programs. When teams can sync up quickly, even if they are in a different location, it fosters a sense of unity.
• Invest in a productivity app. Investing in a productivity app goes hand-in-hand with hiring remote workers. This is especially true if you have remote workers all over the globe. A tool like Trello, Asana, or CoSchedule will help bring your teams together and keep everyone current on projects. It doesn’t matter who is working on a project, or where they are located, if you have one central platform for work, you’ll collaborate better.
• Meet up in person. Some companies only hire remote workers, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get together. With all the money you are saving on real estate, consider bringing your team together once a year.

Remote working has plenty of benefits, but there can be downsides as well.

However, with the right tools and dedication to employee happiness, it’s possible to foster a sense of unity and community in your organization.

Wrap Up

Remote work is on the rise, and it’s with good reason. From the statistics reported above, it’s clear that remote work is an excellent option for both employees and employers.

Employees save time from commuting, get more work done, feel happier with their employment situation, and improve their work-life balance.

Employers save money, have a happier workforce, and see increased productivity rates.

Remote work means everyone wins.

As you hire your remote staff, remember to invest in tools like Time Doctor. Time Doctor will help you track hours, monitor activity, pay employees efficiently, and improve productivity.