The Future of Work: Why more businesses are going remote

In today's increasingly connected world, it's no surprise that more businesses are considering hiring remote employees. After all, there are many advantages to taking this approach. For one thing, it allows businesses to tap into a much wider talent pool. No longer limited to candidates who live near their headquarters, businesses can now choose from a truly global pool of job seekers. This can be especially beneficial for companies looking to fill niche roles or requiring specific skill sets that may be difficult to find locally.

In addition, hiring remote employees can also help businesses to save money on overhead costs such as office space and equipment. And since remote workers are often more productive and efficient than their office-based counterparts, companies can also boost their bottom line by switching to a remote workforce. It's little wonder then, that more and more businesses are starting to see the value in hiring remote employees. By doing so, they are opening up their organisation to a whole new group of talented individuals that they may not have traditionally considered.

Leveraging regional talent pools

There is no doubt that living in a major city can be expensive. As housing and cost of living pressures continue to rise, many people are priced out of the market and forced to live in more affordable regional areas. However, this doesn't always mean that they want to move away from the city completely. Imagine if there was a way to live in a regional setting and work in the city?

Remote Workforce culture

Innovation is essential for businesses to remain competitive and grow. To innovate, businesses must find new ways to engage 

staff and encourage rapid collaboration. This can be done by holding brainstorming sessions, encouraging employees to share ideas, and allowing employees to work on projects that interest them. Still, many companies are struggling to facilitate these essential meetings through video calls alone.  

It can be hard to stay focused when you're not in an office environment. Remote staff often miss out on the spontaneous collaboration that happens when people are working in close proximity to each other and  managing a lot of different forms of non-face-to-face communication is cognitively demanding. There are plenty of studies suggesting that remote work can often stifle innovation and collaboration.

Remote work can fill gaps in rosters.

New opportunities are emerging for businesses to leverage the power of globalisation. One such opportunity (especially hospitality) is geo-arbitrage, which involves utilising workers in different time zones to cover shifts that may be undesirable or difficult to fill locally. Not only does this provide businesses with a more flexible and cost-effective workforce, but it also allows them to tap into a larger pool of talent.

Geo-arbitrage is particularly well suited for businesses that operate in industries with high labour costs, such as the healthcare and hospitality sectors. Geo-arbitrage can also help businesses to overcome staffing challenges that are unique to their locations and operational time challenges.

For example, businesses in rural areas may struggle to find workers willing to fill particular shifts such as late nights, early mornings or 'grave yard' shifts, but can now leverage staff from different time zones to cover all operational shift requirements. By utilising workers from other parts of the world, they could easily overcome such staffing issues. In today's globalised economy, businesses that can utilise geo-arbitrage will have a distinct advantage over their competitors.

How to leverage technology to PROVIDE REMOTE PRESENCE

Telepresence, remote presence and Holoportation are all technologies that allow people to interact with others in real time from anywhere in the world. These technologies have the potential to revolutionise the way we work and to open up new opportunities for those who are unable to work in traditional 'work' environments. Telepresence allows people to interact with others as if they were in the same room, even if they are on opposite sides of the world. Remote presence allows people to interact with others through avatars or robots that they control. Holoportation allows people to interact with others through holograms.

Many organisations are already using these technologies, and their potential is only just beginning to be realised. As telepresence technology develops, it is likely that more and more organisations will adopt it, and that it will become an increasingly important part of our working lives.

Interested to learn more? Contact us for a free discovery session to better understand how our technology can solve your remote communication challenges, or fill in the contact form to the right and we'll be in contact soon.