If there's something any business owner will tell you, it's that running a business is expensive and it's only getting more so. One of the biggest overheads of running a business is undeniably premises. That's especially the case if you're running an office based business with a good few hundred employees.
With that taken into consideration, it's time for employers to take the idea of working from home more seriously.
I can more than understand why the idea of working from home is one that employers have largely ignored until now. That's because the technology simply hasn't been there. However, now it is. The majority of people across our country now have access to a landline and broadband at home, many with high speed connections. Plus, tools like the increasingly popular Skype and Slack allow for the creation of an online virtual office space which nearly mirrors an actual office environment.
The fact of the matter is that working from home is now almost akin to working in an actual office. Those aforementioned tools allow employers to monitor exactly what employees are doing, much like they would do in an actual office environment.
That being said, you're still likely wondering exactly why would any right-minded employee give their employees free reign to work from the comfort of their own home? Well, there are a number of key advantages to that. The most prominent of course being the huge saving in terms of office space. For a company with a good few hundred employees, it'd be an awful lot more affordable to only house essential employees in their office space. Said company would of course have to reimburse employees for the cost of working from home, but that cost is pretty minimal.
The advantages don't stop there however. For example allowing employees to work from home opens up the possibility of a wider field of applicants. It should also go some way to boost the morale of current employees also. Giving some control in terms of the working environment back to employees is certainly an effective way of boosting their productivity, providing you can monitor what they're doing that is.
Also worth noting is the contribution that working from home provides towards the great childcare debate. Working from home is certain to provide a better option for those with childcare responsibilities and in turn provides a greater chance of an employer being able to retain an employee.
That being said, giving staff the ability to work from home isn't an option that's going to suit every employer. Some companies are still going to struggle with monitoring staff development when their employees aren't readily available and for companies dealing with sensitive information, allowing employees to take that information away from the office is without a doubt a no go area.
In conclusion, if there's ever been a good time for employers to take the jump and allow their employees to work from home, it's now. Advances in technology are already changing the way we work and are undeniably at some point going to completely eradicate the need for actual office space. For now though, changing the archaic infrastructure of some employers isn't going to be an easy task.