Working From Home Pros, Cons, And Playlists
- Dylanna Fisher
- Apr 9, 2023
- 5 min read
Working from home has been an experience for everyone. Whether it’s a good experience or a bad experience is up to the individual employee and employer.
Introducing The Concept of Working from Home
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home has become increasingly prevalent. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the covid-19 pandemic resulted in over a third of companies increasing work-from-home arrangements for their employees.
Benefits Of Working from Home
What are some of the benefits of working at home? Here are some of the pros of working from home:
Lower commute (Indeed)
Cheaper costs related to commuting, drinks, and food (The Muse)
Increased comfort for the employee (Indeed)
People who work from home have a better work-life balance (Owl Labs)
More flexibility in hours and scheduling (Owl Labs)
More time spent with friends and family (Indeed)
Optimize (and decorate) home office space for maximum productivity (Business News Daily)
The flexibility that remote employment offers its employees is its main appeal. A greater diversity of adaptability and accessibility ensures greater workforce diversity.
Struggles of Working from Home
What are some of the downfalls of working from home? Here are some of the cons of working from home:
Social isolation and loneliness (Owl Labs)
Difficult to stay up to date with colleagues and coworkers (Forbes Advisor)
Increased costs related to home energy bills (Tech Target)
Communication and collaboration can be a challenge (Owl Labs)
It is hard to separate work and recreational activities (Forbes)
Difficult to create and maintain a company culture (Forbes Advisor)
Increased IT security risk concerns (Open VPN)
Increased privacy concerns (LinkedIn)
Many of the difficulties associated with working from home come from the fact that, unlike an office building that has been ergonomically designed, most homes are not built or structured for a home office.
“Many people have little experience with a work-from-home lifestyle and may not have gone into this with an ergonomically designed, dedicated workspace,” says Eric K. Holder, MD, a Yale Medicine physiatrist, a doctor specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation.
He says, “Workstations that were quickly put together may have felt comfortable initially, but they can cause problems with extended use if not appropriately designed. Often, this is due to poor body alignment, leading to imbalances in posture and microtrauma overuse injuries, which can result in aches, pains, and “strains.”
Fun Facts About Hybrid Models of Work Environment
Do you need more information about working from home? Below, we have compiled some fun facts about the hybrid system, which combines working from home or in the office in some capacity. Remember that each type of hybrid system differs slightly as you read these statistics.
Depending on your commute, eliminating a typical 45-minute commute could save 1.3 years. Many employees work an hour away from their place of employment or must endure an hour of morning and evening traffic (Great Work Life).
More than half of employees (56%) who claim their jobs can be done primarily from home say they frequently use online platforms to connect with coworkers. Remote work continues to be an option for many Americans. According to a January 2022 Pew Research Center survey, most of these employees say they are OK with how much time they spend on video calls, but about one in four claims that it exhausts them (Pew Research Center).
These decisions are now driven by a preference for working from home rather than worrying about the coronavirus. Nearly 76% of employees with access to their workplace prefer to work from home. This is a significant factor in why they currently telework all or most of the time. Next, 7% of those who work from home say there is no reason, while another 17% say it is a minor factor. The proportion citing this as the primary cause increased significantly from 60% in 2020 (Pew Research Center). Another example is the Canadian Bank of Montreal, which reported that 80% of its staff members could and will probably continue working from home even after the pandemic (BNN Bloomberg).
Remote work helps business leaders cut overhead costs associated with maintaining an entirely in-person workforce and increasing employee productivity. The typical business could save $11,000 annually for each remote employee (Open VPN).
Professionals want flexibility but miss their colleagues. Most professionals (81%) either don’t return to the office or would prefer a hybrid schedule in the future, while 61% would like to work from home a couple of days a week. Less than a third (27%) prefer to work full-time from home, while 18% prefer to work in an office again (Harvard)
Did you know parents with children at home want to return to work full-time more than parents who do not? (Harvard)
Did you know that married and common-law couples want to return to work full-time more frequently than single people? (Harvard)
Comparing company profits with prior years, a nine-month Stanford University study of 16,000 employees found that working from home increased business productivity by 13% (Standford University).
More than half (56%) of IT professionals say remote workers pose a greater security risk than traditional workers. A drawback of remote work is the rise in cybersecurity risks on various personal and public networks and devices. These concerns also include privacy risks for the individual employees’ access to internal information from the organization (Open VPN).
More than 70% of folks preferred hybrid work, but non-binary employees were 14% more likely to like it (Mckinsey).
Employees who identified as LGBQ+2 were 13% more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to prefer hybrid work (Mckinsey).
Share these fun facts during your next Zoom meeting to show off your smarts. All sources are linked, so you can also expand your knowledge.
Working From Home Playlist
One of the best aspects of working from home is listening to any music I want while working. Celebrate the difference between a home office and an in-person office. Here’s some music to listen to while you work from home.
Female cover of ‘Feed the Machine’ by Justine M. & Friends, Originally by Poor Man’s Poison
“Joker” Remix B” Skydxddy Originally By Dax
“Buttercup” Earthbound Chiptune Cover By Mixandmash Originally by Jack Stauber
‘Handleba’Handlebars’step Cover By None Like Joshua, Originally By Flobots
‘The Fine Print’ By The StupendiumBased On Outer Worlds
Concluding thoughts
Switching Styles has compiled a playlist for everyone working from home to help your day run smoother and more excitingly.
This article was made possible by readers like you. It means a lot to Dylanna Fisher, the founders, and all our guest writers and featured artists, most of whom work from home. Thank you for taking the time to read this article and supporting the Switching Styles readership.
Comments