The number of people working from home has been on the rise over recent years. Some people love working at home rather than commuting to the office each day, others hate it. Private companies employ the majority of the home-based workers whereas the government hires very few remote workers. Let’s look at the pros and cons of working from home.
Pros:
1. Reduce traffic: Working from home or remote areas reduces traffic congestion in cities. If most of the people work from more, there will be fewer people on roads and less traffic.
2. Flexible working hours: Working at home makes you more flexible. You can plan your work during your most productive time. It helps you create a workflow that works for you.
3. Saves employers money: Employers don’t have to incur more expenses for office space and other office equipment. Employees will be able to work at the comfort of their home and submit the work once done.
4. Increase productivity: Working at home makes you more productive. It enables you to learn on time management, self-discipline, motivation, and focus which are critical components for your success.
5. Improves employees’ satisfaction: Many employees struggle with having a balance between they’re work and personal life. Choosing to work from home can help you create this balance and improve your satisfaction.
6. Saves time and money: You don’t have to commute to and from your workplace every day. This helps save a lot of time and money.
7. Stress-free day: Working remotely adds some hours to stress-free productivity. It reduces the stress level associated with commuting to work and being stuck in the traffic.
8. Reduce distractions: Although you can easily be distracted at home, you can easily control them compared to distractions that come from your co-workers and other office-based noise.
9. Saves on gas and lunch: Working from home eliminates the transportation cost and amount spent on buying lunch.
10. Always casual: Working from home cuts on work-related clothes, you can put on your favorite t-shirt that makes you feel comfortable.
Cons:
1. Self-discipline: To succeed in working from home require a great deal of self-discipline. You need to schedule your work, be focused, and motivated.
2. Lonely: Sitting in your home office all day without interacting with other coworkers can make you feel lonely.
3. No full access to technology platforms: Although cloud technology has made it possible for remote workers to work from anywhere, data security and consumer protection concerns limit telecommuters from having full access.
4. Overworking: Sometimes you may end up overworking yourself especially if there is less distinction between your work and personal life.
5. Difficult to build relationships: If you don’t have daily face-to-face connections with clients and colleagues, it can be hard to establish a great relationship and trust with them.
6. Communication issues: When dealing with an employee who is not a native speaker it may be difficult coordinating remote work with them. It is also difficult to have a situational awareness if your teams work from remote areas.
7. Lose living space: Creating your own home office or a workspace can take up your living space living you with a small space like your living room.
8. Cost of setting up a home office: You have to create your own home office which can be a huge investment buying all the office equipment needed for you to comfortably work from home.
9. Less ad-hoc learning: When working with other colleagues in an office you can share ideas with each other and also learn from your peers. If you work at home, you need to seek out networking and learning opportunities on your own.
10. Separating work and family: Working from home doesn’t mean you have to be available 24/7. You have to make sure the work time doesn’t interfere with family time.
