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Shifts in the world economy and modern technologies have brought many changes to our lives, including where and how we work. In the past few years, many organizations have invested in remote working or distributed teams. This trend influenced IT sector the most with the growing popularity of nearshore development services, software outsourcing and other models of remote work.
Why Remote Work Is Gaining in Popularity
In a recent story, titled Remote work is “the new normal”, Fast Company sheds some insight on the trends in remote working. Over half (59%) of hiring managers reported that their full-time workers were increasing adopting remote work. About 63% of employers were now using remote work in some form, with around 59% of employers employing contractors or freelancers.
According to the piece, the rise in remote working is due to a number of factors, including:
- Shortage of talent
- Interest in working remotely by staff members
- Emerging technologies such as blockchain
- Greater globalization
Chart: Factors Driving the Popularity of Remote Work
For many businesses, the key challenge is how to manage remote teams. Businesses must adopt practices that optimize productivity levels in order to stay competitive. When working remotely, this can be harder to accomplish.
Ways to Get Maximum Productivity
Business collaboration relies on effective communication. Managers must communicate frequently and with clarity, making sure their teams are engaged. In addition, taking an analytics-driven approach to management can boost productivity. When a team works remotely, it’s harder to monitor work levels. However, data about the results from your entire team can help pinpoint opportunities for improvement.
The Right Tools
To facilitate collaboration in remote teams, a team needs to use the right tools for remote work. Some of these include:
- Communication – Google Hangouts, Slack, Telegram
- Project management – Trello, Asana, GitHub, BaseCamp
- Time tracking/invoicing – Toggl, TopTracker, Qbserve
Advantages of Remote Working for Employees
For workers, this new world of work creates opportunities and challenges. Below, we explore some of the advantages behind the rise of remote working for workers.
You Can Ditch the Commute
Since remote workers frequently work from home, this cuts down on long commutes. The time that might have gone into long work commutes can be better spent on actual work or socializing. It’s easier to spend more time around family and attend to errands or babysitting.
You Can Work from Anywhere
Remote working allows workers to work from any location of their choice. If you enjoy skiing, for example, you can spend the majority of the year at or near your favorite ski resorts. Meanwhile, you still get to do all your work and collaborate with your employer remotely. This is not always possible if you are not fully remote. Even in such cases, however, some degree of location independence is possible with remote work. If you have meetings at your central office, you can plan your travel in advance to be present when needed.
You Can Work on Exciting Projects with Foreign Companies
Another important advantage of remote work is the ability to access exciting jobs with foreign employers. This is especially helpful if you have a special skill set that few employers in your country hire for. For example, if you are a data scientist and you live in an area with few data-intensive employers, remote work can help. You will find a high demand for your skill outside your own country’s borders. Working remotely helps you contribute your skills to businesses from all around the world.
Benefits of Remote Working for Businesses
Businesses, too, can reap a virtual windfall from remote work. This happens through the ability to expanded labor pools and specialized skills. As a result, many businesses, especially in the technology industry, are adopting remote-friendly work cultures.
Access Hard to Find Talent
For companies, tech talent has become hard to find. This is due to the hiring spree going on in Silicon Valley and other tech centers. New fields like artificial intelligence for self-driving cars and blockchain demand highly skilled experts. Training for these new skills takes long and can be expensive. As a result, there are few job candidates with the required skills. To solve this problem, employers are casting their nets wide, sometimes looking for talent literally halfway around the world. Remote working facilitates the collaboration of these global teams.
Lower Hiring Costs (Sometimes)
Remote work can lower hiring costs for businesses. This is not always the case, however, depending on the skill in question. For example, if a firm needs a specialized engineering skill concentrated in a high-cost location like San Francisco, the result could be higher costs. However, if the skill can be found elsewhere in the world, hiring costs will typically be lower.
Improve Time to Market
It’s possible to improve time to market with remote teams. This has become standard practice in the software industry, in particular. Having software engineers in different time zones means that work can often progress around the clock. This requires expert management to fully take advantage of the possibilities offered by having teams in different time zones. When done right, the end product can be completed much faster than when working with a team in a single location.
3 Tips for Landing a Remote Job
Despite the advantages offered by remote work, many men are still unsure how to take advantage of these opportunities. Here are some helpful tips to land a remote job.
Develop a Skill That Is in High Demand
The adoption of technology in all areas of life has created demand for certain skills while placing others at a disadvantage. To make yourself attractive for areas in which demand is growing, you can develop a skill in a growing area of technology such as blockchain development, cybersecurity, or machine learning.
Work with Recruiters for Remote Roles
If you already have the skills employers need, you can work with recruiters who need to fill remote roles. With the right skills, it can take a very short time to land a suitable remote role where your skills can make a difference.
Apply on Remote Job Boards
Remote job boards are another great avenue for landing remote jobs. They allow you to see which companies are hiring and how much your current skills might net you in salary. You will be in a better negotiating position for any offers you might get.
The Future of Remote Work
Remote working is increasing in popularity due to the advantages it promises for employers and their workers. For example, businesses can lower costs while accessing hard to find talent. On the other hand, for workers, remote work offers a chance to contribute to projects far beyond one’s national borders.
To take advantage of these opportunities, workers should invest in acquiring the highly demanded skills and putting themselves in position to land work offers. These trends that are now unfolding are only likely to become more entrenched as globalization spreads around the world.
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This content is sponsored by Anastasia Stefanuk.
Photo: Pexels