90% of remote workers would recommend it to a friend

As precautions against COVID-19 continue, many businesses and Universities are turning towards remote work and online classrooms as a solution to help limit viral spread. Large tech companies such as Apple and Google are advising employees to take home their laptops and stay out of the office.

Preventing disease is not the only benefit of remote work. A 2019 study from OWLLabs reported that remote workers in the United States earn more money and are overall happier with their job when compared to on-site workers.

GitLab surveyed 3,000 professionals that have the option to work remotely in a digital output role in their Remote Work Report. Now that the world is focusing its attention on the concept of remote work, let’s see what benefits it offers and how developers are overcoming the unique challenges it presents.

SEE ALSO: The impact of working from home on developers

Accessibility options

Offering remote work opens up job positions to a number of employees that would ordinarily face a barrier to entry. People with disabilities or chronic illnesses, for instance, benefit from having remote work as an option. By opening up the potential to work remotely, businesses will receive a larger pool of candidates and will enjoy more inclusive teams.

Families benefit from remote work. According to the GitLab study, 34% of respondents say they are able to care for sick and aging family members or pets and their flexible schedule allows workers with children to stay at home while still maintaining a career.

According to GitLab’s report:

34% percent found the ability to care for family a top benefit of remote work, in addition to 53% citing schedule flexibility and 38% saying lack of commute. It was also found that, in place of commuting, 43% are able to spend more quality time with family — 55% of respondents having children under 18.

Benefits by the numbers

Let’s focus on the positives remote workers reported to GitLab:

• 90% would recommend working remotely to a friend
• 87% are satisfied with the process of remote team communication
• 35% say remote work saves them money
• 32% have reduced stress and 26% report improved health
• 49% describe themselves as ‘lucky’
• 52% see increased productivity
• 21% receive home internet and working expense reimbursement from their employer
• 18% enjoy a lack of office politics

Relocating for work

Job location is one of the largest barriers to entry that face job-seekers. Remote work allows people in rural areas to work for companies with office locations in expensive cities with a competitive housing market and limits the need for relocation.

36% of GitLab’s respondents said that if their current employer no longer offered off-site work, they would search for a new role elsewhere. Only 9% would relocate.

SEE ALSO: Top 2020 trends for software engineers: Hired survey insights

Facing challenges

Of course, working off-site comes with some unique challenges.

47% report that managing at-home distractions is an issue and 35% say that feelings of isolation and loneliness are difficult. 28% of respondents feel a personal disconnect from their work and struggle with burnout.

Maintaining a personal connection with co-workers via Slack groups or in-person meetups is important in keeping employee morale high. A number of communication tools focus on solving issues faced by remote workers and help keep employees engaged. As remote work becomes more and more common, there will surely be more tools and more awareness of the challenges.

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