Telecommuting was once a rarity, now a necessity.
The spread of COVID-19 has forced traditional brick-and-mortar businesses to move to a telecommuting structure in order to maintain business continuity. Although working from home is not a new concept, for many teams and companies it’s a first-time experience.
Unfortunately, there’s no time for mock drills when it comes to telecommuting. The only way is through. That being said, every first-time experience doesn’t need to be a bad one. The right information can help you become a telecommuting star.
But first, what is telecommuting?
What Is Telecommuting?
Telecommuting (also known as teleworking) is an arrangement by which employers allow employees to work outside the business’s brick-and-mortar location. It involves the pervasive use of technology like Microsoft Outlook and Gmail for emails, Teams for messaging and communication between employers and colleagues as well as for holding video conferences, and more.
Telecommuting Trends
The unprecedented spike in telecommuting has given rise to some interesting trends:
Like it or hate it, telecommuting is here to stay
Pre-COVID, 44 percent of businesses globally didn’t allow remote work. Today, 30 percent of all workforces worldwide will telecommute at least a couple of times a week for the foreseeable future. [OWL Labs, PR Newswire]
Remote work is good for business
Businesses that adopted telecommuting before the pandemic saw great results:
- 85% of businesses confirm that productivity has increased in their company because of greater flexibility. [Flexjobs]
- $11,000: The average amount a business saves per remote employee. [Internet & Telephone]
Telecommuting is healthier
There’s a clear relation between telecommuting and overall health:
- 86% of employees think remote working would reduce their stress. [Work-Life-Relationship survey]
- 90% of employees say allowing more flexible work arrangements and schedules would increase employee morale. [Flexjobs]
- 50% of remote employees reduced their sick days, and 56% said it reduced their absences. [Indeed]
Telecommuting: The Good
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Moving Forward: Telecommuting and Data Protection
During the COVID-19 crisis, organizations are relying on SaaS applications like G Suite, Office 365 and Salesforce to help dispersed employees work as a united workforce. Unfortunately, hackers never let a good crisis go to waste.
The meteoric rise in the number of first-time telecommuters around the globe is a golden opportunity for hackers to target amateurs – who put data at risk, whether intentionally or not. And as we all know, platforms like Google, Microsoft and Salesforce do not protect data at the users’ end. In short, you are responsible for your SaaS data.
However, Spanning’s cloud-native, purpose-built solutions for Office 365, G Suite and Salesforce protect your organization’s critical data from loss caused by ransomware and malware attacks, human error, malicious behavior and sync errors.
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