One of the most interesting changes in the year of 2020 was the high increase in the number of people working from home. According to this article from the World Economic Forum, “roughly 35 to 40% of employees in developed economies have reported working from home most or all of the time during the pandemic, a marked increase from the past.”

This article also bring the interesting statistics that “a fifth of the workforce in advanced economies can work just as effectively from home” as depicted in the graph below:

It is also clear that people were initially forced to work from home because of the Covid pandemic, but most of them actually enjoyed it. According to this article in the British site YouGov, “once the crisis is over, most (57%) of those who were working before the outbreak and who intend to stay part of the workforce say they want to be able to continue working from home.”

The graph below shows workers expectations once Coronavirus is over:

There are many reasons people want to continue working from home. According to this article from the Business Standard, “69% prefer work from home to continue to avoid traffic.”

The graph below presents some of the main reasons people want to continue working from home:

The Downside of WFH

So apparently working from home is very desirable and has many benefits. But is there any negative aspect in this new reality of remote work?

In my personal opinion, very soon we will observe increased competition when looking for a new job. If this job position can be performed remotely, this means that candidates will now be competing with people who live in different cities, perhaps in other states, and possibly even in other countries.

I do expect that for many remote job positions there will still be some limitations related to time-zones, since in general we want co-workers to be able to communicate easily with each other.

But, if a person is able to participate in all required meetings, and if this person is able to communicate in the same language as the co-workers, and has the skills and experience to perform the job, then it is possible to work from anywhere in the world.

Yes, remote working is here to stay. Enjoy the benefits, but prepare for the competition.

Happy 2021!