It’s common for employers to have some skepticism about hiring remote workers, but considering that employment trends are heavily headed in the freelancing direction, it may be time to start reconsidering that skepticism. A recent survey from SurePayroll came back with some captivating results regarding office productivity, and their findings may just surprise you. If you’ve been on the fence about hiring remote workers, you’ll want to spend some time ingesting the stats referenced below — as they say, numbers don’t lie.
1) Remote Workers Aren’t Paid for Time That’s Not Spent Working
Employees spend 5 hours surfing the web via non work-related websites for every 20 hours they spend on work-related websites. That means that 20% of the time in-office employees spend on the computer is wasted despite the fact that they are still considered on the clock. Conversely, freelancers and telecommuters are often paid by project (instead of hourly), which can be a huge financial benefit for employers. Even if your remote employee is charging you hourly, he or she is responsible for only clocking hours that were spent working.
2) Remote Workers Have Fewer Office Distractions
While you might think that having employees in an office setting will lead to increased productivity and speed, it turns out that there are a slew of office distractions that keep workers from being on-task throughout the day. Of 2,060 professionals surveyed, 61% agreed that loud colleagues are the biggest office distraction with another 40% considering impromptu meetings with coworkers to be a major interruption. Open office layouts, in particular, can be an immense problem when it comes to office interruptions. Hiring remote workers keeps workplace distractions from becoming a productivity issue.
3) Remote Workers Are Considered to Be More Productive
More than ⅔ of employers report increased productivity among telecommuters, and 65% of full time employees believe that a flexible and remote work schedule would increase their productivity. An additional 86% of workers prefer to work alone to hit maximum productivity. As it turns out, solitude and flexibility play an enormous role in worker productivity, and that’s not only based on the employees’ opinions, but also from the employer’s viewpoint. Think about it this way, would you be more focused on your tasks if you were surrounded by familiar faces and voices all the time, or if you were working in solitude?
4) Remote Workers’ Flexible Schedules Are Beneficial to the Work Day
Sick days, doctor’s appointments, or necessary errands can waste entire days of work for in-office employees. Such is not the case with remote workers. Remote workers typically continue to work when they’re sick, return to work more quickly following medical issues, and can attend scheduled appointments without losing a full day of work. If a remote worker has an appointment in the middle of the work day, he or she can easily make up the lost time thanks to a flexible work schedule. Additionally, though an employee may be running a fever, he or she can still work remotely without the chance of infecting coworkers.
5) Remote Workers Have the Opportunity to Take Needed Breaks
Science has determined that breaks are needed for humans to function at their highest level of productivity. Working in 90 minute intervals maximizes productivity, and the human brain can only focus for 90 to 120 minutes before it needs a break.Remote workers have more of an opportunity to take those needed breaks because they set their own schedules, whereas in-office employees might be working at a lower productivity level because of the typical nine to five work day.
Now that you’ve read over the numbers, you hopefully have a better idea of why hiring remote workers is not only a modern concept, but a smart one as well. Remote hiring benefits are just as relevant as remote employee benefits, and who doesn’t love a win-win situation? We know we do.
Originally written by Chelsey Grasso for Remote.com