Dive Brief:
- Seventy-seven percent of workers in a recent survey said they'd be more likely to accept a job offer if they knew they could telecommute at least some of the time, according to a recent Robert Half study. Enticed by visions of commute-free days, 86% of employees between the ages of 18 and 34 said they'd sooner sign a contract with remote work options. Employees older than 55 were the least likely to see working from home as a worthy perk, but 65% of them still answered in the affirmative.
- Though telework proved an appealing option, more than one fifth of those surveyed feared others would abuse the benefit or not stick to work hours. The same amount agreed that the option may lead to remote employees feeling isolated from the team environment. Another 17% of people worried that interpersonal relationships would suffer from telework. Only 12% were concerned that employees with little face time would lose out on promotions or opportunities to work on new projects and an even smaller 7% thought that remote workers would have trouble brainstorming ideas with no nearby coworkers.
- Telework most attracted workers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Austin and Denver. Employees in Salt Lake City and Pittsburgh showed the least amount of excitement toward remote work opportunities.
Dive Insight:
Potential hires may hustle to put pen to paper when offers include remote work options, and the perk could convince newbies to stick around, too, various studies have shown. As employers fight the war for talent, few can afford to ignore an initiative that attracts and retains good employees.
"With the market as tight as it is, companies are doing everything they can to make their opportunities attractive to candidates and current employees," Dawn Fay, senior district president for Robert Half, told HR Dive in an interview. Employees love working outside of their cubicles for all sorts of reasons. A more secluded environment boosts productivity by 77%, as reported by the Society for Human Resource Management, and remote options can widen the talent pool when a commute is impossible. Some workers also want flexible schedules to fulfill caregiving duties, for example, a ManpowerGroup Solutions survey found.
As employees continue to show the love for companies that extend these perks, employers that opt to implement teleworking need to develop thoughtful remote work policies. "I think it's really important, for organizations to do this successfully, to make sure they've got a real plan," Fay said. "They need to understand what individuals' schedules actually are. When you're working from home, you're still working." That's only the first step to successful implementation, however. Employers need to outline short-term and long-term goals with their remote employees and equip them with secure technology. Some 57% of employers lack even these foundations of a thorough policy, despite having remote workers.
