Remote working may have been a low-priority consideration for most businesses up until the beginning of 2020, but the pandemic pushed it to the surface in a big way. This has raised a number of issues into the public attention, and chief among them is one that will be hard to answer. Namely, if we can work from home during a pandemic, what reason is there for saying that we can’t do it even when the world is back to something resembling “normal”?

It seems inevitable that opportunities for working from home in future will exist in - at least - greater number than they did before the crisis. There is every sign that telecommuting is at least as productive as working in an office. While some people will always prefer to work in an office, others will point to the removal of a need for commuting, among other advantages that are offered by remote working. Plenty of businesses will be happy to accommodate this, as it can reduce overhead costs. However, it will present some challenges - and perhaps the primary question about how it will work is on the technological front. 

Should employees use their own devices?

With the internet being an essential part of modern life, the number of people who have their own laptop or desktop computer is steadily increasing. As long as their device is strong enough to support the software they need to do their job, why shouldn’t they use it as a work device? The answer is that this very much depends on the nature of the work and the software the device will be used for. Merely from an insurance point of view, they might be expected to use work-issued devices - so any savings from letting them work remotely need to be balanced against the cost of funding such devices.

Can you be confident of a secure decentralised network?

There is a considerable difference between using a laptop to order a week’s shopping and using the same device to access and store customer records. For hackers and identity thieves, a decentralised workforce could arguably present an opportunity to exploit gaps in security that wouldn’t exist - in as great a number - through work firewalls. It’s not impossible to offer that kind of security and IT support to remote workers. It does, however, depend on solid and proactive communication with the tech experts your company employs.

What if workers disappear “off the grid”?

A workforce that is located in an office is visible to management at all times. It’s understandable that some business owners will be concerned about the chance that an “invisible” workforce will allow for staff to go missing. However, it’s a problem that doesn’t seem to have arisen in any meaningful sense. The use of managed IT services means you can always tell when people are logged in and whether they are active. This software is already used for office-based workers, and those who aren’t operative at a given time can still be subject to the same penalties if their absence is unauthorised. Absenteeism still happens in physical offices, so it’s not a remote working problem.

There are certainly challenges which will arise when migrating to a remote workforce, but none have so far been raised that don’t have straightforward solutions. It’s your choice as to whether you extend work-from-home opportunities into the future, but the option is there.