If we turn back the clock just 10 or 15 years, we would find ourselves in a time when remote work was quite rare. Employers were still locked into the idea that people had to be in the office to be their most productive, and the benefits of allowing people to work remotely were not nearly as clear.
However, fast forward to today, and we find ourselves in an era where remote work is more prevalent than ever. The number of people working remotely seems to be increasing by the second, and there’s no reason to doubt that this trend will slow down. Of course, there will always be a place for the traditional office setting, but remote work is undoubtedly the future.
More people are freelancing than ever before, with most forecasts suggesting that by 2027, 50% of the U.S. workforce will be freelancers. This marks a significant shift in the structure of the economy. But to understand why remote work is driving this trend, we must consider who freelancers are and why they choose this path.
Most freelancers work in one of four fields: IT/computer services, accounting and finance, HR and recruitment, or writing/content development. As you’ll notice, all these jobs can be performed with nothing more than a computer and an internet connection. This enables freelancers to offer highly competitive rates, making them an attractive option for companies.
Thus, as the number of freelancers grows, the prominence of remote work will also rise. Even when companies decide to retain these general functions in-house, they may allow more flexibility in how people work, further contributing to the growth of remote work.
Another major driver of remote work growth is the rapid expansion of e-commerce. More people are shopping online every year, and this trend shows no signs of slowing down. This is great news for those currently running an e-commerce consulting business or planning to start one. It’s also good news for advocates of remote work.
Why? Because e-commerce is almost entirely digital. The main appeal of starting one of these businesses is that they can be managed almost entirely from a laptop, reducing overhead costs and yielding high profits. All you need are the right tools and software to run your e-commerce operations.
With e-commerce tools like ERP software, CRM systems, and chatbots, you can automate and streamline various aspects of your business, making it more efficient and profitable. Therefore, as e-commerce continues to grow, remote work will play a key role in integrating it as an essential part of our global economy.
You read that right. It goes against what we assume makes sense. The lack of supervision, structure, and connection to work associated with remote work might lead us to believe that remote workers would be more likely to disengage. However, a Harvard Business Review study found the exact opposite to be true, showing that remote workers are more engaged than those working in an office.
The logic behind this is that remote work allows people to use their time more effectively. Instead of being stuck in an office for a fixed number of hours, they can focus on completing their tasks and then use their free time as they wish. This kind of flexibility is rare and highly valued. Remote work becomes a job perk that people genuinely want to keep, motivating them to invest more energy into their work, which in turn boosts engagement and productivity.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that remote work automatically makes people more efficient. It requires self-discipline and the ability to work independently. However, evidence showing that remote work benefits productivity will likely lead employers to offer this benefit to more and more people.
Therefore, overall, we can conclude that offices may never completely disappear, and people will always prefer face-to-face communication over digital interactions. However, trends in the economy, combined with the growing range of benefits that remote work offers, indicate that remote work is here to stay. As a result, employees and job seekers will come to expect this type of arrangement, and employers need to be ready to provide it.