Social Differences in Remote Work
Remote work has gone through a renaissance following the COVID pandemic in 2020. Programs were modernized, people found a routine, and for many businesses it’s a change they won’t come back from. As early as 2025, 22% of the workforce will be completely remote. Not to mention those that will enter some form of hybrid work.
This is, in many ways, is great. Remote workers report being 22% happier at work, and 30% more productive. People love the utility of working from home, but there are some unfortunate downsides as well. Burnout is an extremely common downside to remote work. Remote workers report longer hours than when they physically worked 37% of the time.
22% of these same workers find it hard to unplug. Leading to 75% of remote workers experiencing burnout at work. There’s no social interaction, and time seems to lose itself with remote work. These effects can be really negative, leading to worse work and less happy employees.
It doesn’t even take much to start to make a difference. 90% of Americans felt better on a workday after stepping away for lunch. Some employers have also opted to use time tracking to create a more enjoyable workplace experience. Keeping track of how one is working and when can help to bring meaning to the job.
When remote workers find themselves working longer hours and noticing less it’s good to keep track. For many businesses this can be done through a timesheet, but for others a more robust system is better. Facial recognition tracking for example keeps more specific logs and is something the employee can easily forget about. It’s intimidating to have another set of eyes, but remote work needs the meaning that physical work holds.
Source: TrackTime24.com
