In the past, most businesses were not willing to work virtually. All the companies set up physical offices for their employees where regular attendance was mandatory. Only a few of them were thinking of allowing their workers to work from home. With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, those businesses were shut down due to lockdown.
Most businesses started working remotely and the trend of using virtual offices increased greatly as it was a flexible and productive alternative. This new trend accelerated the exploration of new chances by both the companies and employees to completely avail them.
The first barrier to virtual work was effective communication which was overcome with digital tools like Zoom and Slack. Everything was changed from physical to virtual such as online meetings, digital mail forwarding, virtual receptionists and virtual assistants. In short, the office work was completely virtualized.
Since the pandemic created health concerns for workers hence the companies created a healthy work-life balance for their employees to avoid stressful conditions. Virtual work has changed the working schedule of long hours to more flexible yet productive and efficient giving equal or better results.
This trend has removed the need for working in shifts and the workers can work from home at a time suitable for them. Hence the use of virtual offices has benefited both companies and their workers.
Companies have been running their businesses productively and effectively with savings on the overhead costs of physical offices. Workers have found it convenient and time-saving to work from home by earning a significant amount of money.
Reasons Virtual Work Is The Current Work Trend
Due to its competitive advantages, virtual office working is staying to be the current work trend. A few of these are:
More Flexible and Productive: It offers flexibility by freeing the employees from strict working schedules and thus lowering stress. Virtual working abolishes time wastage in traveling which can be used productively to enhance the proficiency of business.
Keeps Work-Life Balance: It also allows the employees to maintain a work-life balance that increases their working potential instead of being fed up with the burden of workload.
Draws Global Talent: Since virtual working has removed the barriers of locations, companies can now hire employees across the world. It draws new talents and skilled professionals from different backgrounds and has different views that add value to the company’s interests. This also provides employees with a global platform to broaden their portfolios and increase their earnings.
A Greener Option: Virtual working is an eco-friendly way of carrying out a business and it allows the employees to maintain their physical and mental health which keeps them motivated enabling them to spend more time with family or friends.
Promotes Global Mobility: Virtual work provides and promotes worldwide mobility, allowing staff to work remotely for a predetermined amount of time is an excellent retention tool, and significantly boosts team member engagement. Some people may worry about relying too much on technology and losing their creativity, but with virtual work, they can easily keep up with what’s going on in the office while enjoying their free time.
Virtual Work Trends That May Continue In Future
In the future, virtual work will be a common practice. The telecommuting model of virtual working is the new norm for companies.
1. Enhanced Employee Influx: Future technical advancements will accelerate the rate of virtual work. During the past two years, more employees have shifted to virtual work and resigned from their companies.
This is because they have enjoyed the benefits of remote working and are in search of jobs that can provide them with better salaries, and fair and valued compensation. This trend will continue in future also as the expectations of virtual workers are on a continuous rise.
They want more recognition and a good pay scale along with other benefits. Companies that wish to draw professional talent to their offices must broaden their job spectrum to a wider range of work options than other companies.
2. Hybrid Work: Today, employees are returning to offices but they want more remote work options for flexibility, hence businesses will need to find hybrid work solutions as it will be the fundamental future work trend.
Hybrid working allows the employees to work for a few days of the month in the office while for the rest they can work from home. Thus, hybrid work combines personal and digital work and can be in any ratio between them.
3. Technological Transition: The sharp rise in virtual work is due to the technological revolution and it will further increase in future. Businesses will need to digitize their office to fulfill the needs of virtual work.
Digital transformation is the transition of an enterprise from manual processes to digital solutions. While young businesses require fewer transformations and upgrades, digital transformation for established businesses requires massive organizational and structural changes.
As part of the pursuit of digital transformation, organizations need to find ways to manage their work and time without overworking or overburdening them. Digital communication needs to evolve further so that team members can communicate with each other. Programs like Zoom and Slack have laid a good foundation for organizations, but they’re not perfect.
Future employment trends will require simpler and more consistent forms of communication to support the transition to remote work.
