Perhaps the most common misconception about working from home is that employees will do nothing. Instead, they will spend the day browsing their social networks without the supervision necessary to keep them productive. This can be a problem in isolated cases. However, statistics largely show that employees who work at home tend to achieve more in less time than in-house employees.
Other common misconceptions:
Remote work is only for certain types of jobs:
Okay, certain roles are better for working from home. Clearly, there are jobs that need to take place in a factory or laboratory. Nevertheless, thanks to advances in technology and in the media, there are more and more remote jobs. For example, virtual administrative assistant, executive receptionist, and marketing assistant.
Those who work from home earn less money:
Even if that were true, which is not according to the statistics, people who work from home tend to spend less money. The reason for this is simple; they save on the commute, and office-ready attire, among other expenses. The results of the Global Workplace Analytics (2019) suggest that office workers spend around 11 days in traffic per year and spend between $ 2,500.00 and $6,000.00 USD in several expenses related to showing up at an office. Furthermore, other statistics indicate that those who work from home tend to have higher levels of education and often earn higher wages.
I will not need babysitting; I can babysit since I will be home anyway:
While there is some truth to this, mothers with remote full-time jobs anticipate some costs associated with child care. Depending on the level of concentration required for the position, it can be extremely difficult to juggle work and household chores if your children require most of your attention during the day.
Working from home won’t look good on my resume:
Given the tendency of companies to hire remote workers, any stigma previously associated with working remotely is fading fast. In any case, working from home shows that you are self-employed, capable of performing a job with minimal supervision, and knowledgeable enough to excel on your own.
Hiring remote workers will damage my business reputation:
On the contrary, the trend is for the number of employees working from home to continue to increase, so what better than to be a pioneer in the subject? You will gain experience in teamwork and in having better long-distance communication before your competition.
Remote workers must be available 24/7:
This will depend entirely on your employer, but normally you have an established schedule.
Remote workers are not part of the company culture:
It is possible to build a great business culture and motivate people to care about the success of the company, even when they work remotely. For example, HelpScout, a 100% remote company, scores an employee engagement score of 81%, a number considerably higher than most traditional companies achieve.
