The Cat is Out of the Bag: Working from Home is Here to Stay

Hi, I'm Caleb Denison for Digital Trends, and welcome to what used to be my mini home theater slash music listening room. This is now my new home office, a space that has been transformed into a permanent workspace due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although I used to come here to relax, I've found myself spending about eight or nine hours a day working from home. Those who are fortunate enough to work in an industry where remote work is possible are already familiar with the acronym du jour: Wfh.

For those who may have occasionally worked remotely before, today's work-from-home experience feels very different. It requires some adaptation for some, while others find it familiar but different because it's no longer optional. Many people are converting rooms into permanent home offices, buying new desks, installing coffee makers or music systems, and adding second monitors like the one at my office desk. Some are even using TVs as video conferencing streams. So, what does this mean for the future of how we all work?

We've had the technology to work from home for years, and going to an office seems less and less essential for some. Now, we're being forced to rethink how we do business due to the need to self-isolate during the pandemic. Businesses have had to make changes to stay afloat during what is hoped to be a short-term ordeal. However, the bigger picture here is that by force, businesses are learning that if done correctly, a decentralized workforce – working and collaborating online – can be very effective and cost-saving.

According to a recent global analytics report, only 7% of US firms offer telecommuting as an option, and just 3.6 American workers – that's about five million people – spent half their work time outside of the office. The growth of telecommuting over the past few years has been slow but steady until now, when millions suddenly had to work remotely. Businesses can no longer treat work from home like a perk for a privileged few; they've had to open up the opportunity to everyone who can do so.

Being forced down this path will have long-term repercussions. One thing that's a big concern is data security – all the sensitive information one handles for their job and how it gets shared, whether it's through a shared document online or in a Zoom video conference meeting. That information has to be protected. So, businesses are now clamoring to get solutions in place, although they can be used well into the future.

Similarly, the use of communication and organization tools like Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Asana, Trello, and many more is seeing explosive growth and new users again due to the situation we face. Training up on how to use these tools is not really an option; once the workforce is used to using them regularly again, why stop using them? The adoption of these new tools will likely be swift when you think about it.

We already use video chat and instant messaging to communicate in our personal lives – it's not a huge leap to start using them in our business lives. Another aspect of working from home is getting comfortable with it and remaining productive, even though there are plenty of distractions at home that you don't typically face in an office. On the other hand, there are plenty of office distractions that you don't face at home.

So, once one makes the adjustment to staying productive at home, it's expected that productivity will actually increase. When you speak to the bottom line like that, executives are likely to embrace making this distributed workforce situation a little bit more widespread and probably permanent. The story here is that we were already well on our way toward a model where going to an office was less and less necessary for conducting business.

The process of transitioning which was plodding along pretty slowly has been shoved way forward in a way by the need to self-isolate during this global pandemic. Our timeline for proficient work-from-home readiness is highly accelerated now, once this all blows over, the workforce is allowed to return to their offices. But will they want to? More importantly, will business owners want them to?

Housing employees is expensive for businesses, and commuting is expensive and time-consuming for employees. In the end, we all get some time and money back in our lives, and that seems like a win-win for everyone.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enfolks the cat is out of the bag and it's not going back in working from home is going to be a new normal hi I'm Caleb Denison for Digital Trends and welcome to what used to be my mini home theater slash music listening room this is now my new home office and though once I used to just come here to relax I'm now in this room about eight or nine hours a day working for those who are practicing social distancing or are under a shelter-in-place order and are fortunate enough to work in an industry where remote work is even possible then you are already very familiar with the acronym du jour wfh even for those who may have occasionally worked remotely before it at a home or a coffee shop today's work from home feels very different for some it's a brand new experience and requires some adaptation for others it's familiar but different because it isn't optional anymore many folks are converting rooms into more permanent home offices buying new desks may be installing a coffee maker or music system adding a second monitor like the one at the office desk or using a TV as a video conferencing stream so what does this mean for the future of how we all work I mean we've had the technology to work from home for years and going to an office seems less and less essential for some now we're being forced to rethink how we do business and the need to self isolate during this global pandemic will certainly change work forever here's how obviously businesses have had to make changes to stay afloat during what is hoped to be a short-term ordeal but the bigger picture here is that by force businesses are learning that if done correctly a so-called distributed workforce one which is decentralized working and collaborating online can be very effective and cost saving according to a recent global analytics report only 7% of US firms offer telecommuting as an option and just three point six American workers that's about five million spent half their work time outside of the office the growth of telecommuting over the past few years has been slow but steady until now with millions suddenly forced to work remotely businesses can no longer treat work from home like a perk for a privileged few they've had to open the opportunity to everyone who can do so and being forced down that path is going to have long-term repercussions one thing data security is a big concern when you think about all the sensitive information one handles for their job and how that gets shared whether it's a shared document online or in a zoom video conference meeting that information has to be protected so businesses are now clamoring to get solutions in place well let's say are in place though they can be used well into the future I mean why backtrack the same can be said for the use of communication and organization tools like zoom slack Microsoft teams asana Trello and there's a bunch more and probably a bunch more coming these are apps that are seeing explosive growth and new users again due to the situation we face training up on how to use these tools is not really an option and once the workforce is used to using these platforms regularly again why stop using it plus adoption of these new tools will likely be swift when you think about it we already use video chat and instant messaging to communicate in our personal lives it's not a huge leap to start using them in our business lives another aspect of working from home is well getting comfortable with it and remaining productive even though there are plenty of distractions at home that you don't typically face in an office on the other hand there are plenty of office distractions that you don't face at home so once one makes the adjustment to staying productive at home it's expected that productivity will actually increase and when you speak to the bottom line like that executives are likely to embrace making this distributed workforce situation a little bit more widespread and probably permanent the story here is that we were already well on our way toward a model where going to an office was less and less necessary for conducting business the process of transitioning which was plodding along pretty slowly has been shoved way forward in a way the need to self isolate during this global pandemic is forcing the hands of business owners to rethink how they do business and as the transition is also forced to be hurried along our timeline for proficient work from home readiness is highly accelerated now once this all blows over the workforce is allowed to return to their offices will they want to more importantly will business owners want them to housing employees is expensive for businesses commuting is expensive and time-consuming for employees in the end we all get some time and money back in our lives and that seems like a win-win for everyonefolks the cat is out of the bag and it's not going back in working from home is going to be a new normal hi I'm Caleb Denison for Digital Trends and welcome to what used to be my mini home theater slash music listening room this is now my new home office and though once I used to just come here to relax I'm now in this room about eight or nine hours a day working for those who are practicing social distancing or are under a shelter-in-place order and are fortunate enough to work in an industry where remote work is even possible then you are already very familiar with the acronym du jour wfh even for those who may have occasionally worked remotely before it at a home or a coffee shop today's work from home feels very different for some it's a brand new experience and requires some adaptation for others it's familiar but different because it isn't optional anymore many folks are converting rooms into more permanent home offices buying new desks may be installing a coffee maker or music system adding a second monitor like the one at the office desk or using a TV as a video conferencing stream so what does this mean for the future of how we all work I mean we've had the technology to work from home for years and going to an office seems less and less essential for some now we're being forced to rethink how we do business and the need to self isolate during this global pandemic will certainly change work forever here's how obviously businesses have had to make changes to stay afloat during what is hoped to be a short-term ordeal but the bigger picture here is that by force businesses are learning that if done correctly a so-called distributed workforce one which is decentralized working and collaborating online can be very effective and cost saving according to a recent global analytics report only 7% of US firms offer telecommuting as an option and just three point six American workers that's about five million spent half their work time outside of the office the growth of telecommuting over the past few years has been slow but steady until now with millions suddenly forced to work remotely businesses can no longer treat work from home like a perk for a privileged few they've had to open the opportunity to everyone who can do so and being forced down that path is going to have long-term repercussions one thing data security is a big concern when you think about all the sensitive information one handles for their job and how that gets shared whether it's a shared document online or in a zoom video conference meeting that information has to be protected so businesses are now clamoring to get solutions in place well let's say are in place though they can be used well into the future I mean why backtrack the same can be said for the use of communication and organization tools like zoom slack Microsoft teams asana Trello and there's a bunch more and probably a bunch more coming these are apps that are seeing explosive growth and new users again due to the situation we face training up on how to use these tools is not really an option and once the workforce is used to using these platforms regularly again why stop using it plus adoption of these new tools will likely be swift when you think about it we already use video chat and instant messaging to communicate in our personal lives it's not a huge leap to start using them in our business lives another aspect of working from home is well getting comfortable with it and remaining productive even though there are plenty of distractions at home that you don't typically face in an office on the other hand there are plenty of office distractions that you don't face at home so once one makes the adjustment to staying productive at home it's expected that productivity will actually increase and when you speak to the bottom line like that executives are likely to embrace making this distributed workforce situation a little bit more widespread and probably permanent the story here is that we were already well on our way toward a model where going to an office was less and less necessary for conducting business the process of transitioning which was plodding along pretty slowly has been shoved way forward in a way the need to self isolate during this global pandemic is forcing the hands of business owners to rethink how they do business and as the transition is also forced to be hurried along our timeline for proficient work from home readiness is highly accelerated now once this all blows over the workforce is allowed to return to their offices will they want to more importantly will business owners want them to housing employees is expensive for businesses commuting is expensive and time-consuming for employees in the end we all get some time and money back in our lives and that seems like a win-win for everyone\n"