As we have seen recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the remote working became the new normal for so many people. In light of that, the majority of workers have been working remotely across the globe and asked to stay home.

However, the current health crisis will still have an impact on working practices across industries, in a way that enlightens companies on the benefits of flexible and remote working.

Let’s dive deep into the insights.

Insights About Remote Working:

During these challenging times, remote working has now become an everyday reality for many knowledge workers across multiple sectors.

• According to a survey that covers 10 markets and surveying 17,000 knowledge workers, it has been reported that there are 3 in 4 knowledge workers say that their employers permit remote working to some extent.
• On the other side, 1 n 4 workers, working remotely is broadly accepted.
• 83% of those in executive management positions mention that they are being permitted to work remotely.
• However, 63% of general office workers have this same benefit as well.
• We can see that international organizations are also more likely to offer the option to work from home with a percentage of 87% than the locally-based companies with a percentage of 69%.
• Based on a report, 82% of employees can work from home who work in a business that are 1-5 years old.
• However, 69% of employees can work from home if their business is 21-50 years old. The company size and company age is a major factor when it comes to working remotely.

Remote Working by Country\Sector

Several countries and sectors stand out from the rest as having above-average work-from-home options. The following chart shows the insights about remote working by country and sector and the percentage of knowledge workers who can work from home by country and by sector.

• It is reported that globally 75% of knowledge workers can work from home, but among different markets, this fluctuates.
• As well as 81% of knowledge workers who can work from home in India.
• Also, a high percentage of knowledge workers  77% in the UK can work from home.
• However, the percentage falls dramatically to 50% in Japan.
• Employees in the technology and communication sector are the most likely to be permitted to work from home with a percentage of 87%.
• 68% of workers in the retail sector can work from home.

Remote Working Challenges 

After employees started to work from home due to the COVID-19 crisis, remote working could actually help overcome industry challenges.

• It is reported that 64% say that at their company, they have the tools and systems in place to adapt quickly to industry changes.
• However, this percentage falls to only  47% of employees who can’t work from home.

The following chart shows employees’  answers to the question “to what extent do you agree or disagree with these statements?”