Remote work in the COVID-19 economy has boomed in both popularity and necessity. But even before COVID-19 hit the world and sent millions to work from home, many people were still working remotely. A number of big reasons are driving remote work. The Great Recession forced many U.S. companies to close down office space and push employees to work from home. New developments in technology such as messaging apps like Slack, video conferencing platforms like Zoom, and project managing apps like Asana are all contributing to make remote work easier for employers and employees. Removing commute times and letting employees live where they want, including lower cost areas, make remote work more convenient and cheaper than a traditional office building.

Remote workers love their jobs so much that nearly all of those who are currently working at a remote job want to continue working remotely for the rest of their working careers. Over 90% would recommend remote work to others. Remote work benefits both employees and business in different ways. Remote work helps employees save money, on average $4,000 per year, split between a wide array of different goods and services, like money for vehicle maintenance, dry cleaning and laundering, and lunches and coffee. Remote work also removes some distractions from an office and can improve concentration and cause for less stress. Along with this, remote work allows for employees to have much greater flexibility, letting employees work from anywhere, spend more time with family, and save time that would otherwise be spent commuting.

Remote work can benefit businesses by increasing productivity in employees, higher employee satisfaction, decrease the attrition rate, improve employee health, and lower overall sick days and increase attendance to work.

Learn more about how remote work is helping employees and employers, and how you can land jobs in the remote economy here.