10 Statistics on At-Home Workers That Prove There’s a Need to an Easy Way to Send Company Equipment Back

The number of people that work remotely had been steadily increasing year-over-year leading up to the outbreak of COVID-19. The pandemic accelerated that growth exponentially. In fact, a prediction by Upwork suggests 73% of all departments will include remote workers by 2028. 

As employees began to realize the benefits of working from home the likelihood of them willingly returning to the office decreased. Many companies believed that working remotely would only be a means to an end, but that has proven to not be the case. 

Almost three years removed from the onset of the pandemic, some employers have pushed back against work-from-home and called for employees to return to the office. However, many employees have resisted and even demanded that the option of working remotely become permanent. 

A recent example of this was the AT&T workers that claimed to be ‘forced’ back into the office which resulted in their resistance and the creation of a change.org petition to make remote work permanent. 

Despite some companies trying to return to a previous sense of normalcy in the workplace it’s hard to deny that the world has changed since the pandemic, likewise so too has the way businesses are conducted on a daily basis. Like it or not remote work is here to stay. 

With remote work being evermore a permanent fixture in daily business, the following statistics on at-home workers that we shall explore further exemplify the need for a work-from-home equipment return policy. 

Globally, 16% of companies are fully remote (Owl Labs)

16% may seem like a small number, but when taking into account all of the businesses that operate fully remote without offices and headquarters today it’s easy to imagine that this percentage will increase in the years to come. 

Since 2009 the number of people that work-from-home has risen 159% (Global Workplace Analytics)

As previously mentioned, the number of people working remotely had steadily been increasing year-over-year leading up to the pandemic. With the number of people working from home consistently rising since 2009 and becoming more widely accepted spurred on from mandatory lock-downs, it’s likely that trend will only continue. 

Industries with the highest number of remote workers are healthcare (15%), technology (10%) and financial services (9%) (Owl Labs)

This statistic highlights the versatility of remote work. It is not limited to one general profession, but with the advancements of technology working from home is possible for more people than ever. As time moves on and technology evolves acceptance of remote work will expand. This growth and acceptance make it easy to visualize the possibility of more and more jobs discovering ways to implement WFH within their business operations. 

Around 62% of employees aged 22 to 65 say they work remotely at least occasionally (Owl Labs)

Most of today’s employees work remotely at least some of the time. With more people working remotely businesses need to be prepared to support an ever-growing decentralized workforce. 

99% of people would choose to work remotely for the rest of their lives, even if it was only part-time. (Buffer)

WFH is extremely popular with today’s workforce. It’s so popular that according to Buffer 99% of people would choose to work remotely for the rest of their lives, even if it was only part-time.

But, why? The benefits that WFH provides to employees is undeniable. The ability to live and work from anywhere and reducing or eliminating commuting and childcare expenses are great motivators. In fact, according to TECLA remote employees, WFH saves about $7000 per year on transportation, food and childcare. 

Clearly, these benefits are not ones that employees are going to give up willingly. 

85% of hiring managers believe remote workers will become the new normal for many teams (TECLA) 

It’s not just us who thinks remote work is here to stay. According to a study conducted by TECLA 85% of hiring managers believe WFH will become the new normal for many teams. Businesses that want to stay relevant should be considering and planning for the possibility of a permanent decentralized workforce. 

64% of recruiters say that being able to pitch a work-from-home policy helps them find high-quality talent (IWG) 

The ability to pitch a friendly work-from-home policy enables recruiters to find high-quality talent more easily, according to 64% polled by IWG.

74% of workers say that having a remote work opportunity would make them less likely to leave a company (Owl Labs) 

WFH prevents employee turnover by making workers less likely to seek employment elsewhere. In 2017, there was a 50% decrease in resignations in companies that allowed remote work according to Stanford.  

This is a major benefit for employers when you take into account that the Society for Human Resource Management reports that on average it costs a company six to nine months of an employee’s salary to be replaced. 

For an employee making $60,000 a year that equates to $30,000-$45,000 in recruiting and training costs. Ouch. 

Conclusion 

Whether you like it or not WFH is here to stay and companies should be preparing to support their decentralized workforces, as these statistics on remote employees demonstrate. Creating a WFH company equipment return policy is an integral part of developing that support. 

A well-defined and streamlined process that all employees are aware of prevents the loss of company property, saves time and removes the unnecessary hassle associated with company equipment returns.