Working from home has been a dream for office workers around the world and while it was once just that, the coronavirus pandemic has forced the hands of companies and corporations everywhere and the majority of workers are not doing their jobs remotely from the comfort of their own living rooms.

While plenty of people are still skeptical of the effectiveness of working from home, it is actually a far superior way of working that offers plenty of benefits for both employers and employees and with modern technology, there are very few downsides. In an effort to sway some of the skeptics, here are five reasons why working from home is a good idea.

Cuts down on travel

Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, it cuts down on travel time for employees. This can be their daily commute or even the time it takes them to travel to other offices, working from home means that they can do their work remotely and will no longer need to come into the office except for certain occasions.

This will not only make employees happier since they no longer have to commute and sit on a train, walk, or sit in traffic for hours every week but if enough companies made the switch it would make a huge impact on our environment.

Fewer cars on the road mean less pollution, cleaner air, better weather.
It also means that employees will be healthier overall as they will be
able to have well-prepared meals at more ordinary times.

Everyone saves money

When we say everyone, we mean everyone. Employees will no longer have to pay for gas or parking, they will no longer buy as much coffee on their way to work, they will buy lunch less, instead choosing to prepare their own.

The overall savings for employees every month are huge, and they pale in comparison to the savings you can make as a company.

With employees working from home, you can dramatically decrease the size of your office, cutting it down to a small office space to be used when needed instead of having a sprawling office that potentially spans multiple buildings. This smaller office space would cut down on rent and utilities, and will immediately make a huge difference to your monthly spending.

It allows you to mix up your communication

A decrease in communication is one of the main points that come up when arguing against working from home, but with modern technology, there is really no excuse to stay as connected as ever using video conferencing technology and applications like Zoom, Skype, and Microsoft Teams.

Not only can you host meetings or webinars through these programs, but you can also cut virtual backgrounds to maintain a sense of privacy. Using a service like Hello Backgrounds, you can choose from the most popular Zoom virtual backgrounds to hide sensitive information that may be visible, hide an untidy room, or even just keep your personal space personal.

There are also filters available that allow you to put little to no effort in your appearance, and still come out looking extremely clean and professional.

In terms of sharing information, there are also plenty of features available in these video conferencing applications such as screen sharing, which allows you to share either your screen or a specific application with anyone you choose.

Another example is virtual whiteboards that function just like ordinary whiteboards, allowing anyone with permission to interact with them in order to brainstorm ideas or discuss topics.

Better work environment

This may not be true for everyone, but when I worked in an office there was an insufferable culture of gossiping and toxicity. Working from home would remove employees from this environment and help everyone get on better in general while also improving their own mental health. They will no longer be distracted by angry co-workers, lazy co-workers, or even just friends that they sit with, and can instead focus on getting their work done before socializing with their friends. This produces better work overall and will often mean that the work is completed earlier than it would otherwise have been.

Improved mindset

This one links in with our previous point in that a better work environment inevitably means employees will have an improved mindset overall.

When people have a good mindset and are happy, they actually do everything better. They manage stress more efficiently, they build better coping mechanisms, they are more productive, the quality of their work improves and they are generally just better employees overall.

A much better mental health in turn results in better employee engagement and better physical health too. There have literally been studies done on this. Having employees work from home has very few downsides and lots of benefits that include saving money and better employee health, it really is a win-win situation.