3 Reasons the Future of Work is Virtual

When we set out to create 33Vincent, my co-founder, Paige, and I had some experience working from home. However, the bulk of our background was honed in an 8–5 office setting, within the 3 defined (and often claustrophobia-inducing!) walls of a cubicle.

We weren’t aiming to break boundaries by building a 100% virtual, remote-first company, we simply saw a business opportunity and wanted to challenge the norm. We found immediate success and received a positive response to our virtual model — proof that remote work is developing a niche in many industries, including administrative support. Now, we are investing in our team and our business more than ever, with the confidence that our virtual niche isn’t going anywhere.

And we’re not the only ones that have realized the value and benefits of remote work. Companies like Amazon, Dell, and AmEx, even the U.S. Department of Agriculture, have traded traditional office roles to embrace a greater remote workforce. The structure of ‘work’ is softening, and evidence shows it’s more than a passing trend.

Consider this… the cohort of independent freelancers in this country is 55 million strong, making up more than one-third of all American workers. That number is expected to exceed 60 million by the end of this year. Additionally, an estimated 3.7 million American employees (2.8% of the workforce) work from home at least half the time. That number is expected to grow by 63% over the next five years.

Whether or not you subscribe to the remote work movement, you cannot deny that the workforce is changing, and here’s why:

1. Technology enables remote work to be done incredibly well. And it’s only getting better. (And better. And better.)

Now, more than ever before, mobile technology enables collaboration, sharing and accountability among remote team members (and their in-office counterparts). Consider tools such as Trello for project management, Slack for individual & group chat, Skype or Zoom for face-to-face meetings, Evernote or Google Drive for collaborative note taking, and Dropbox or Boxfor file sharing. These tools do more than integrate and talk to one another, they allow remote teams to have access to everything they need to get work done well — most importantly, each other. Embracing remote work doesn’t have to mean removing human connection from your workplace. If you leverage the right mix of tools, you can grow the relationships within your team and allow for a seamless transition from the office, out into the world, and back.

2. Millennials are the largest generation in the workforce, and they are challenging the 40-hour work week in pursuit of balance and flexibility.

The most tech-literate generation has been stretching the bounds of traditional work, and they are now the largest generation in the workforce. By 2020, nearly ½ of all workers will be millennials. This generation is creating massive change in the workplace as they push back on the conventional 8–5 schedule. They seek greater balance and flexibility than previous generations.

Millennials base their performance on output rather than the amount of time spent on a project. They don’t want to waste time commuting, and they prefer not to stay in the office until 5 if their work was completed two hours ago.

According to Deloitte’s 2016 survey, work-life balance is more important to Millennials than career progression when evaluating job opportunities. Aside from salary considerations, their strongest reasons for choosing to work for an organization include work-life balance (#1) and flexible/remote work (#3):

The flexibility and freedom that come with remote work cater directly to this generation. No matter how you break it down, if companies want to be competitive and hire the best millennial talent, they need to move in this direction, and quickly.

3. Leading businesses, universities and thought leaders are buying into the benefits of remote work and are convincing others to follow suit.

Kaplan, a leader in the education industry, allows 85% of its workforce to work remotely. And they haven’t been shy to share the benefits: an expanded talent pool, improved retention, increased productivity and decreased costs. Furthermore, a 2016 Stanford study revealed that employee performance increased by 22% when given the option to work from home, and job attrition rates fell by over 50%. And Gallup reports that remote workers log more hours per week and feel more connected to their companies. Finally (and most compelling), an analysis from GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com, shows that:

If those with compatible jobs and a desire to work from home did so just half the time, the national savings would total over $700 billion a year.

They went further to break that down into terms you and I can better relate to. By moving compatible jobs to 50% from-home work:

• A typical business would save $11,000 per person per year

• The telecommuters would save between $2,000 and $7,000 a year

• The greenhouse gas reduction would be the equivalent of taking the entire New York State workforce permanently off the road (wow!)

The concept of when, where and how one does work is being redefined. If you’re evaluating a full or partial remote team, there are, of course, many things to consider… how to maintain a dynamic remote culture, how to communicate more purposefully, and how to manage effectively from a distance. Look for our future posts about how to do this — we’ll share best practices from other companies in addition to our own.

In closing, think about this: 50% of the US workforce holds a job that is compatible with at least partial telework — which roles might that be at your company? Tides are turning and virtual work is the wave of the future — if you don’t embrace it soon, you’re delaying the inevitable.

If you don’t have a virtual executive assistant, yet but this article has piqued your interest, time to bite the bullet! Contact our team to share your support needs so together we can discover if 33Vincent is a good fit for you.

33Vincent has many other resources to help you maximize your time and communication with your executive assistant.