Telecommuting or working from home is no longer a new normal. With the widespread of the world’s deadliest and viral disease— COVID-19, the whole world quickly adopted working from home to stay safe and practice social distancing. The remote work strategy was successful because of the most powerful resource we have today known as— The Internet. It is so true that we couldn’t even imagine our professional lives without the internet anymore. In such hard times, it was the internet that kept everything smooth and running. People continued to work remotely, and now some big internet giants and tech companies like Twitter announced remote work forever. But the major fact I would like to show you is that telecommuting saves employees money and keep them highly productive.
There are different opinions about telecommuting. Some people love to work from an office, or there are certain jobs that we can not do from home. For instance, data center technicians can not work remotely and they have to be there to check possible hardware failures or server downs. Anyway, it was just an example. But a decade ago, working from home was unfeasible for almost every company and there was no such concept of telecommuting. But now, modern technology, communication tools, and videoconferencing platforms have made it easier to make this transition.
So, let me share the top 6 ways where telecommuting saves employees money. Let’s dig in!
1. Travel expenses
Do you know an average American spends anywhere between $2000 to $5000 on transportation each year? However, it can vary according to the country you live in. The transportation costs can go higher or lower but still, the fact is, it’s extra money you have to put in daily, right? The travel expenses include gasoline, motor oil, toll, maintenance costs, and parking tickets. Therefore, if you are a telecommuter, it means you are saving around $5000 USD every year.
Now let’s put money aside, you have to go to your office daily. Additionally, you have to deal with heavy traffic sometimes or most of the time. When traffic is heavy, such as an early morning or late afternoon rush hour, the lanes and spaces surrounding your vehicle are filled. So, you have to take back roads and worst of all, you can get stuck in a traffic jam. If you are working from home, you don’t have to deal with such reoccurring and never-ending traffic issues.
Anyway, whether you go to the office in your own car or get an Uber, you can save a lot of time keeping your productivity level high by adopting remote work strategies.
2. Recurring costs of renting
The fortune companies have their office locations in the big cities. Nearly 180 of the top 500 fortune companies are located in just 6 cities of the United States. For most of the employees, it’s really hard to travel from their living locations to the office. Therefore, there is no choice but to live in a small apartment paying a monthly rent. Rent is likely your highest monthly expense, and it’s also a recurring cost that you cannot easily reduce. You can face long-term financial problems because too much of your paycheck goes to rent.
Another big savings is the environment. Big cities are over-crowded and polluted. Technically, this doesn’t save you any money. But, it does help save the environment, and that can be worth a lot more than extra dollars in your pocket.
3. Expensive Meals
Not all tech companies or software firms offer free meals. You have to dine out in restaurants or hotels. On the other hand, if you are thinking about having your own cook, it gets even more expensive. You’ll have to pay a monthly salary in addition to the daily groceries. This is a discretionary cost that can amount to hundreds of dollars over the course of a year.
On top of that, you have to participate in the welcome or farewell dinners when your colleagues join or leave. Such parties are celebrated once or twice a month. In short, food can be one of your biggest monthly expenses. It can be even more costly if you are focused on eating healthy and organic options instead of the less healthy, cheaper options at the grocery store. Telecommuting saves employees money as they can eat a fresh and healthy meal at a ridiculously lower price. Above all, you dine with your family which is priceless.
4. Dress code
Approximately, all offices ask employees to wear a proper dress code. For instance, if I talk about banks, they have to wear a suit and a tie whether it’s winter or summer. From junior to senior-level positions, all employees have to wear professional attire and follow the company’s dress code.
While there’s nothing wrong with a dress code, but you’ll have to update the office wardrobes every year. Additionally, you’ll need to frequently get the dresses dry-cleaned. Whereas in remote work, you might only need a three-piece suit with a tie during important meetings. A single dress is enough for years unless you get fat. Telecommuting can save money on clothing purchases and dry-cleaning expenses.
5. Parking Tickets
You are not lucky enough to get free parking every time. Unfortunately, parking costs are extortionate in many countries and cities in the world. For instance, in New York City, parking could be nearly $5400 per year on average. The good news is, work from home saves the frustration and hassle of dealing with parking.
6. Tax Breaks and Miscellaneous Expenses
The other miscellaneous expenses include tax breaks, utility bills, cleaning services, and other run-time charges. The tax breaks include retirement plan contributions, office supplies, tax preparation fees, and insurance-based tax deductions. Taxes are complicated and tricky. The harsh reality is you have to pay at any cost.
Summary
Telecommuting opens up a new range of possibilities for the way people can work and structure themselves. There are a lot of benefits of remote work like flexibility, agility, productivity, safety, health, and above all, telecommuting saves employees money.
The whole world now has realized the importance of telecommuting, remote work, and visual communication after the global pandemic.
Though I have discussed those benefits that employees can enjoy. More importantly, there are lots of ways that telecommuting can offer businesses cost savings. Many established firms have already saved millions of dollars going remote.
