Last year in 2015, 37 percent of Americans worked from home, which was an increase from 23 percent in 2014. Working from home, or telecommuting, has become increasingly popular – as it benefits the company as well as the employee.
Working from home provides more freedom for the employee, especially those with young children, as well as conveniences like the elimination of long bumper-to-bumper commutes both ways. The company benefits because they are able to cut physical office space costs, which can drastically reduce overhead.
For example, insurance giant Aetna was able to eliminate 2.7 million square feet of office space, which translated to a savings of more than $78 million. American Express has also migrated a large number of workers into remote positions, which has saved the financial company close to $15 million dollars. These are strategic business moves that save money and keep employees happy — it’s a truly win/win situation for those companies experimenting with remote positions.
What was once limited to trendy Silicon Valley startups, working remotely has become more of a common practice. In fact, 68 percent of Millennial job seekers stated than an option to work remotely would greatly increase their interest in working for a company. It’s definitely becoming more of a widely accepted business practice.
The internet has completely changed how businesses operate, and telecommuting is a prime example. A company can assemble a team of highly skilled employees from all corners of the world and have everyone connected thanks to technology and the amazing tools at our disposal today.
There are so many options when it comes to cloud-based tools and SaaS (software-as-a-service) applications, so Wabash Power Equipment Company put together the infographic below to showcase twelve top online tools that can help a business run a remote operation from anywhere in the world. If you would like to share your favorite tools or software applicaiton, leave it in the comments section below.