The growth of telecommuting: is it going to change the world? (1)

One of the multiple consequences that coronavirus has brought to eCommerce and industry in general terms has been the need to adapt companies to a telecommuting format. 

In this post, we are going to analyze who and how has done it, and above all: are we facing a paradigm change or will we gradually return to face-to-face work? 

To understand the extent to which the outlook has changed, it is necessary to have a context of what happened before. 

According to data collected by the portal acierto.com, before the health crisis of COVID-19 in Spain, only 7% of workers had the option of working on their professional tasks from home. This represented 10% less than the average in other countries around us. 

This means that the percentage of teleworkers was little more than anecdotal, and even more if we consider that, in these numbers, we must include those professionals who worked from home only one day a week, that is, who only partially teleworked. 

This year things are changing in a very radical and deep way. In this sense, it has meant going from 7% to 80% of teleworkers, and also doing it in record time. 

Thousands of companies have been doomed to digital transformation, with its complexity, if they did not want to close down and stop their activity. 

Those who had already worked on that transformation, have lived through the process with less stress. But the digital lazybones have found that they had to redefine all their processes, decentralize management (blessed cloud), search for telephone solutions, team and project management tools ... In fact, almost 50% of SMEs lacked the structure and resources to switch to teleworking. 

Maybe you are reading this and it seems to be something very usual. At the end of the day, those of us who work in eCommerce have years of advantage over other channels. But, imagine a law firm that still works with faxes and stacks of papers. For these types of businesses and sectors, adapting to the change in philosophy has been a drama (as well as an economic effort). 

After this initial trauma, what has happened to teleworkers? If we go back to the report by acierto.com we can see how 70% consider that their productivity has been maintained or even increased.

This is really remarkable if we consider that the exceptional circumstances we have been through imply that children are at home and that it was necessary to reconcile with their care and their studies. Surely, this is the reason why the amount of base overtime has been increased by 60%.

Best of all, despite initial stress and problems, 90% of workers surveyed would be in favor of continuing to telecommute permanently. 

There are many success stories of companies of all sizes that have implemented remote working in their structures. We can mention, for example, how Apple, Google, Amazon, Telefónica, Parques Reunidos, Disney or consultants such as Ernst & Young have done it. Companies that have been promoting telecommuting for years with specific employment policies for remote working. 

But we do not have to see these giants which have with almost unlimited resources: the truth is that we see companies of all types and sizes that have known how to surf the wave. 

Customer service and telemarketing platforms such as Avante, which, in days, have gone from having 716 face-to-face employees to just 16 who were essential. The rest were telecommuting from home with equipment and systems implemented by the company. They have managed not to stop the service in compliance with health regulations and, what is more, increase effectiveness through teleworking. 

In general, here we are always ahead of eCommerce, regardless of the sector they belong to. The philosophy of decentralization and the resources to work remotely are in our DNA. It is true that logistics must continue to be done in person, but 90% (if not a higher percentage) do not need to go to an office. 

Many retailers have seen eCommerce as a way to maintain activity without going to work to the store. Therefore, e-commerce will promote telecommuting.

Any company in sectors such as customer service, marketing, advertising, web development, sales ... I mean, non-industrial sectors, can switch to telecommuting. 

Earlier we mentioned the example of the legal sector as one of those with stronger roots to the face-to-face work model of a lifetime, but curiously it is not essential for them. Many law firms, agencies and consultancies are realizing that it is not so complicated: with a correct digitalization everything is easier. 

Of course, the service sector will have to continue being face-to-face. It is difficult to find a functional alternative. 

With the lockdown release, future decision-making will come and many of these companies plan to migrate their work model or, at least, significantly increase the importance of remote work from this year, if not totally, at least some departments. It is necessary to reinvent oneself. 

Some reports, such as the one prepared by Gartner, talk about 74% of CEOs considering increasing telecommuting in their businesses.