Remote Working – What’s in it for me and my employer?

The workplace is changing with organisations responding to cost pressures, staff needs and a desire to reduce their carbon footprint by relocating staff to lower cost locations closer to where they live. Daily commutes to large population centres with high rents and traffic congestion is impacting on business costs and staff performance across a variety of industries.

Ireland has the third highest emissions of greenhouse gas in the EU (CSO Report 2019).

A typical passenger vehicle emits approximately 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. By reducing the distances employees travel and or the number of cars in usage significant reductions in carbon can be achieved.

Remote working is not a new concept but it is only now becoming the acceptable alternative to long daily commutes. For years people moved to live in cities so as to be closer to their place of work. However the cost of this option has become too prohibitive for thousands of workers which resulted in people moving further outside the cities to places that are more affordable to live in. This of course has come with the huge personal cost of long commutes each day to and from work.

To cut this daily commute many employees seek the option of working from home one or two days a week.  This starts out great, but for many who choose this option they soon realise that working from home has some down sides:

• There is no clear separation of work and family life with many working late into the night.
• There is a sense of isolation.
• There are family interruptions during the day.
• Some soon forget to change out of their PJs.
• There is the question of the Family home being used for commercial activity with implications for insurance etc.

The majority of people who wish to work remotely still want the office structure, the interaction with other people, the defined work time versus personal/family time but WITHOUT the long daily commute.

Over the past twelve months Digital Hubs have sprung up throughout Laois and the Midlands which offer the perfect solution for those wishing to cut out the long daily commute.  With these hubs located in large population centres where there is a very high percentage of daily commuters living the ideal solution to working remotely is on their doorstep.

Working in Digital hubs provides employees with:

• State of the art modern office space.
• Increased productivity.
• Normal office hours.
• Interaction with other like minded people.
• Networking opportunities.
• Very short commutes by foot, bike or car.
• Enhanced Work / Life balance.
• Increased disposable income.

For Employers the benefits are enormous:

• Higher productivity from staff.
• Reduced office rent and overhead costs.
• Increased Carbon credits through less staff commuting long distances.
• Retention of good staff & low staff turnover.
• Increased networking with other companies through their remote staff.
• Greener image.

Digital Hubs may differ in layout and decor but all are designed taking on board the needs of both employees and employers providing state of the art work facilities, with excellent connectivity, safe work environments with daily human interaction and which offer significant savings and benefits for both alike.