As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, companies both large and small are restricting travel and asking employees to work remotely to help prevent the virus from spreading. While telecommuting has been growing and gaining acceptance with employers over the past decade, this sudden shift to remote work presents near-term challenges for both employers and workers.
A recent Gallup showed that 43% of employees worked remotely in at least some capacity. In the long run, the current situation may accelerate the growth of working remotely by introducing it to employees who haven't tried it and forcing employers to support remote workers on a much broader scale.
If the shift to remote work persists, it may end up being a positive in the longer term. A nine-month-long Stanford study found that remote workers took fewer sick days and breaks and were 13% more productive than their in-office counterparts. One reason is that remote workers are subject to fewer distractions than what they would experience in an office.
More tools are available to enable remote work than ever before. Web-based applications like G Suite provide the essential tools to stay productive and collaborate with other team members regardless of where you are. Many companies who rely on Gmail and G Suite have embraced Kiwi to help make their workers even more productive - both in the office and at home.
Since we first launched Kiwi, our application has been used by remote workers as a way to become even more productive. They've found that Kiwi saves them up to an hour each day and helps them be more productive. Time saving features include:
Sharing a File: Takes only 2 clicks/key presses vs up to 11 in the browser
Sending a form email to 10 people: Can send to everyone all together vs only 2-3 at a time
Opening a new email: Use 1 global keyboard shortcut vs maneuvering 2-3 windows and clicks
Not having to log in again: Saves 5-10 minutes each time
Focus Filters: Ability to find what they need when they need it
Easy navigation to calendars: Fewer clicks to check schedules and create new event/invites
Restore windows on restart: Instant access to previous workspace
It's too early to tell if the pandemic will be a tipping point for remote work. But the longer it lasts, the more impact it will have on the longer-term shift to remote work.