There's At Least One Silver Lining to Come from Hurricane Sandy
No matter how terrible something is, there is always
something (at least) decent that can come from it. As terrible Hurricane Sandy was for the
Eastern seaboard and many were kept from their work, there were a number of
workers who pushed on and continued business operations via working from home.
While there are businesses and companies that offer work
from home positions, the number is few and there is a stigma about working from
home that some companies have a hard time getting past. Sadly, it would have to
take a terrible disaster to show just how well some parts of business can run
without employees leaving the house. And there are many employees out
there who were proven right about what they already know: that they would happily welcome not being stuck in a cubicle all day, even if
they were only allowed to work from home 2-3 days per week.
But now, there is a real opportunity for companies to look at the
amount of money they saved having their employees working from home during the
storm while still having some part of their business operational. Could it be worth it to
consider creating something on a larger scale? (And if not that, at least
consider putting such a system in place that would allow for such an option if and when
this type of unfortunate circumstance happens again?)
Before, the stigma had to do with managers and other higher ups not feeling
comfortable or trusting employees who were not on site—and that was the end of
the argument for work from home positions. But with hard data coming in, will
there be a change?
More than likely, yes. Why? Because companies love to save
money and fatten up their bottom lines. Before, companies didn't "think"
it could be done but now they have proof it can. It may take some time and research
on how to best implement a work from home platform from one company to the next
but it not only means saving money. Coupled with happier employees, it means a
boost in output and production-- the best of both worlds for a company that wants to stave off or bounce back from the effects of the economy.In fact, it may be, for once, an
honest and ethical way for a company to get ahead without firing random employees and
expecting a department of 10 people to do the work of thirty for the same (or
little) pay. Definitely sounds much better, that's for sure. Hope somebody's paying attention.
