1. Better Work-Life Balance
Many remote jobs also come with flexible schedules, which means that workers can start and end their day as they choose, as long as their work is complete and leads to strong outcomes. This control over your work schedule can be invaluable when it comes to attending to the needs of your personal life. Whether it’s dropping kids off at school, running some errands, attending an online fitness class in the morning, or being home for a contractor, these tasks (and more!) are all easier to balance when you work from home. Flexible schedules aren’t the only options, however. You can also explore part-time remote jobs, evening jobs, jobs with four-day work weeks, and weekend job schedules to find your ideal fit.
2. Less Commute Stress
The average one-way commuting time in the U.S. is 27.1 minutes—that’s nearly an hour each day spent getting to and from work, and it really adds up. According to the Auto Insurance Center, commuters spend about 100 hours commuting and 41 hours stuck in traffic each year. Some “extreme” commuters face much longer commute times of 90 minutes or more each way. But wasting time commuting is just one of the downsides of getting to and from work. More than 30 minutes of daily one-way commuting is associated with increased levels of stress and anxiety, and research shows that commuting 10 miles to work each day is associated with health issues like:
- Higher cholesterol
- Elevated blood sugar
- Increased risk of depression
Ditching the commute helps you support your mental and physical health. The time savings can allow you to focus on priorities outside of work, like getting extra sleep in the morning, spending more time with family, getting in a workout, or eating a healthy breakfast.
3. Improved Inclusivity
Remote work enables companies to embrace diversity and inclusion by hiring people from different socioeconomic, geographic, and cultural backgrounds and with different perspectives—which can be challenging to accomplish when recruiting is restricted to a specific locale that not everyone wants, or can afford, to live near. And by hiring employees who can work from home in the communities where they feel the most comfortable and supported, companies choose to support diversity, community, and family.
Telecommute jobs give people who may have a hard time finding steady employment at an onsite job, like those with disabilities or caregivers who need a flexible schedule, the opportunity to follow their career goals without having to worry about commuting back and forth to an office. It also gives workers the flexibility to get to doctor’s and other healthcare appointments when needed.
4. Positive Environmental Impact
The 3.9 million employees who worked from home at least half time before the pandemic reduced greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of taking more than 600,000 cars off the road for an entire year. A whopping 7.8 billion vehicle miles aren’t traveled each year for those who work at least part-time from home, 3 million tons of greenhouse gases (GHG) are avoided, and oil savings reach $980 million. And by making environmentally sound choices—like opting to use less paper and monitoring their air conditioning, heating, and lighting—telecommuters have the same potential impact on air quality as planting an entire forest of 91 million trees.
5. Impact on Sustainability
Remote work supports a variety of sustainability initiatives, from economic growth and reduced inequalities, to sustainable cities, climate change, and responsible consumption. One of the fastest, cheapest ways for employers and employees to reduce their carbon footprint and affect climate change is by reducing commuter travel. In fact, the world is already seeing markedly reduced pollution, congestion, and traffic during the pandemic response, and being able to experience the results firsthand may be a driver of remote work for everyone involved.