Is Your Company Serious About Remote Work?

At this point in the pandemic, it can be hard to tell the company’s long-term position on remote work due to the nature of the covid variants. Although companies hire employees as remote employees, they are never transparent about their endgame plan. Here are some tell-tale signs to know if your company is invested in long-term remote employment. 

Not required to live near an office 

If the company you work for is serious about the future of remote work, there will be not a restriction on where you live. There are plenty of companies that want to hire remote employees but require new hires to be within driving distance to an office. This is a clear sign a company is not serious about long-term remote work. 

A company serious about long-term remote work will allow you to live anywhere in the nation. There should be no limit to remote work as long as you can work in the proper time zone and with a working computer and wifi. 

At-home office budget

A sign to look out for in companies invested in remote work is a budget/stipend for an at-home office. This budget can include an office chair, desk, wifi, office supplies, etc. To be successful as a remote employee, the company needs to invest in your at-home setup. 

If a company only gives you a laptop, this is a red flag. A laptop indicates the ability to be fluid and move seamlessly from working at home to working at the office. Most companies now supply computers in the form of a laptop, but if they are not offering to help with other office supplies, take it as a sign. 

Specific Social Chats

Companies with remote workers can understand the struggle of creating a culture while working from home. Leaders have become successful by creating messaging channels specific to employees’ interests. They could be as general or as specific as you’d like. An example of a few channel topics could be; 90’s music, investing, Marvel movies, breweries, etc. 

When companies implement a way for remote employees to connect virtually, it proves their commitment to working from home. Take a second to think about how your company creates a sense of community. Whether it revolves around in-person events or digital-based communication.

Overall, leaders in the industry are still learning how to navigate remote work with the rise of the new variants. Although they are guiding their way through the mess of the pandemic, you should be able to get a sense of where efforts are headed in the future, whether that be back in the office or permanently remote.