74% of CFOs Plan to Transition Office Workers to Remote Staff

Transition Office Workers to Remote Staff

The work from home trend is gathering momentum, even as much of the country begins to reopen on a limited basis. Companies around the world have been having conversations about remote work for the past several years, but few executives were ready to send their entire workforce home — until they had no choice. Several months later, and organizations are still struggling with some of the same technical issues that occurred in the first few weeks of the pandemic including how to regain needed security, improve the portability of confidential information and provide reliable access to business systems for staff members who may have sketchy internet access in their homes. While many workers love the additional freedom and lack of commute, there are still some challenges to be overcome before companies take the plunge to add long-term remote positions to their mix.

The Shift to Remote Work May Offer Long-term Cost Benefits

Fast-paced changes happened when companies suddenly needed to shift their model to remote work. This caused many organizations to scramble IT teams and work frantically with external IT service providers to define solutions that would work for the unique needs of the organization. Now that companies have a bit more time to reason through their choices, it’s time to determine if the short-term decisions make sense for longer-term remote work situations. With a recent Gartner study noting that a significant portion of CFOs are committed to making remote work part of their permanent staffing strategies, it’s clear that there are more significant considerations than public health on the docket. Alexander Bant, practice vice president, research for the Gartner Finance Practice. “CFOs, already under pressure to tightly manage costs, clearly sense an opportunity to realize the cost benefits of a remote workforce. Nearly a quarter of respondents said they would move at least 20% of their on-site employees to permanent remote positions.” What’s more interesting is that this study was conducted towards the end of March 2020, and attitudes may have shifted in either direction after several months of remote staffing.

What Does the Future of Remote Work Look Like?

Large companies are already taking the plunge, with multinational enterprises such as Cisco noting that companies selected technology for remote work based on what was available to fulfill immediate needs. According to Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins, “They (companies) want to offer this well-thought-out experience, versus what they’ve done in the last few months.” Technology leaders have received a wealth of information from their users and their tech support teams, which could lead to a significant change in the technology infrastructure for these organizations. It’s no longer call center jobs that are being made available as work from home options, and companies are offering six-figure salaries for individuals who will be strictly remote. While this does provide companies with a broader gene pool for applicants, it can certainly cause problems with creating deeper relationships between team members.

If your company is still struggling to navigate this new normal, you are certainly not alone. The team at Altera Solutions can work closely with your technology team and provide you with the vendor-agnostic recommendations that will help ensure you have the secure, reliable infrastructure your business needs to be successful. Our deep ties within the technology community and close vendor relationships often allow us to secure favorable pricing for our clients. Contact the experts at Altera Solutions at (833) 373-3635 or via email to Information@alterasolutions.com to schedule your complimentary initials consultation.