What are the first things that come to your mind when you think about working from home?
More likely than not, you probably just imagined these common work-from-home scenarios:
- sleeping in until whenever you feel like it
- working in PJ’s
- frequent breaks to the ‘fridge / the grocery store / picking up the kids / a random household errand
Sound about right?
Well, even though some of these things ARE a work-from-home reality, it wouldn’t be fair to generalize. Because the truth is, working from home is becoming so popular that it isn’t really a fun novelty anymore – not by a long shot.
The Work From Home Movement
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 1/4 of all workers did some or all of their work at home in 2015. And judging from our own workplace insights, the option to work from home and flexible working hours are two benefits that a growing number of today’s top companies are offering to their employees.
Among all companies rated on kununu:
25.1% offer Flexible working hours
9% offer the Ability to work remotely
Of all top rated companies (4 stars or more) on kununu:
51% offer Flexible working hours
17.4% offer the Ability to work remotely
If working from home is becoming so commonplace in today’s modern workplace, we were curious:
- Is working from home all it’s cracked up to be?
- Is the general conception of working-from-home accurate?
We specifically wanted to know the answer to this question:
“What are some common (and biggest) misconceptions about working from home?”
To get some real answers, we reached out to a bunch of experienced work-from-home professionals in a wide range of industries, from C-level execs to freelancers and entrepreneurs and every position in-between, to tell us how it really is. Some of the answers we received were pretty expected, but then some of them also really surprised us.
Check out our panel of experts and what work from home misconceptions stood out most to them:
You’re always available to pet-sit, pick up a friend at the airport or free for an early happy hour. Working at home is the same as working in an office – there are meetings, commitments, and work that needs to get done. Although someone that works from home might have some extra availability, never assume it’s easier for them to drop everything and help you out.
You’re less productive. In reality, working from home results in greater productivity vs working in an office. Think about all those times you have spent chatting with coworkers – you don’t have that luxury at home and that extra time becomes time spent doing work.
– Elizabeth Becker, Client Partner of IT Staffing Firm PROTECH
To read more from the experts, visit: https://transparency.kununu.com/common-misconceptions-about-working-from-home/#Becker
