Remote working. It’s a term we’ve all become very familiar with over the past year. So much so that for many of us, it will become a part of our routine and workplace culture moving forward.
It’s allowed us to challenge the status quo when it comes to where, when and how we work best – proving that you don’t need to be chained to your desk for the 9 – 5 workweek.
It’s allowed employers to empower their employees with a greater sense of work-life balance and work-life integration.
And most importantly, it’s made work more accessible and inclusive by opening up a whole new world when it comes to hiring new candidates globally.
What are the benefits of a digitally accessible workplace?
Remote working has countless benefits, and that’s exactly why it’s here to stay.
Think about this… When you enable remote or flexible working at your business, you create the opportunity to improve inclusiveness and diversity within your business.
Essentially, you are broadening your candidate pool and inviting everyone to apply, whether they’re located interstate, overseas or simply unable to attend the office.
Based on our own research, it improves productivity, boosts your teams’ wellbeing, and sends employee happiness soaring – not to mention all of the opportunities it opens up for your business and potential candidates.
Read more: Can you trust remote employees to be productive?
How does remote work help with accessibility?
Remote working can help reduce inequality by creating more equitable employment opportunities for those who may not have the opportunity otherwise.
People such as working parents, carers, people with disabilities, and those unable to commute to the office due to their geographical location have often been excluded from the full range of career options.
Essentially, remote working can create a more diverse and inclusive workforce, which we know has many long-term benefits. Your business will perform better, and more importantly, you’ll be creating a more just future for all, no matter their background.
At Employment Hero, we’re powering the remote work revolution. We want to give you and your team the tools you need to make remote working as inclusive, accessible and rewarding than ever before.
The remote first workplace playbook
Ready to learn how remote working can transform your business so everyone can participate equally in our new world of work? Let’s get to it!
1. Improved accessibility for people with disabilities
Employees with disabilities face many barriers when it comes to employment, from recruitment right through to their employee experience. Research shows that the unemployment rate of people with disabilities is double that of people without disabilities.
And the result of this? A higher proportion of the community with disabilities are turning to entrepreneurship and self-employment than the non-disabled community.
Employees with intellectual and physical disabilities can often be left out of diversity and inclusion discussions, and according to the Return on Disability Group, only 4% of companies that claim to prioritise diversity consider disability in their initiatives.
The UN finds that approximately 386 million of the world’s working-age people have some kind of disability, yet often employers assume that persons with disabilities are unable to work. For this reason, the unemployment rate of people with disabilities is much higher than the non-disabled population.
By removing the barriers to employment and the requirement for everyone to travel into one dedicated office every day of the working week, we can increase accessibility to employment for those living with a disability.
Read more: Remote work statistics for employers
2. Improved accessibility for working parents
Juggling family responsibilities and working life is hard, and getting the balance of work, family, social life and maintaining your health is even harder.
The 9-5 workday is simply not conducive to family life. Not only does it clash with the 9 am to 3 pm school day, but in-office work also often requires lengthy commutes.
This can require a greater investment in after-school childcare and eat into family time – leaving working parents feeling drained and burnt out.
With remote working, employees who have family responsibilities will feel a greater sense of wellbeing and work life integration, as they have the power to choose where, when and where they want to work.
Read more: Tips for parents taking care of kids while working from home
3. Improved accessibility for those in remote locations
Gone are the days of living within a 50km radius of the workplace. Remote working allows people, regardless of their location, access to employment. Now, teams are no longer constrained by location, and employers are no longer bound by the city they’re based.
Whether that’s across the road, across the country, or across the globe – employees have the option to gain employment from remote locations.
Read more: Best tools for communication between remote team members
The Wrap Up
The benefits of remote work reach far beyond work/life balance. Remote working opens up opportunities for so many people who are unable to physically travel to the workplace.
Whether it’s people with a disability, working parents or those who live in remote locations, it opens up the world’s talent pool whilst creating a fairer and more accessible world of work for everyone.
Want more?
Did you know that Employment Hero gives you the opportunity to employ people across the globe?
With our Global employer of record service, we make hiring anyone, anywhere, simple, and the best part? We take care of the tricky things like managing local employment contracts, payroll and compliance.
Employing highly-skilled, permanent employees from all over the world has never been easier.
Check out our professional employer organisation guide to learn more or get in touch with one of our small business specialists today.
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