Travel is a top priority for many employees, especially those of the millennial generation. Hybrid working arrangements enable these employees to combine work with travel, without even needing to eat into their holiday entitlement. Working from anywhere empowers employees to plan working holidays that empower them to see more of the world.
As Paul Lewis, chief customer officer at job search engine Adzuna, told HR News: “Wanderlust and work no longer need be incompatible. The pandemic accelerated the move to hybrid and remote working, particularly in white-collar sectors like IT, Finance and Consultancy… Now travel is back on the cards, for many people that means working and travelling concurrently”.
Work-life balance is a top priority for employees and employers
In recent years, we’ve seen external circumstances hasten an already emerging trend towards more flexible working arrangements. This, in turn, has created an increased appetite for greater work-life balance among the workforce.
Employees demand greater balance in their working lives, and their employers know it. As well as employers offering more ‘work from anywhere’ opportunities, HR News also reports that there are around 2,000 vacancies featuring employee sabbatical programmes.
Hybrid working arrangements afford employees the freedom they crave while ensuring that companies are able to retain top-tier talent.
‘Work from anywhere’ policies have helped to diversify the workforce
As well as offering more freedom and greater balance, ‘work from anywhere’ policies have had another interesting effect on the workforce.
Barriers to opportunity like parenthood or desired location are slowly eroding thanks to hybrid work. In the US, for instance, music giant Spotify has noticed that its ‘work from anywhere’ policy has had some encouraging benefits for inclusion and diversity:
- 4% of employees moved to a new home within the US
- 150 employees have moved to new countries
- Women in leadership positions have risen from 25% in 2019 to 42% by 2022
- Black and Hispanic employees have also increased by 12.7% to 18%
Commuting nightmares could become a thing of the past
When the world is your workplace, it renders the tedium of a daily commute unnecessary. This benefits both businesses and their employees. Companies can drastically reduce their carbon footprints when employees do not commute to work every day by car. Likewise, employees are liberated from needless hours on busy roads.
IWG Founder and CEO Mark Dixon concurs. “People are waking up and shaking themselves to become free of the commuting nightmare they’ve been living with unnecessarily, sometimes for decades.”
Some of the world’s biggest brands have embraced ‘work from anywhere’
Many forward-thinking tech companies have already embraced policies that empower employees to work wherever they please. In fact, in 2022 work from anywhere policies have become standard operating practice for some of the world’s most ubiquitous brands including:
- Airbnb
- Salesforce
- Lyft
- Ocado Group
In an email to the company’s workforce, Airbnb Co-Founder and CEO Brian Chesky said “We started this process by asking a simple question – where is the world going? The answer is obvious – the world is becoming more flexible about where people can work”.
It seems likely that more and more big names will join this workplace revolution in 2023. Will your company follow suit?
Regus centres are designed to help your workforce get the most from their hybrid working experience. With conveniently situated locations all over the world, your team can say goodbye to the daily commute and hello to working freedom.