It is hard to believe that it has been almost a year since the first mention of lockdown. We think that if you told us in March 2020 that we would still be facing some of the same challenges now, we wouldn’t have believed you. Yet, here we are. Like many companies, Recruitment Plus spent a lot of time restructuring work processes and learning to maintain a business, while maintaining our family and personal lives. So much has changed and it can be easy to get caught up in the negatives. Focusing on the bad hinders us from being able to enjoy those silver linings, which are everywhere if you look hard enough.

 

Now that we are all very much used to working from home, we wanted to compile what we think are the silver linings of working from home. This list was put together by the whole team who thought long and hard about what they’ve enjoyed most about remote working. 

 

1. Commuting 

This has to take the top of the list. Commuting is undoubtedly one of the biggest pain points for workers. Normal life was sitting in traffic on the motorway, standing on packed buses or trains and being caught in terrible weather all before you sit at your desk in the morning. Now that we all work from home, our biggest commute is from the kitchen table to our make-shift office or work desk. When returning to offices, if that day is to come, we can see this being an aspect of 2020 and 2021 that we all will miss! 

 

2. Saving Money 

The morning office coffee runs really add up! Working from home has allowed us to cut back on all of those weekly expenses. With so many of us working in areas with lots of food and drink options, it can be difficult to resist the temptation. Eating out for lunch, the multiple coffees, the “quick run to the shop” for a snack or drink end up costing a lot more than we anticipate. We have the opportunity now to save money and choose to eat at home. Now, whether you do this or not is up to you, but at least the option is there! Not only that, there are other areas in which we have been saving money. Petrol and commuting costs have been drastically reduced along with parking fees and new office clothes. You may have, however, found other things to spend that money on. Your local Postman or DPD driver probably knows you pretty well at this stage. 

 

3. Changes in Work Attire 

Something that was really appealing and quite the novelty last year was this idea that we could work in our sweatpants or pyjamas. It sounded wonderful. However, this novelty probably wore off rather quickly. We found that there is a nice happy medium between your normal office attire and what you wear to bed. The luxury of wearing comfy and casual clothes is something that a lot of us still enjoy. The only time you’ll have to take note of your appearance is for team and client meetings. We saw plenty of fancy dress costumes last year of “The 2020 Office Worker” which consists of a work shirt and a pair of O’Neill’s tracksuit bottoms. As mentioned above, an added bonus of this is that you can cut back spending on new office clothes. 

4. Spending Time With Pets

We just had to include this one. A lot of us at Recruitment Plus are big animal lovers. The hardest part of our morning (apart from the commute) was leaving our beloved dogs and cats home alone all day. Serious owner guilt would set in. Working from home has allowed us to spend more quality time with our furry friends. It would be hard to tell who enjoys this new set up more, the animal or the owner. Spending time with your pets has been proven to make you happy, too. Win, win! 

 

5. More Hours for You 

Without having to leave the house and make the commute to work, we will inevitably gain back more hours in our day to spend on ourselves. Finishing at 5 pm and getting home at 6 or even 7 pm was the norm for a lot of us. Now 5 pm means 5 pm and we’ve just added more time to enjoy with our family and friends (or alone watching Netflix). With the evenings getting longer, we are going to really notice the difference in the spare time we have after working hours.

 

6. Work Environment

Now that you’re working from home, you have so much control over your work environment. You can have your desk or workspace exactly how you want. You can have ten plants all over the place if that’s what makes you happy. Does blaring Boyzone all day make you a super productive worker? Go for it! This was a huge benefit for a lot of people when switching to remote working. They could create a space to work in that was perfect for them but that wouldn’t be suitable in an office setting. 

 

7. Lunch-Break Options 

Lunch-breaks notoriously disappear in a flash, especially if you are heading out to grab a sandwich. There is no time left to do much else but eat and perhaps take a quick walk around the block. Working from home means that you have so many more options for your break. You can fit in a quick yoga or HIIT workout, go for a scenic local walk, play with your dog or even have a nap! Will your break still fly by? Probably but you’ll feel that you got a lot more out of it than if you were in the office. 

 

8. It’s Safer 

You may be slightly sick of being told how to keep safe over the past year. Even though we all understand the importance of it, it can grow tiresome. Even still, it is important for us to include that working from home is without a doubt the safest way to work now. Perhaps in the future, this will change. However, for right now we must continue to do our part and do what’s best for us all. 

 

Having spoken to so many of our clients, colleagues and customers it’s clear that there are a lot of different feelings regarding working from home. No matter what your point of view, I think we can all agree that we’ve enjoyed some of the silver linings listed above. 

 

Are you looking for advice on hiring staff in 2021?  Or perhaps you’re a candidate in search of a new position. Contact our office to speak with one of our experienced consultants.