World Environment Day: Remote work as a secure, sustainable, and cost-beneficial business practice

Working from home has many benefits; among them is an environmental advantage – which is now more crucial than ever.

Recent trends in business include an increasing focus on sustainability, remote work, and the broader implications of turning a corner on accountability, especially due to various regulatory pressures.

However, significant changes are necessary to fully comply with new standards. For those willing to adapt, there are interesting synergies to explore.  As part of World Environment Day, let’s explore how, for example, remote work can enhance sustainability, address various organizational needs, and lead to cost-effective green solutions.

In what way does working from home help?

For an employee, working remotely has many benefits, including less stress from travel as well as some major savings on lunches, travel tickets, and of course, time. With more time to rejuvenate before or after work, an individual can have a much more stable life, adding to productivity and success at work.

It might not be obvious initially, but enabling employees to work from home can benefit the business as well in other significant ways.

Investing in remote work practices can go a long way toward lowering a company’s resource and service demands, saving on energy bills, rent, parking, and more. But to truly understand this, let’s discuss the human cost of business.

The expenditure angle

Suppose that a firm has 500 employees, which means that each employee needs to have their own workspace. Likewise, the workplace also needs to have enough restrooms and kitchens to accommodate the employees’ needs. This, of course, must be supported by additional staff and maintenance to keep everything running steadily.

Objectively, not all those 500 employees are the type of staff who bring in business. This translates to costs that may not have been required had the company switched to a remote work regime. Why? Letting people work from home shaves off a part of that overhead expenditure, lowering the demand on support crews and related tech.

Additionally, space requirements and energy demands usually decrease in parallel; essentially, most service-related costs go down. Sun Microsystems, for example, found that going remote saved them $68 million annually in real estate costs alone.

Furthermore, Global Workplace Analytics found that around 36% of people would pick remote work instead of a pay raise, and around 37% of 1,500 surveyed professionals would be willing to take a pay cut of 10% if they could work from home. But how does lower salary expenditure help? And what are the real costs?

Further business costs offset by green IT

According to research by a consultancy firm, the average workstation costs a business around $18,000 per person annually. Going back to our 500-person example, that would cost our fictional business $9 million per year, and that’s just the cost of office space alone.

Moreover, consider all the supplies an employee requires – paper, printer ink, pens, staples, disinfectants, paper towels, and so on. By not having to purchase these goods, businesses lower their footprints, creating less pressure on waste management and waste disposal, also decreasing procurement costs.

Similarly, some companies provide their employees with drinks and food, but when those goods are not consumed and expire, they create pointless waste. Individuals can make much better dietary decisions at home based on their purchasing patterns and needs, eliminating the necessity for a business to provide these at quantity, leading to unnecessary waste.

However, lower costs are not the only benefit

While it is all well and good that the costs associated with workplace services would decrease, other considerations become more apparent as the workplace shifts to a new hybrid-friendly dynamic.

A study found that a business can waste as much as $100 million on meetings, which many employees described as unnecessary, resulting in wasted time and unproductivity. 

While hybrid work can result in more online meetings, they are often much more productive than in-person ones, as they help save on travel, eliminate various waste (like paper), and ultimately reduce carbon emissions in the long term. According to a study by Purdue University, one hour of videoconferencing can emit between 150 and 1,000 grams of carbon dioxide, which might sound like a lot, but compared to a car that produces around 8,887 grams, the difference is quite striking.

Hybrid work also leads to changes in behavior – there is an increase in collaboration, as there is no longer a need for complicated logistics attached to meetings or presentations, making it possible for organizations to meet with their supply chain contractors or partners almost instantly. All it takes is the click of a virtual button.

Individuals can also change their patterns, focusing more on their environmental impact at home, also reducing the footprint that would be associated with their jobs. 

A sustainable conclusion

To conclude, offering remote working options sends a strong message that businesses care about their employees’ well-being and the environment. This approach not only supports productivity and reduces costs but also significantly contributes to more sustainable business practices. 

Any business aiming to go green should recognize the substantial positive impact that remote work can bring, leading to more productive and environmentally friendly outcomes.