The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world in countless ways. And one of the most significant changes has been the exponential increase in work-from-home job opportunities. Business owners and managers from virtually every industry adapted to the many restrictions put in place by federal and state governments by allowing at least a portion of their workforce to work from home. That started in the spring of 2020, when the COVID Delta variant was in full swing and vaccines weren’t yet available. And although the current variants are less severe than Delta, and virtually everyone in the US now has access to COVID vaccines and boosters, the majority of telecommuters are still hesitant to abandon their at-home routines and return to the workplace. Of course, that hasn’t stopped some employers from insisting that their workers return to traditional office jobs, at least on a part-time basis.

If you’re considering doing the same, you may want to hold off. The pandemic is only part of the driving force behind the popularity of work-from-home jobs. Just as COVID restrictions lifted and vaccines became more readily available, fuel prices began to skyrocket. With the national average for a gallon of gas hovering somewhere in the $4.50 to $5.00 range as of this writing (and even higher in many parts of the country), it makes sense that employees have a strong desire to hold onto their work-from-home jobs. And who can blame them? When you add sky-high fuel prices to the increases in food, clothing, rents/mortgages, and just about every other living expense, it’s understandable that employees don’t want to incur the cost of commuting. And unless you’re prepared to increase your employees’ wages to be commensurate with inflation, it would be entirely unreasonable to insist that workers return to the office.

Further compounding the issue for business owners and managers is the “Great Resignation” movement that started in 2021. After becoming accustomed to their new work-from-home lifestyles, many employees took it one step further and resigned from their jobs to either work for another company that provided employees with the flexibility they valued so highly, take an early retirement, and/or set out on their own as freelancers or small business owners. The Great Resignation, combined with the fact that unemployment rates are low and a multitude of job openings exist now in the workplace, means that many employees will feel perfectly comfortable with leaving their current jobs if their employers insist that they return to traditional office jobs. And, as managers, we all know how expensive and time-consuming it is to recruit and hire new employees. It’s fair to say that none of us want a high turnover in our workforce.

For employers, the choice is obvious: continue to allow your employees to work from home! In fact, we’ve been doing exactly that for years. And, thanks to MySammy, we can easily measure our remote workers’ productivity levels so we can be sure that our employees are being as productive as possible in their work-from-home positions. MySammy is our cloud-based software that was designed specifically for managers of remote workers. It allows you to measure productivity levels in a totally open and honest manner, without the need for “spyware” or website-blocking software. Allowing your employees the flexibility of working at home and making sure they’re productive every workday is a win-win for you AND your workforce. Sign up for your free trial of MySammy today!