Hidden Costs of Remote Working and How To Be Prepared for Them

The new world normal requires new working conditions and hidden costs of remote working are almost passing by. And do you want to adapt to the new world? Our normal lifestyle, which has changed with the Covid 19 pandemic, has also led to significant changes in the business world. A massive group of people is working remotely now, and it has worked out nicely so far. Do you want to be a part of this well-functioning system but are afraid of the costs? You don’t need to be frightened. Whichever way we look at it, remote working is a really profitable system. But if a permanent remote working system is desired, companies need more than a laptop to maintain employee productivity.

These required expenses vary according to the conditions of your company and working situation. The expenses for a start-up, a rooted company, and self-employed people are different. In our article, we will examine each of them in detail. Let’s start.

The home office is the new office

Whether you’re founding a start-up, or switching your already established company to a remote work system, your employees’ new workplace will be their home. A comfortable working environment, in other words, a good home office, is one of the essential necessities for remote working. This is much more important if you are going to be a self-employed person. Let’s take a look at what you need to give to employees for an environment where they can feel comfortable and productive:

• Ergonomic Chair
• Ergonomic Desk
• Good computer
• Ergonomic keyboard and mouse (Wrist rests will put your staff at ease.)
• Noise-canceling Microphone and camera (It will significantly increase the quality of your online meetings.)
• Quality air (especially if employees live in scorching places)

As it turns out, if you want your employees to be productive, you will have to make certain expenses for their home office.

Network: New office space

Whether you are an employer or an employee, if you have a remote working order, your new office space will be your network. The stability and organization of your network are just as important as keeping your office clean and tidy. Here are the costs you should not ignore, even if they are small compared to the costs of running an office:

• Professional programs for working remotely (Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, ProofHub, etc.)
• Stable network structure both within the company and at the homes of the employees,
• Cloud system (the rental, maintenance, and security costs of the system)

Did they intimidate you? Do not be afraid, these expenses are much less than the tons of expenses of running an office.

Meetings and gifts: Two essentials for employee engagement

Employees will generally be highly committed and motivated to work while working in a pleasant office. However, if your employees will work from home, their loyalty to the company may decrease. To avoid this, you should give them gifts and promotions. For example, a coffee machine that you send to their home will increase their loyalty to you, while on the other hand, it will increase their work efficiency after waking up.

Another expense will be to organize large gatherings where you will bring them together. These meetings will speed up the overcoming of problems that cannot be solved in the online working environment, and will also make your employees happy.

You should not forget that no employee will just want to wear a suit and attend meetings and return after traveling overseas. You should arrange vacation days for your employees, find a nice hotel for them, and organize events. It will also increase the loyalty of your employees to you and each other.

Is remote working profitably for start-ups, companies and a self-employed?

Yes, in 3 of them. Despite the hidden and overt costs of working remotely, it is more profitable than the hundreds of expenses that an office environment will bring. However, companies that will switch to remote work or start-ups that start working remotely should not think that remote work is free. It is also a very profitable and enjoyable method for Self-employment who want to be their own boss.

Start-ups: Easy to set up with remote work

Are you excited to start a new start-up? You want to work with the world’s newly formed remote work program, but the costs are uncertain for you? You are in the right place. Let’s take a look at the prices of a start-up to be managed with remote control.

With the remote working system, you can get rid of the costs of establishing and operating a large office where employees will be employed. You can also recruit teammates from all over the world. Instead of choosing your teammates from expensive countries such as America, you can recruit talented people from countries with fewer labor costs. But there will be costs that we should not forget. In addition to the prices we mentioned above, there will be an expense in finding talented people worldwide to suit your business. We have to hire someone for this job and pay him.

That was an expense you didn’t calculate, wasn’t it?

In addition, if you are going to start a new business, the commitment of the team members you first hire is fundamental. If even a few of our team members leave simultaneously, the time and cost involved in finding and training a new team member can be pretty high. That’s why you should connect your team members to yourself. The best way to do this would be to send them gifts or, if you can afford it, to take them to a nice hotel a few times a year. Of course, sending gifts to him or gathering people from many countries in one place and giving them a holiday is an expense that should not be ignored.

Apart from these, if you are going to establish a start-up with multinational employees, you should remember that the hours are different worldwide. This is not a big problem if the number of your employees is small, but if you have a lot of employees, it will become more and more challenging to manage the teams due to the time difference. If you want to have a comfortable sleep, we recommend hiring an assistant to manage your teams’ working and meeting hours.

Companies: Adapting to the new world order

Do you want to adapt to the changing working conditions of the world? You don’t want to be late in transitioning to a system that will be the working system of the future and turn your company into one of the tons of companies that go bankrupt because it is old-fashioned. Working remotely is no longer just an obligatory system. A viable and tested working system that works well thanks to its efficiency and low cost. To put it simply, according to the analysis made by Global Workplace Analytics, a typical company earns an average of $11,000 per year from its remote workers. In addition, it provides countless benefits such as more productive employees in a comfortable working environment and a more sustainable work dynamic. But of course, there will be costs for your company, which already has an established system, to switch to a remote working system. Let’s take a look at these costs together:

• Expanding your network infrastructure
• You already have a network infrastructure, or you don’t. Organized and robust network infrastructure for remote work is essential because:
• Tons of mail and files will be stored in the system
• It will need to carry the mail traffic that will increase with the online working system.
• Employees who will make video calls and presentations from all over the world at the same time will do this over the central network you have rented or set up.
• Pirates who sailed the seas centuries ago now roam virtual networks to steal data or crash systems. That’s why you should ensure your network security.,

The easiest way to do these things professionally is to hire these services from professional companies. However, if you are a larger company, you may want to consider opening a separate department for this business.

Gift and big meetings

Employees in your office can easily mingle with each other and organize evening events. They are satisfied with the comfortable office conditions you provide for them. They depend on you with the sincerity and interest you show them in the office. They love their job and do not intend to leave. In order to maintain this commitment in the remote working system, it will not be enough to send them emails. You should send them gifts. You should make your upcoming big meetings in a holiday mood that will motivate them and make them want the next big meeting. These gifts and meetings will be costly. The two most important expenses of meetings will be:

• Transportation cost to bring all employees of the company from all over the World
• The cost of keeping a hotel with meeting rooms
• Moving costs of your employees

Although an easily overlooked expense, as past observations show, when a company switches to a remote working system, many employees move to different locations. If you’re going to cover these moving costs, you need to be careful.

New departments to be established and employees to be recruited

You need new departments and employees to maintain the remote working system efficiently. You should set up a team or hire an assistant so that your teams’ meetings and working hours that will work all over the world can be arranged. Also, your employees from different parts of the world or different states within your own country will be exposed to entirely different tax laws, and you will pay different insurance companies money. This money cycle will be more complex to follow than usual. For this, you should increase the number of staff in the accounting department.

Do they look like big and messy expenses? No, they are not. You can get support from many professional companies to work remotely. Many of your tasks will be handled with ease.

A self-employed: Work whenever you want from anywhere in the world

You are your boss or want to be the boss of your own business. You are in the period when you can do this most easily and efficiently in history. Moreover, there are tons of jobs from all over the world where you can work with just a computer and internet connection. According to research by ipse, 87% of Self-Employed people work remotely. The advantages of being a remote freelancer are endless. But let’s take a look at a few of them together:

• Where and when you want to work is entirely up to you.
• Increased efficiency and productivity in a more comfortable and private environment
• You won’t have to spend time on transportation, so you have more time left and a better adjusted work-life balance.

More time spent with your family, less time and money to spend on your work, less stress. Everything looks perfect. Not only does it look that way, but it is also a system that works great for the self-employed. But being so comfortable and flexible working hours can negatively affect your professionalism and commitment to your job. The best thing you can do to prevent this is to set up a home office where you can feel productive. If your employer doesn’t cover your costs (which they usually don’t), let’s look at the prices you should keep in mind:

• Ergonomic Chair, Desk, keyboard, and mouse
• Good computer
• Quality air
• A more stable and faster wifi network
• Bigger electricity bill
• Noise-free environment

The hidden costs of being self-employed

Some expenses, such as office expenses, are easily calculated and predictable. However, there will also be expenses that you need to do more exemplary calculations and that are not easily noticed:

• You may have to pay some taxes yourself, which your company typically requires. The most common of these are compulsory insurances such as health insurance.
• One of the most important benefits of being an employee in a corporate company is the vocational training that the company will provide for you. You may have to finance these training sessions yourself.
• You may need technical support expenses to keep your remote working equipment (network, computer, electricity, etc.) working.

These hidden and visible costs do not need to intimidate you, as you will get rid of expenses such as public transportation costs, your car expenses, food or beverage expenses.

What expenses should be covered if I work remotely?

This situation varies according to your working style, the company you work for, and the region’s laws where you work. But companies usually cover the following costs:

• Company phone and computer
• Your phone and internet bill
• Licenses for professional programs required for your remote work
• Printer and printer operating costs
• Postage and shipping charges
• Office supplies such as chair, desk, pen, paper
• Keyboard, mouse, camera, and microphone
• Heating and cooling costs
• Business travel expenses

Of course, don’t forget to talk to the company’s accounting department you want to work for and read your employment contract to confirm these items. You don’t want to work for a company that mandates your business trips but doesn’t pay for your travel expenses.

Is remote work worth the expense?

Working remotely is much more profitable than working in an office, even though it comes with many hidden and overt costs. It brings many benefits such as more flexible working hours, working from wherever you want, not wasting time on transportation, and spending more time with your family. Trust us, there’s nothing like being able to put your feet up and work when you’re tired.

As a result, remote working is no longer a mandatory condition. It is the new world order of the future. Not long after, but within a few years, many large and small companies will have the remote working system in place regularly. Whether you are an employer or an employee, you should catch this new trend.

Originally posted on December 20, 2021 @ 8:32 pm