Virtual Office Resource

Irish cloud communications company Blueface says remote working is growing in popularity on the Emerald Isle.

Seventy-eight percent of businesses it surveyed on the topic say they already have remote working policies. Blueface adds that 35 percent of respondents are using VoIP technology, which can help enable telecommuting. A quarter of survey participants that are not using VoIP say they plan to do so. The “Business Communications Technology Insight Report 2018” also reveals that 60 percent of startups surveyed plan to leverage VoIP.

Here are a few other key takeaways from the report:

• More than 65 percent say they prefer voice to other communications because it’s real-time and has context.

• Eighty-one percent of those surveyed say meetings are the biggest drain on employee time.

• A quarter of those surveyed feature automation due to its potential to eliminate jobs.

• And 57 percent of large enterprises report having been the target of a cyberattack last year.

The State of Work Productivity Report indicates 65 percent of full-time employees think remote work increases productivity. And two-thirds of managers are believers in the productivity benefits of telecommuting as well.

Remote work can also free workers from the stresses of commutes, could lead to less snacking, and provide more time for people to lead healthy lifestyles.

Regardless of where people work, research indicates that U.S. work productivity is on the rise. It increased 3 percent in the third quarter, marking its best improvement in three years. This is after a p.1 percent productivity decline in 2016.

“Productivity has averaged annual gains of just 1.2 percent from 2007 through 2016, a sharp slowdown from average annual gains of 2.6 percent from 2000 to 2007,” the AP reported last month. “Those increases reflected a boost from the increased use of computers and the internet in the workplace.”