When it comes to running a business, there are all sorts of tips and tricks out there that you can follow to help make things easier and more efficient. For example, you can run links through short URL generators to ensure your marketing pieces have everything they need but stay clean and focus on the message, use chatbots to assist with online customer service so that your employees can be focused on other important tasks, and so much more. But did you know that one of the best things that you could do for your business is hiring a remote workforce?

Studies show that approximately 70 percent of people, worldwide, work from home at least once a week and nearly 4 million Americans work from home for at least half of the week—and there’s a good reason that so many businesses are moving toward remote workforces. Working remotely doesn’t just benefit employees and give them dreamed-of flexibility, it offers a lot of benefits to businesses as well, and these are some of the biggest:

Increased Productivity

Many employers worried that if their staff were allowed to work from home, they would be distracted and accomplish less, if anything at all, causing problems with workflow and wasting company money and time. While it may be true for some individuals that being at home is more distracting than being at work, studies have found that work-from-home employees, freelancers, and those who work remotely for any other reason are able to ignore the piles of laundry and dirty dishes and focus on getting work done—sometimes even more work than they otherwise would. And, without the time expectations/restrictions, employees are willing to put in odd hours, which sometimes leads to them working over 40 hours a week and, ultimately, increased productivity.

Lower Overhead

There is a lot of expense that comes with running a business and while the hope is that you’ll be able to make more than you have to spend, some of the overhead expenses such as the cost of office space, utilities, and so on can really eat into your budget but may not even be necessary. By hiring a remote workforce, you can reduce or even cut out some of those expenses completely since you won’t need to ensure that you have desks, computers, chairs, office space, heat and AC, etc. to host those employees during the work week. And, by cutting those costs, you’ll have more money to put in other areas or set aside for a rainy day.

Fewer Sick Days

Unplanned absences, (or “sick days”) can be frustrating as an employer/boss, but as an employee or worker, they’re a relief to have. Unfortunately, not all illnesses give warning that they’re coming on ahead of time and so people will sometimes find themselves sick in the early hours of the morning and emailing their boss to take a sick day since they don’t feel well enough to come in. When you hire a remote workforce, there may still be the need for sick days and some employees may not feel well enough to get on and work every now and then. But generally, if they’re feeling well enough to sit up and stay awake, employees will work through illness and still get some work done, even if it’s not their usual workload.

In addition to employees being willing and making the effort to work even when they wouldn’t otherwise feel well enough to go into the office, a remote workforce can help reduce sick days since one employee’s illness is not spread to other coworkers with whom they come into contact. And, if your workforce is spread across the country or throughout the globe, it may even be less likely that multiple employees will fall ill at the same time. This means that fewer hours will be lost on sick days and can help play into increased productivity.

Greater Employee Satisfaction

There are a few different factors that play into job satisfaction, but ultimately, 52 percent of respondents to a survey reported that they wish they had the opportunity to work from home and 40 percent would consider a pay cut to have that option. By hiring a remote workforce or giving your current workforce the option to work from home instead of or in addition to working in the office, you may very well see an increase in employee satisfaction. And as employee satisfaction increases, you may also see an increase in company loyalty and other things as previously mentioned, such as increased productivity.

In Conclusion

If you’ve been considering switching to a remote workforce, then now is a great time. Not only does a remote workforce offer the benefits listed above, plus many others, but these days it’s easier than ever to make the switch with as few hiccups and hang-ups as possible. Will you be switching to a remote workforce?