Should I Hire Remote Staff?

Introduction

Whether you are considering hiring remote staff or just researching this topic, we've got you covered! 

In this article, you will find some interesting pieces of information based on both research and practice. You can expect first-hand experience from the FatCat Coders team, which has been working with remote teams for over years.

Additionally, we will present you with some intriguing research results from reliable sources such as Stanford University, the Becker Friedman Institute, Harvard Business Review; popular platforms like Upwork, and many others. 

To sum up, here are the 6 things to consider if you are asking yourself why should you hire remote staff.

1. Remote work is getting more and more popular

2. Productivity can be increased with a motivated remote team

3. Remote work is overall less expensive

4. Remote work often motivates more than a salary increase

5. You can still keep the office space

6. Working from home (WFH) offers you sustainable business growth

Is the Productive Remote Staff ‘Still a Thing’?

So, let's skip the overall lengthy paragraphs about how productivity and remote teams are "boosting after the COVID crisis." But to answer shortly: Yes, they are. Yes, they are still the thing.

We’ll cut straight to the chase with some concrete pieces of information, starting with data from the Becker Friedman Institute Research in January 2023.

What they found out is that remote employees save 40% of the time they would have wasted commuting to work, and they're able to create a comfortable and efficient home environment.

Now, let's apply this data to real life. Firstly, what do we mean by commuting? 

Commuting refers to the regular travel between one's residence and workplace, usually daily. However, it's not only about the costs of travel; it's also about your comfort.

At FatCat Coders, we like to joke that there are at least two types of Software Developers, both very productive.

There are the ones who play loud music and the ones who prefer a peaceful and quiet environment (and, of course, there are those in between). 

Now, mix all those individuals together in the same room. It just goes without saying, doesn’t it?

Why Do Employees Prefer Remote?

Dr. Gleb Tsipursky stresses in his short podcast that it's not only about music and the way of working. It's also about the temperature of the room, basic habits (some of us talk a lot, as it relaxes us 😅), your own house refrigerator, and conformity that cannot be achieved in an open space office, etc.  

Tspiursky also stresses the importance of employee motivation. Because, check this out: 

The National Bureau of Economic Research’s survey of 3000 workers and top companies. It shown that 64% would prefer permanent work from home over a $30,000 pay raise. 

People would choose remote work over a salary increase? Mostly, yes. And here are three more interesting facts about remote workers, that prove this point:

Facts:

1. In an UpWork study from 2022, 61% of workers said that their productivity rose from working remotely.

2. This data is accompanied by 68% of hiring managers who say that after a year of remote work, productivity improved.

3. So it's no surprise that, according to the Scoop 2024 Flex Report, by the end of 2024, more than two-thirds of US companies will adopt flexible and remote work options.

These pieces of information show us that from both the perspective of employee motivation and company’s growth, remote work is a beneficial choice. 

However, there is still a "buzz", especially in the IT community, that different companies would like to bring their employees back to the office due to models of working, team dynamics, and productivity. This is also inspired by various approaches pursued by prominent companies like Amazon, Meta, Disney, Apple, and others.

Is there a Decline in Productivity in Remote Work?

We can say that in some situations, yes there is. 

The Stanford analysis, highlighted in a Forbes article, suggests that across multiple studies, there's been an overall 10% to 20% reduction in productivity. This decline is attributed to challenges in communication, and coordination, reduced creativity, and a decline in learning and feedback opportunities.  

For example: Not all team members are always motivated, and sometimes you have to wait for the responses, especially when they work remotely.

However, this doesn't mean that remote teams should be disregarded. From our firsthand experience, we can say that these challenges do exist (but as we said they can be overcome). 

How to Handle the Productivity Remotely?

We start with the fact that employee motivation is an important factor, and challenges can occur in all sorts of situations. Meaning: It's harder to mitigate employee motivation issues in remote settings than managerial obstacles in communication, coordination, and overall productivity.

If your team wants to work remotely, it's all on your creativity and management to enhance communication and coordination. Our creativity was beneficial in empowering one of the industry leaders.  Here is a quick checklist based on our experience! 

This is, of course, just the shortest yet most broad and useful "To Do." However, we are more than glad to share concrete pieces of information based on your current situation. Feel free to contact us. 

Are Remote Employees Expensive?

Here comes everyone's favorite answer: It depends.

Now, for real; it does depend. Remote work is a broad concept. It includes all sorts of working arrangements. Here we have freelancers, outsourcing agencies, staff augmentation, and various B2B models of working, some even include a more hybrid approach, like ourselves.

However, there are some commonalities. In all methods of remote work (including third-party hiring assistance), there are costs that you avoid in contrast to on-site, office work. 

We'll be punctual and put it in a table that shows what kind of costs one should expect with onsite, remote teams, and hiring partners. Some costs are the same, while some are different.

So, here is where you will save your expenses if you choose to go for remote teams:

Broadly, in this table, there are at least 16 types of expenses when it comes to office\onsite teams, and only 5 of those expenses are common to both remote and office teams. 

As it is for the hiring partners there are usually no more than costs of their services, onboarding new hires, and their daily management. Yet different hiring partners have different practices.

How We Do It? 

In short, our clients only pay the agreed-upon cost of services, and we provide both the necessities of office and remote work with work-proven developers.

We stress that our approach underscores responsibilities for both parties concerning career development. We aim to ensure high-quality work by valuing your feedback.

Additionally, we leave it up to you whether you would like to organize additional team-building activities and other necessary perks. However, FatCat Coders have access to all of the mentioned and more. 

Your only concern should be onboarding new remote employees into your team and projects. Everything else is our responsibility. You can learn more about this in the "What do you mean by 'hiring'?" section of our landing page. 

What About Remote Work Additional Cost?  

Yes, there are still other costs when it comes to remote working tools, cybersecurity, perhaps even employees' bills for their internet needs, and more frequent team-building events. 

Nevertheless, a study conducted by Harvard Business Review discovered that companies hiring remote workers saved around $10,000 per employee each year compared to those with traditional office setups. These savings include both salary and overhead costs.

But, we would not recommend here to focus solely on numbers as costs and prices can vary even from country to country. Also, it can differ in what you find necessary in your work equipment. Thus, some job profiles require more complex equipment than others.

What would be advisable is to go through your costs, define your real needs, and take this as a starting point.

However, If you need remote staff and quick hiring, yet you want to avoid these costs, there is a solution. Hiring FatCat Developers, your mentioned remote work costs would be covered. 

On the other hand, if you are looking for a developer for a short gig project, we recommend opting for freelance platforms. 

What to Do with the Office if I Transition to Remote?

Consider keeping it, we will share “why” from first-hand experience.  

Before COVID-19, FatCat Coders operated entirely on-site. During the quarantine, we transitioned to fully remote work. Nevertheless, both our employees and we love our cozy office space. 

Following the quarantine, we deliberated on whether to maintain the office, consulting with our staff to determine the most suitable course of action. While our employees are not required to come to the office, they have the option to work on-site whenever they choose.

Some might argue that this brings double costs; however, client satisfaction on our end proves otherwise. This flexibility has empowered us to devise tailored solutions for our clients.

Are Remote Employees Happier?  

We mostly agree. This isn't just based on the old saying "Smiling faces, happy places," but it really influences motivation, and therefore productivity.

Firstly, we found another interesting study available in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Wrapping this research up: Employees in the remote workgroup exhibited significantly higher values on three out of four investigated happiness dimensions (meaningfulness, self-actualization, and community professional). This suggests that remote work might contribute positively to various aspects of employees' happiness at work.

In our practice, this was also true. During our employee benefits and employer branding survey, over 70% of employees stressed that working conditions in terms of flexibility and remote work are factors that keep them in our company, among other conditions and aspects (such as team, company culture, and development opportunities). 

Moreover, most of them highlighted "Remote Working" as one of the key benefits. 

How Does Remote Staff Help You Grow?

Finally, we would like to stress the bigger picture, as it would truly sum up how hiring remote workers can influence the future of work in terms of the sustainable growth of your company. Let’s take a look!

As seen on the diagram, it is notable that working from home (WFH) brings both fewer costs and a better work-life balance. These can lead to two things:

1. As we previously discussed, motivated staff leads to increased productivity.

2. More eco-friendly surroundings

How does it influence the ecology? Three things that Harvard Business Review stresses when it comes to work-from-home environments are energy, travel, technology, and waste. Having fewer commute costs can lead to a better environment.

Now, imagine this: Remote staff will lead to increased productivity and business growth. Yet, in a less obvious way, it can also make your business more ecologically sustainable. This is something to consider, don’t you think?