Exploring the Differences Between WFH and Remote Work

Here is a topic that I’ve been asked about multiple times this year and you might be curious to learn more as well. As a staffing professional, I’ve heard the issue raised with more frequency this year from my candidates and hiring managers, as well as my own friends and family members seeking advice.

Just recently, I went to a destination wedding in Italy. While many of the guests like myself chose to enjoy the vacation, but others elected not to use any of their PTO days and work remotely. This turned into a larger discussion with more assumptions and guesses being tossed around, so I wanted to provide you with some direct insight on the differences between WFH and remote work.

By now, we know the primary benefits for why companies allow employees to work from home (WFH):

•  Flexibility in managing work and personal lives can lead to better work-life balance and overall job satisfaction.
• There are cost savings associated with reduced office space and other overhead expenses (particularly advantageous for smaller businesses or startups with limited resources.)
• WFH also creates talent acquisition opportunities – being able to attract a wider pool of talent who may not be able to relocate or commute to a specific location. 

However, while companies may allow employees to work from home, they may have specific reasons for not permitting “remote work” from other locations. These reasons may be due to:

• Legal, compliance, or regulatory obligations –essentially for security reasons. Both for the employee’s physical safety, as well as company intellectual property and physical assets (phone, laptop, etc..) becoming potentially more problematic.
• I/T and systems limitations may lead to technical constraints from other locations. Companies often have policies against using public WiFi networks and utilizing secure VPN’s. Working from outside your “home office” may open the company up to potential security breaches and loss of employee connectivity.
• Managerial oversight and trust: Managers may just feel more comfortable overseeing employees' work and ensuring accountability when they are physically working from home, as opposed to other locations.

Ultimately, a company's decision on whether to allow employees to work remotely from anywhere depends on a careful consideration of these factors, as well as the specific needs and goals of the organization. I believe the future of remote work will continue to evolve, but at the moment it’s still a fairly new landscape with a lot more to explore. I’m very interested to see how these policies and practices regarding remote work will continue to change and vary across different companies and industries.

-Paul Woodman, Transition Staffing Group