All You Need to Know About the Downside of Telecommuting

Telecommuting is blowing up after many companies saw success with remote work during the lockdowns of 2020. But this trend isn’t at all new. 

Even back in 2019, more than half of employees wanted to start working from home, according to Owl Labs’ State of Remote Work. Now, that wish has become a reality, as more businesses than ever are considering allowing workers to switch to remote work. 

The appeal of telecommuting is obvious. Employees have more freedom to decide how they use their time, providing better work-life balance. It cuts down on travel costs and commuter stress. Not to mention, telecommuters can work all day in their pajamas.

But that doesn’t mean working from home long-term after the pandemic lockdowns will be right for everyone.

If you come across an attractive telecommuting job in your search, know that there are certain drawbacks. Here are four things to consider before taking a telecommuting job:

1. The reality of the work-life balance

There’s a bit of a paradox when it comes to telecommuting. People choose to work from home in order to improve their work-life balance, but then find themselves constantly working. 

When telecommuting, the lines between work and home become very blurry, sometimes leading to a less balanced life instead of a better one. According to a 2020 Rocket Mortgage survey, about six in 10 people who work from home don’t have a separation between work and leisure. They work in the same spaces that they sleep or relax, blurring the mental distinction between work life and home life. 

That doesn’t mean people can’t find a balance. But you need to be honest with yourself about your ability to set boundaries. It’s also important to talk to your potential employer about their expectations of your time. Will they want to be able to reach you 24/7? Or will there be set times you need to check your email?

Knowing the answers to these questions before accepting the job will let you know what you’re really getting yourself into and how much you can trust your employer in the virtual environment.

2. Communication challenges

Nowadays, we’re all accustomed to communicating via multiple technologies. But there can still be challenges adjusting to different communication methods when telecommuting. Because of this known difficulty in telecommuting, LinkedIn reported that communication was the most common required skill on their site’s job postings. That was during June and July of 2020, which makes sense as it was the year of mass remote work. 

The key to success while working from home is understanding each communication method and its strengths and weaknesses. For instance, emails provide information that you can reference later, if need be. However, without vocal tones or body language cues, it’s easy to misconstrue the message. 

Look at it this way: If you’re someone who reads a text and needs an emoji to determine the sender’s mood, telecommuting might not be for you. It takes a person with sharp interpersonal and listening skills (even if ‘listening’ is actually reading messages most of the time). 

3. Feeling disconnected from co-workers

By taking yourself out of the office, you’re also distancing yourself from co-workers. That makes it hard to build and maintain good work relationships. And if you’re starting a new job as a telecommuter, there’s a chance you’ll be working with some people that you’ll never meet in real life. 

The people we work with have a powerful impact on our overall job satisfaction. As 2020 research from Korn Ferry found, camaraderie with colleagues is by far what employees who switched to remote miss about the office the most. After all, if a virtual workplace reduces co-workers to nothing more than an email address, the workplace will begin to feel lonely.

During the interview process, find out what steps the organization takes to build a strong company culture and connect the team. Are there regular video chats to put faces to names? Is there a forum for employees to discuss non-work related things? Small measures like these remind telecommuters that there are other humans out there who they’re working with.

4. The effect on career paths

Some companies allow employees to choose whether they work from home or in the office. However, do employers view both types of employees equally? Research suggests, no.

A survey from Blind in late 2020 demonstrated that 29% of professionals felt their relationships with managers had decreased, and 46% said their chances of promotion had gone down since working from home. While this data in part may be influenced by the stress employers were under in 2020, there is a strong chance that telecommuting could affect your career path — regardless of outside factors. 

Just like you would for a regular job, remember to discuss your career goals during the interview process for a telecommuting job. Ask if it’s realistic for you to advance your career at the pace you’d like while working from home.

Also, find out how often the company promotes remote workers. If it turns out the negative impacts on your long-term career outweigh the other benefits of telecommuting, you might want to find another opportunity.

Think telecommuting’s right for you? Learn how to secure a job in a virtual environment HERE.