The one thing that Mark Zuckerberg has in common with many other workers is that he seems to like working from home. He says that working remotely has given him more space for long-term thinking and helped him spend more time with his family, which has made him happier and more productive at work.
However, others such as JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs are leaning into the tried-and-true office environment. According to them, remote work doesn’t work for people who want to hustle.
In a recently published research report on “Performance in remote work setting in the United States 2021” by Statista , over 44 percent of respondents state that working from home provides benefits for collaboration on new projects far more than pre-COVID-19.
How true is this?
In which setting are employees more productive – the office or the home?
Let us find out by comparing the productivity of in-office workers and remote workers.
Office workers vs remote workers: A detailed comparison
1. The speed that tasks are completed on
Office worker
The number one distraction of office workers are chatty coworkers. Office noise is another common workplace disturbance. Social media is also a distracting factor at the workplace, although not much. Workplace distractions, thus, slow down the pace at which tasks are completed.
Remote worker
One of the biggest work from home benefits is that you don’t get sucked into side conversations. And most importantly, you don’t come across that annoying co-worker who plays crappy music really loud. Or clicks the mouse really hard, scraping his claws into your misophonia. Fewer distractions lead to faster work.
2. The frequency of leaves of absence
Office worker
In-office employees are forced to miss work in order to stay home and take care of a child or an elder when normal arrangements have fallen through. Medical appointments are another commonly reported reason for missing work.
Remote worker
Employees working from home take fewer breaks and leaves. One of the biggest benefits of work from home is that it allows employees to take better care of themselves by adjusting their work schedule, which leads to fewer leaves of absence.
3. Unproductive activities
Office worker
Research suggests that in an 8-hour day, the average in-office worker is probably only productive for three hours. Some of the most unproductive activities the in-office worker indulges in include reading news websites, checking social media, chatting with coworkers, searching for new jobs, making calls to friends, making hot drinks, taking smoking breaks, eating snacks, texting, and making food.
Remote worker
When you’re working remotely, it may feel like you’re not doing enough, however – and it’s a big HOWEVER, research suggests that if you’re productive for just three hours a day, you’re as productive as someone in the office for eight hours. Remote workers incredibly benefit from work from home.
4. Engagement and motivation
Office worker
It’s ironic that although offices are filled with lovely motivational posters with phrases like, “You never fail until you stop trying.”, in-office employees are most likely demotivated.
Lack of flexibility, long commutes, absenteeism, bullies in the workplace, long work hours, and micromanagement all lead to disengaged and unmotivated workers.
Remote worker
According to a survey conducted by FlexJobs between March and April 2021, as reported by Statista , 65 percent of remote workers said they wanted to keep working from home and 58 percent said they would absolutely look for a new job if they would have to return to the office. 38 percent estimate that they are saving at least $5,000 a year working remotely.
Employees, who benefit from work from home, are thus more motivated, productive, and satisfied.
Conclusion: Remote worker is more productive
The hours when an employee is the most productive depends on their personality type. There are over 16 MBTI personality types, the most popular being IFSJ.
Employees with different personality types have different working styles, routines, productive hours, communication styles, distraction levels and triggers.
Work from home benefits employees of different personalities by significantly increasing their productivity and efficiency.
KonarkPro , the complete time tracking and productivity platform, lets you manage your remote teams with ease.