AS THE country braces for a bigger impact from the Covid-19 pandemic, we keep on reading about employers having to make available to its workers either flexible working hours or, better yet, work-from-home arrangements. And as we start feeling the effects of the pandemic putting a strain on everything around us, the idea of telecommuting or remote work here in the Philippines is slowly becoming ideal.
I think it’s already high time that we embrace such culture and start laying down the foundations to implement it well. The country’s few internet service providers are pushing forward at a brisk pace in terms of internet connectivity deployment. Sure, our internet prices can still be better especially when seen side by side with our Asian neighbors. But, that doesn’t really present that big of a hurdle in order to accomplish telecommuting.
As far as I see it, one doesn’t even need to have a 100Mbps connection to make telecommuting work. It’s more than likely that the work one will accomplish will just need to be sent via email. And that is if you’re working on a local file on your laptop’s hard drive. If your work files are all in cloud storage, the need for a super-fast internet connection becomes less. I’d imagine that as a matter of courtesy, one might need to “check-in” via some form of a video call. And after that “video call”, one is free to go about your work and just report back when you’re all done.
The most obvious benefit we get out of telecommuting is we reduce the number of people traveling on our roads hence, reduced occurrences of traffic jams. Also, there will be lesser vehicles that will need parking. Let’s say there are about 10,000 workers at a single day who are on a work-from-home arrangement. If half of them drove their own cars, that’s 5,000 fewer vehicles clogging up our roads; that much fewer vehicles spewing noxious gases into the atmosphere. And once our roads have more space for, say, cargo trucks to move products around, there’s more economic activity. Of course, I may be looking at it at a very simplistic lens but if we can all just imagine it. I’m sure you’d agree that it’s a good thing in the long run.
Another good thing we get out of this is on a more personal level - we get to spend more time at home. More time at home means more time with our families. And who can argue with that being a bad thing? We’d spend lesser money on fast food and get to eat home-cooked meals. We’d spend lesser time exposed to the toxicity of the usual work environment, which makes for a healthier body, mind, and soul.
This telecommute idea doesn’t even have to happen every day for the same set of people. Once a week for everybody can be a start. That’s almost like a three day weekend. I know I’d look at it that way. Monday to Thursday you’re at the office. Friday you’re at home working remotely and, most probably, becoming more productive and finishing tasks faster than you normally would. You spend the rest of the day with your family then add to it Saturday and Sunday.
Close your eyes and imagine all that. Ain’t that great?