The Work-From-Home Movement

During the global pandemic, working from home became the ‘new normal.’ We were pushed out of offices and forced indoors to work from desks or kitchen tables in the comfort of our homes. Shortly after the pandemic ended, companies evaluated the effectiveness of allowing employees to work remotely for the past two years. There are many pros and cons to the work-from-home movement and StudyStream is going to explore the rise of home working and how it has affected society and the way we connect.

Before the world changed

So what is the history of the work-from-home movement? Did remote working only become a thing during the pandemic? Of course not. Going as far back as medieval times, the majority of jobs were at home, including shoemakers, blacksmiths, bakers, and seamstresses. It was during the industrial revolution that workers were pulled from their homes and into outside work environments.

At the dawn of the 20th century, office work enabled workers to collaborate in the same space. It may have been typewriters and wired telephones back then but not much had changed, it was only the technology that evolved. Years later, in the 1990s to be exact. Many projects and research were testing the effectiveness of working from home and the statistics in the early 2000s revealed that working remotely was drastically on the rise. Then of course the global pandemic, that began in the year 2020 changed the landscape of remote working once again, but this time, it wasn’t a choice, but a necessary change to keep the economy going.

After the pandemic

The technology to connect, collaborate and work remotely has been there for a long time. But it was the pandemic that forced employees and employers to construct new models and change the way they work as a company. It was once wrongly believed that workers can only be productive in an office environment and collaboration is only possible when employees are all in the same room together. But the two years spent remotely working through zoom rooms, messaging systems and email has proven otherwise. Now, as people are returning to their offices, companies are offering many employees the choice of either remote or hybrid working (part-time in the office, the rest at home).

Advantages and disadvantages of working from home

There are a few disadvantages of working remotely or from home including not having the same social connection as you would in an office environment, it can be hard to switch off at the end of the day, the equipment might not be as good as you would get in an office and there are more distractions at home.

However, the advantages of working at home are that there is no commuting time or transportation costs, more time to spend at home with your family, more time for hobbies, fitness, and self-care, space for employees to work in isolation for deep work, and creativity can flourish, flexible work patterns and happier and more energetic employees.

Studying at home

Alongside the work-from-home movement during the pandemic, across the globe, students were also completing their studies at home, away from large lecture halls, and learning their courses through zoom. Although this had many downsides, it also started another revelation, the study with me movement. One where students would collaboratively work on individual goals while being in the presence of other students. StudyStream is the place to be. It will make you more productive and help you engage, make friends and find your perfect study buddy or study group to succeed.