AS we navigate through the pandemic that still poses a serious threat to human lives, flexible working arrangements, especially remote working, may be the answer to the current problem.
Even in 2013, many Malaysians were already working remotely. Global workplace provider Regus, in a research it conducted that year, showed that 48 per cent of the world's workforce enjoyed flexible working arrangements, and Malaysia was ahead of the curve at 53 per cent.
The Covid-19 Epidemic Employee Pulse survey report by Aon Malaysia, a professional services firm providing risk, health and human capital solutions, revealed that 74 per cent of employees have been fully working from home during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period.
Quoting the survey report, Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Datuk Shamsudin Bardan said many employers and employees had been working from home and there had been a significant drop in productivity levels during the Conditional MCO period.
The report revealed that 77 per cent of employees indicated a drop in productivity and only 23 per cent said they could maintain the same or higher productivity levels, while 56 per cent of employees who indicated an increase in workload had also experienced a drop in productivity.
The survey cited several reasons for the drop in productivity, including Internet speed and access to the company's systems (59 per cent) and reduced access to resources (49 per cent).
Other reasons were delays in response time and decision-making (42 per cent) and family interference or distractions (39 per cent).
According to a recent report, Buffer (State of Working Remote), published by venturecapitalist.com, 98 per cent of people in the United States preferred the idea of working remotely "at least some of the time for the rest of their career".
The report indicated that 32 per cent of the respondents liked flexible working schedules being part of the benefits, while 26 per cent of them liked working from any location without going to the office. About 21 per cent liked working remotely because there is no commuting, and 11 per cent of them loved the quality time with the family while working.
Aside from working in sweatpants, "kain pelikat" or "baju kelawar", which many will indulge in, remote workers will struggle at some point as many will have a tough time dividing personal and professional hours.
After some time, it will feel like unplugging from work without defined office hours.
The lack of person-to-person communication is also a challenge for some people.
Some employees will feel left out from the mainstream office work, while some take things for granted as they are only visible to their bosses during video calls.
The number of people working partially or fully remote has been on the rise over the years, but the pandemic may have pressed the fast-forward button on this trend. With millions of people taking part in this work-from-home experiment, we also need to understand its downside.
In my conversations with some remote workers, many expressed fear that their professional efforts will not be appreciated because of the lack of in-office contact.
They are worried that the management cannot see the full extent of their contributions, which may affect their career trajectory.
Some find it difficult when they raise tough questions or flag concerns that may be intimidating to the management when working remotely than in person.
Conversely, the management is worried that productivity and focus will diminish when employees work in more informal locations, such as at home or a cafe, and that if people are not working in the same location, team cohesiveness and company culture will suffer.
Overall, though, it appears that remote working is here to stay and it may help in building productivity, reducing operating costs and increasing staff retention, if it's done correctly.
C'est la vie.
The writer, a former NST journalist, is now a film scriptwriter whose penchant is finding new food haunts in the country
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times