According to a new study conducted by the Centre of Economics and Business Research (Cebr) with support from Citrix Systems, Inc., companies that leverage technology to enable flexible and remote working models can not only attract talent, but increase employee engagement and productivity, potentially boosting the US economy by as much as $2.36 trillion a year. Through an online survey of more than 2,500 US knowledge workers conducted in July, the Cebr study sought to determine the potential value to the US economy of the adoption of a more widespread, flexible working culture. It claims that in offering virtual/remote work options and providing the tools to enable them, companies can better compete in the battle for talent by dipping into untapped pools of workers. (more…)

A new report claims that US based businesses are not addressing the needs of an increasingly “deskless workforce” which thinks flexible working is a right that should be valued more than other benefits. The Future is Flexible: A New Workforce Paradigm Evolving From the Gig Economy (registration) from Quinyx compiles publicly available data alongside a survey of more than 4,000 employed Americans over the age of 18. It claims that, behind wages, flexibility is one of the most important factors of happiness at work for this growing flexible workforce, higher than health benefits, culture, and employee discounts. (more…)

According to a Remote.co survey of 200 full-time remote workers, unplugging after work hours (40 percent) is the biggest challenge remote workers face in their working lives. The survey, conducted in September and October of this year, claims that other challenges for people who work away from their firm’s  main office for a significant proportion of their time include dealing with non-work distractions (32 percent), developing strong relationships with co-workers (25 percent), loneliness (23 percent), troubleshooting technology problems (21 percent), and working across different time zones (19 percent). (more…)