It’s no secret. A lot of candidates are looking for remote work. They want a better work-life balance. They don’t want to commute. They ultimately just want to save money and time.
Are you an employer who doesn’t offer remote work? If you answered yes, here are a few things to consider.
COST SAVINGS: The bottom line is there are cost savings for both the employer AND the employee. Employers can save on office space, furniture, rent, utilities, break room supplies, etc. and employees can save on things like gas, car maintenance, clothing, coffee, and lunches to name a few.
HEALTHIER WORKERS: There are number of studies that show commuting can have negative effects: higher blood pressure, negative moods in the workplace, and stress. With remote work, you lessen those effects on your employees and also lessen the potential of exposing and/or transmitting virus’ between colleagues which results in a decrease in the number of employees calling out sick.
DECREASE IN EMPLOYEE TURNOVER: Stanford University researched how providing a choice to work remotely cut down employee turnover and job deterioration by 50%. Even loyalty to the company increased when given more accommodating work options. Over 80% were content when given options and less likely to leave.
SMALLER POOL OF CANDIDATES: During the pandemic, people began leaving major cities to move where it is less expensive and/or closer to family. They moved to the suburbs and even moved out of out of state. This means you have a smaller amount of experienced insurance candidates in your backyard.
COMPETITORS: You have gained new competitors outside of your city! Yes, you heard that correctly. Companies based out of places like New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis, Austin and San Francisco are open to hiring remotely. So the ball game has changed and you are no longer competing with the same local players.
So what’s the conclusion?
We’ve seen firsthand that candidates are specifically placing remote only or hybrid options on their list of requirements for their next position and a number of companies are offering it. It’s understandable that this isn’t a viable option for all employers, but the results are undeniable.
Without flexible options, the pool of insurance professionals shrinks considerably!