Who doesn’t like the comfort of putting their legs up on their work desk and looking out of the window into soft sunlight, instead of their unfriendly computers. That is exactly what has become possible because of the option of working from home. A survey conducted by Skype reveals that working from home is becoming more common and sought after in all fields.

And this WFH (Work From Home) culture is not restricted to the house wives or the part-timers, but to people looking for alternate careers, or extra money to just to keep themselves busy. Age is no bar. Skype itself has made the need for a physical 9-5 presence obsolete. When your virtual presence is as influential as your physical presence, then life becomes a permanent vacation. Video conferencing and desktop video have been made famous over the past two years. And with the advent of VOIP and smartphones, the world is in your pocket, literally.

The survey includes responses from 1,000 professionals from 500 businesses of all sizes. 62% of the companies already allow employees to work remotely. Of which 34% of their workforce occasionally works remotely. Employees who work from home say that they spend around 40% of their work hours at home. 75% of the employees said that working from home was becoming more acceptable and 56% believe that people who work from home are far more productive and satisfied.

Working from home also works well for the companies. It reduces the costs of maintaining an office for 6 days a week.  The company also gets to hire more people with the money saved or invest that money in more projects, which ultimately benefits both the company and its employees. The employees, on the other hand, live a less stressful life; have more time with their families, friends and hobbies. This, in turn, gives a creative boost to them and helps increase their productivity. The time saved on travelling to and from work is wisely invested in work.

But all this does not replace the advantage of a work place. Having an office will increase the credibility of a company, as opposed to an entirely virtual presence, because work ethics in India have modernized, but have not altered so much as to eliminate the need for a traditional working environment. As easy as it is for the employees, the company may find it difficult to manage and monitor the performance of people working from home. It will be difficult to maintain the feeling of a team spirit when most people start working from home, and that diminishes the possibility of a work community. When work life and personal life get so intermingled, it will be tough to draw boundaries and separate them. And neither will receive the attention it deserves.

These dilemmas need to be tackled before embarking on the project of turning our economy into a working-from-home one. Perhaps the ideal situation will be that employees divide time between work and home, so as to maximize their potential and ‘have a life’ !!