Reasons the Remote Work Trend Is Accelerating
Prior to the pandemic in 2020 remote work was trending upwards with 17% of employees working from home 5 days or more per week. Although restrictions have eased, the number of remote workers continues to rise. There are a number of factors causing this increase including:
- Cost cutting: it is less expensive to hire remote workers than in-house staff so companies are using remote development teams as a cost cutting measure.
- More flexibility: remote work allows more flexibility for companies and employees. A company can scale its workforce up or down much easier with a remote work model. Working remotely provides employees more flexibility with regards to their working hours.
- Technology: advances in technology make remote working far more feasible than it was ten years ago. Faster internet, cloud computing, video conferencing tools, project management tools and more have made working remotely much easier.
- Remote workers are happier: a study by Owl Labs found that remote workers are happier than on-site workers.
- Increased productivity: 85% of businesses responding to an IWG Global Workspace Survey say that their company is more productive since going to a remote workforce
By all appearances working remotely is here to stay and will only increase going forward.
Big Tech Companies Going Fully Remote
There are many tech companies that have already gone remote while plenty of others are in the process or have plans to shift to a remote working model in the future. Here are some totally remote tech companies and some that plan to go remote moving forward.
Automattic
Automattic is the company responsible for Tumblr and WordPress. They are one of the best known distributed workforce companies with almost 1800 employees spread across 77 countries. The remote work culture at Automattic was the subject of a book, “The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work” in 2013.
Gitlab
Gitlab is a multi-billion dollar company that created a code collaboration platform with over 30 million registered users. They have over 1500 remote employees in over 60 countries. The company has used a remote model for workers since they were first launched in 2014.
VMware
VMware was founded in 1998 and is based in Palo Alto, California. They specialize in cloud and virtualization software and services. VMware is a subsidiary of Dell Technologies with approximately 34,000 employees and has plans to offer permanent remote work to all employees
SAP
SAP is a German software corporation that develops enterprise software for business operations and customer relations. They have over 100,000 employees and are adopting a 100% flexible, trust-based work model. As the world’s third-largest publicly-traded software company by revenue and the largest German company by market capitalization they are among the biggest of the remote first software companies.
Atlassian
Atlassian is an Australian software company founded in 2002 with over 5,700 employees. They specialize in developing products for software developers and development teams. Employees for Atlassian can work from home permanently.
Choosing a Tech Company to Work for on a Remote Basis: Effective Strategies
There are a growing number of remote work tech companies where software developers and other IT specialists can get jobs. However just because a position with a company is remote doesn’t mean it will be right for you. Here are some strategies for choosing remote friendly tech companies to work for.
- Is the company partially or fully remote: although it may not appear to matter if a company is partially or fully distributed as long as your position is remote it can make a difference. Partially distributed tech companies that allow remote work may have a great onboarding process for in-house employees but sometimes overlook their remote staff. Check that the company is committed to remote work and what processes they have in place.
- Fully remote position or hybrid: some work from home software companies will advertise positions as remote but on closer examination they are hybrid. This means that at some point during the work week you are going to have to make an appearance in the office. For some this is okay while others prefer 100% remote.
- Location: there are tech companies that allow remote work but still require employees to be in a certain area, be it a city, state or country. It may be for legal reasons, for tax purposes or because of something else. You will need to find out if the company you are considering working for remotely has any geographic restrictions.
- Working hours: working hours can vary depending on the company. There are those that expect remote employees to keep more or less traditional work hours while others are very flexible as long as the work gets done.
Where to Find Remote Tech Jobs Today: Top 7 Popular Sources
Tech workers have a variety of sources to search for remote jobs. Here are 7 popular sources for finding remote tech jobs:
- IT recruitment agencies: for IT recruitment Europe and North America have both international and regional agencies. IT recruitment agencies can assist specialists with finding remote positions. Recruitment agencies focus on acquiring talent for full-time positions.
- Tech-focused job boards: there are some good tech job boards where developers and engineers can look for remote work. StackOverflow Jobs and AngelList are just 2 of the many tech focused job boards you can check.
- IT staffing agencies: a remote IT staffing agency is similar to a recruiting agency except they are more focused on finding tech specialists to fill temporary positions. Jobs that an IT staffing agency for remote workers provides may offer contracts of 6-12 months or for the duration of a specific project. They help provide virtual staffing solutions for companies that aren’t looking for full-time employees. Through a remote staffing agency software engineer remote job seekers can find employment with companies all over the world.
- Software development agencies: software development service providers are agencies that contract to companies to help with custom software projects or delivery of technical expertise in through team extension/argumentation, dedicated teams, or project teams. Software development partners often have a large number of teams to service multiple clients and may hire developers full-time, part-time developers or by the project.
- Freelance platforms: you can find plenty of remote tech work on freelancing platforms such as Upwork, Freelancer and Toptal. Depending on the platform it can sometimes be competitive and the pay may be lower than most of your other options.
- Software development vendors: a software development vendor is a company that develops its own product and markets it to other businesses. They often hire remote specialists to provide services to their clients.
- Online communities: if you specialize in a particular technology or framework there is a good chance there is an online community for it. You can find out about remote openings from member and some communities even have their own job boards. Reactiflux is an example of an online community for those working with the React framework and there are communities for Vue, Django and many others.
Regardless of where you find remote tech jobs, make sure you know how to prepare for a virtual interview so that you make a good impression.
How to Work Effectively from Home
After you have landed that remote job it’s time to get to work. Here is how to work effectively from home.
- Set up a work space: you don’t need to designate a whole room as your office but you will work more effectively if you have a regular space you work from be it a table or desk. Make sure you have a comfortable chair and everything you need in your area. Try to find a space with as few distractions as possible to work in.
- Have the right tools: the tools will vary depending on the company but you will need a good internet connection, video conferencing software as well as job management and collaboration tools.
- Stick to a regular schedule: while remote work has the advantage of flexibility most people are more effective if they stick to a regular schedule. This doesn’t mean you have to work traditional office hours; just try and work to the same schedule every day.
- Take regular breaks: people tend to be more effective if they take regular breaks throughout the day. Put in 45 to 50 minutes of good work and take a 15 minute break.
Working remotely has plenty of advantages but it can also lead to feeling lonely and isolated. Here are a few tips to help you keep a positive attitude.
- Interact with people: communicate with other employees throughout the day and make it a point to get out and talk to people from time to time.
- Have a regular finish time: when working from home it’s easy to get caught up in what you are doing. Establish a regular stopping time for your work day.
- Work outside occasionally: make it a point to work outside the house once a week. Working in a café, library or co-working space with other people around will make you feel less isolated even if you don’t directly communicate with them.