When was remote work born and what are its benefits?

March
26, 2021

5 min read

Remote work is a reality that has reached labor markets around the world and has quickly become one of the main career trends. This thanks to advances in information and communication technologies (ICT), social, educational, economic and business development in recent decades.

However, remote work is not new. The concept is over 40 years old and is due to scientist Jack Nilles, who worked remotely (from home) on a communication system for NASA. Nilles proposed “telecommunication” as a beneficial tool to free up roads, take advantage of renewable resources and save time. Thus was born the concept that we know today as remote work and, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), it will become the usual way of organizing the labor market.

This new paradigm has led multiple companies to offer remote work as an option for their employers and collaborators, even governments have created reforms in their labor laws to regulate it and give some guidelines of good practices of this work modality. The ILO indicates in a recent report that the United States, Colombia, Japan, Sweden and Finland are the countries where remote work is most practiced, and places Latin America and the Caribbean as a region where it is beginning to be on the rise.

Remote work has already shown its advantages and the benefits it can bring, both for the employer and for the employee. Different studies have shown that, if technological resources are used appropriately, productivity and quality of life increase, there are economic savings for companies, and the quality of work increases.

On the latter, Alexander Torrenegra, investor, Colombian businessman and founder of the Torre platform, agrees: “ Working remotely can be an experience as powerful as it is transformative . Talent should not be wasted ”.

This platform focuses on increasing the productivity of workers, reducing the cost of operating companies and gathering talent in the same space. Organize the professional profiles of thousands of Latino people so that they can be located by those companies, both American and Latin American, who are looking for their talent.

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This allows the experience, skills and strengths of each applicant to be accessible to companies, making talent “travel” to other parts of the world. In addition, through Torre , talent has access to job offers in other countries, which encourages entry in international currency and the expansion of the labor market.

“I have been creating companies with remote teams for just over 18 years, and although I have also had office-based companies, I love remote work, it has given me a lot of knowledge, there is a lot to learn,” explains Torrenegra.

Other benefits of remote work

• Enriches the work horizon: Companies can work remotely with talent from different parts of the world, which enriches execution processes and allows knowing the know-how of each region.

• Provides diversity: Studies have shown that the more diverse the background of a work team, the more likely it is that innovative ideas will be born.

• Better integration of life and work: It is possible to find professions that you are really passionate about, so that work is part of your life. In addition, you can share important time with the family, and save money by not having to move to an office, which also reduces physical effort and stress, positively impacting the quality of life.

• Better wages: There is a favorable conversion in wages for Latin America if you live in a country in the region and work remotely for a company based in the United States, which is an important motivation.

Without a doubt, remote work is shaping up to be the future of the world of work, transforming talent and the local workforce into a global workforce that favors the socio-economic development of the world. Now it is the task of workers and companies to join forces to make the most of this labor paradigm that is here to stay.