Some jobs you have to do in person. Most jobs in the service industry demand personal contact and manufacturing positions obviously need you to be there to assemble things, but a lot of white-collar professions only need you to sit in front of a computer to get things done. And with many online jobs, workers might not even meet or speak with their supervisors. All an employee or contractor needs is a good home internet provider and a solid PC.
By all indications, this trend of working from home is only going up. From 2005 to 2015, the home-based workforce doubled. Along with the way businesses are hiring remote workers and letting their current employees stay at home, the fact is that automation is removing jobs from those in-person professions like service and manufacturing. The internet is also encouraging self-employment and entrepreneurialism in new ways by connecting more people to larger audiences, so what used to be a hobby has become a way to make a living.
Online friendships and interactions are growing, too. It’s not uncommon these days to be more familiar with someone who lives on the other side of the planet than with someone who lives in the same apartment complex. And not just through text messages, either: thanks to the speed of modern home internet connections, you can chat with them through a voice service or use webcams to speak to them face-to-face. These connections are also a factor in why more employers are willing to let their employees telecommute.
And there are some definite benefits to working from home. For one thing, no commute means no need to drive every day. And if you live close enough to a grocery store or live in an area where you can have your food delivered, you hardly need to own your own car. The lack of commute also means you don’t spend those minutes or even hours in traffic, giving you more time each day to work or do whatever else you want while clearing the roads for those who still need to drive each day.
But all of this does depend on having a fast and powerful home internet connection. Not only does that mean having the cables in place that can move the amount of information you need, it also means choosing the right local provider and possibly switching to a fiber connection that can handle gigabit speeds without demanding a fortune. And if you happen to be a property manager, it’s important to know how to cater to the growing home office demographic.