Anywhere Operations, Mobile Employees & The Future of Work
Read our latest report to discover more about the links between anywhere operations, mobile employees, and the Future of Work.
Table of Contents
What is the Work Anywhere Model?
The “Work Anywhere” or “Anywhere Operations” model has been described by Gartner as “an IT-based organizational model that supports customer service, worker motivation, and deployment of products/services from anywhere, regardless of physical location”. Put simply, the “work anywhere” model empowers employees to perform their job from in any location with an internet connection.
Key Statistics
- 40% of businesses will have implemented anywhere operations to provide optimized and unified virtual and physical consumer and worker experiences by the end of 2023. (Source: Gartner)
- 63% of high-growth companies have already adopted a “productivity anywhere” workforce model. (Source: Accenture)
- 85% of people who feel they can be productive everywhere say that they plan to stay with their company for a long time. (Source: Accenture)
The Rise of Anywhere Operations
In 2020, workspaces across Ireland shut their doors in compliance with social distancing rules and employees were encouraged to work from home. During this time, some workers took advantage of the introduction of remote work policies and travelled back to their home countries. For this group, “anywhere operations” allowed them to enjoy a lower cost of living abroad while still enjoying the comparatively high salaries that Ireland offers. Once global travel restrictions further ease up, it is likely that more employees will follow suit and swap their home offices for sunnier, cheaper destinations abroad.
In fact, many holiday websites are responding to demand by promoting accommodation with dedicated workspaces. What’s more, a number of governments are currently revising their visa requirements to attract travelling professionals and remote workers. These include:
- Croatia
- Estonia
- Czech Republic
- Australia
- Dubai
- Costa Rica
- Thailand
Digital Nomadism vs. Anywhere Operations
In recent years, the Digital Nomad lifestyle received much attention in the press for highlighting how technological innovations have decoupled work and location. However, up until recently Digital Nomadism only seemed to be a feasible option for freelancers working in a narrow range of fields (e.g. development, marketing, graphic design etc.)
However, the pandemic offered many permanent employees their first taste of location independence and they liked it. The pandemic-induced work-from-home explosion showed that the digital nomad life is in fact very doable for more types of workers. Once the pandemic subsides and global travel restrictions ease up, it is likely that digital nomadism in the form of “work anywhere” models will go mainstream as many previously housebound professionals will grab their laptops and see the world.
Top Benefits of Anywhere Operations
For Employees
The “Work from Anywhere” model empowers employees by allowing them to choose the working environment that is best suited to them. This gives employees greater freedom, flexibility and control over their working lives. As such, they are more likely to enjoy higher job satisfaction and a better quality of life.
For Employers
Happy employees make for happy employers. Numerous studies have shown that improved job satisfaction and engagement among employees is linked to higher productivity and reduced attrition.
Another major benefit of the “Anywhere Operations” model is that it significantly expands the available talent pool for organisations. No longer confined by geographical considerations, organisations can now look beyond their direct locality when sourcing top talent. This is a particularly pertinent point for companies contending with skills shortages in their sector.
For Society
Organisations that implement “Anywhere Operations” can have a positive impact on communities around the world. The freedom to work anywhere has allowed many professionals to move back to their hometowns. Not only does this mean greater contributions to the local economy, but it also presents an opportunity to undo the brain drain that can be so prevalent in emerging markets, small towns, and rural locations.
Top Challenges of Anywhere Operations
1. Legal Complexities
PwC captures the legal complexity at the heart of anywhere operations, “With 195 countries worldwide and a workforce that can work anywhere, how can you ensure compliance with all the local regulations?” While opening up hiring to other countries has its benefits, it also comes with a fair share of legal challenges to navigate. Employers will need to ensure compliance with the tax, immigration, employment and legal requirements where each employee is based.
2. Calculating Salary Differentials
Organisations typically work out salaries based on two key factors – the local cost of living and the cost of labour. As a result, employee salaries vary significantly across cities, regions, countries and continents. With “anywhere operations”, it is the employees, rather than employers, who choose where to work. In the post-pandemic working world, employers will need to devise cohesive, consistent, and fair geographic pay policies across multiple locations.
3. Added Security Vulnerabilities
Remote working comes with a whole range of cybersecurity challenges. The complexity of these challenges become amplified when an employee moves abroad. As MarketScreener writes: “Many employees who are working remotely for the first time do not know the same best practices experienced remote workers know well, such as using a VPN on public networks, or not saving confidential information on their personal devices. Negligent workers are the most common reasons for cybersecurity breaches and the risk increases exponentially when working from anywhere.”
Key Takeaways: Anywhere Operations & The Future of Work
“Asking where people should work in the future might be the wrong question. A better question is: What unleashes a person’s potential, enabling them to be healthy and productive, regardless of where they work?” (Source: Accenture)
During the Covid-19 pandemic, organisations across the world experienced a “digital technology-enabled disconnection between work and location, and between work and time” (Source: ComputerWorld). This marked a major disruption to traditional working models and showed, once and for all, that there is a huge benefit in giving employees the freedom and the trust to work in the environment of their own choosing. As the world emerges from the pandemic, all eyes will be on organisations to see how they will respond to employee demands for greater flexibility in the long run. The uptake of “Anywhere Operations” represents just one part of the puzzle that is the Future of Work.