Did you know that 99% of remote workers have said that they would be interested in working remotely at least part of the time for the rest of their careers? If you are currently working remotely, that probably won’t come as a big surprise.
Many people have had to adapt to working from home in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that has brought some unexpected challenges, to say the least. However, even in these ‘unprecedented times,’ remote work also offers a lot of advantages.
Once you’ve got your home office set up and figured out how to stay productive, working from home can help you find a satisfying work-life balance. You can have the freedom to adjust your work schedule to fit your lifestyle, enjoy extra time with loved ones, and eliminate that stressful commute.
It’s good for business owners, too. In addition to saving money on office space, if you give employees the freedom to work remotely, their focus and productivity will increase. It helps recruitment and retention rates, too. 35% of employees said that more flexible working locations would attract them to change jobs.attract new talent to your team.
Working from home is trending so much, there are now over 10 million posts on Instagram tagged #WorkFromHome. It’s no wonder, really, since home workers like to stay connected, share their home-office design tips, and get inspiration from each other, just as much as anyone else.
But where are all these home workers based? Small business finance experts at Headway Capital have analyzed the data to produce an interactive map of home working hotspots.
Here are the top 10 locations for working from home:
#1 Jakarta
The top hotspot for people posting about working from home is the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, with 4783 Instagram posts in a two-week period. Considering the very low average internet speed of 3.7MBps (compared with 42.86 in the US), President Joko Widodo’s recommendation to work from home to prevent spread of infection must have been effective!
#2 New York
New York is very accessible to the work-from-home Instagrammer. With an impressive average download speed of 46.2, and 5400 coffee shops offering free wifi, the 3052 home-working posts add up. It costs more, though, New York and Los Angeles both have the highest internet rates in the top ten – a whopping $50!
#3 London
London home workers don’t just love to post about their stylish home-offices on social media. They are top of the list for work at home meetups, too. Meeting ‘face-to-face’ through video conferencing, for example, can be great for idea-sharing, problem-solving, and well-being.
#4 Los Angeles
Like New York, the internet is expensive in Los Angeles. But never fear – there’s an abundance of coffee shops where the price of a hot drink gives you access to the good stuff – free wifi!
#5 Mumbai
At $12.90, both Mumbai and Delhi have the cheapest internet in the top ten home-working hotspots. That’s just as well, because it seems like many employers are continuing to take a cautious approach to changing working-from-home arrangements, even as lockdown eases.
#6 Delhi
Delhi residents who work in India’s $147 billion tech industry can expect the home-working boom to continue for the foreseeable future, as government ministers and industry leaders predicted in May that around 50% of tech workers would be working from home.
#7 Bangkok
A poll of HR leaders in the Thai capital confirmed that many employers had implemented arrangements for people to work from home. It’s sensible to have a contingency plan for remote work in place for the foreseeable future, whether you’re a manager or employee.
#8 Toronto
Back in May, Toronto Mayor John Tory encouraged employers to prepare for a remote-working situation that would last until September. He also suggested that, when employees do return to work, that arrangements should be made to ease them back slowly. That could mean an end to the traditional 9-5 working day, and Instagram remote workers won’t mind that!
#9 Bandung City
The internet speed is a woefully low 3MBps in this Indonesian city, but perhaps that’s exactly why remote-workers are taking to social media to post. It’s a great platform to discuss the challenges of working with limited wifi, and to share advice about how to stay healthy and productive working from home.
#10 Surabaya City
The third Indonesian city in the top ten is certainly a hotspot for people to mention home working on Instagram, but similar to Bandung, it’s likely to discuss technical difficulties and reach out for mutual support. There are 1143 posts about home working in Surabaya, despite the fact is has the worst internet speed of 2.6 MBps, and only 103 cafes offering wifi. It may be a home working hotspot, but that’s far from ideal.
To find out where else is a #WorkFromHome hotspot, check out this interactive map from Headway Capital.
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