American employees and job seekers today in the 21st century have more options than ever before for their workplace arrangements. For office work that is based on the telephone or computer, many employees are still commuting to offices to work alongside their peers. But this is not the only option, as many jobs can be just as easily performed remotely, at the employee’s own residence. Working from home has become an attractive option for many, such as selling life insurance over the phone or inbound sales careers, or even call center jobs or dispatcher positions. A job seeker may look into selling life insurance over the phone if they do not have much transportation, for example, or if they believe an office would be too noisy a place for selling life insurance over the phone. These remote postings may also make for flexible careers for moms who can’t easily leave the house for work. How and why might someone arrange to work by phone in their own home?

Making the Move From the Office to the Home

Many American employees are working in traditional office spaces, where they are selling life insurance over the phone or making sales calls to business partners. There are some advantages to this, such as being physically present to impress a boss with productive work or using fax machines on the premises. But there are also some reasons to relocate from an office to a home office instead, and often, this can boost a worker’s productivity quite a bit.

One reason to relocate is because of the sheer dirtiness of the office. While many offices have maid services on hand to clean the premises, not all offices are totally clean. Some offices have dirty carpets that emit VOCs, airborne fumes or particles that may be inhaled all day long. A dirty air conditioning system may circulate bacteria, VOCs, dust, pollen, and more for hours on end, and studies have shown that such airborne particles may decrease the cognitive function of anyone who breathes them for long enough. No manager would want that. And the air and hard surfaces such as door knobs and computer keyboards may have a lot of bacteria, and people may be coughing or blowing their nose in the office. All of this spreads illnesses that may case people to take sick days.

An office worker may also relocate because of the noise. Offices can be noisy, with a lot of phone-based or face-to-face conversations happening at once. All of this ruckus can frazzle an employee’s nerves and distract them, and this may boost stress levels and increase work error rates. On top of that, the noise makes it difficult for anyone in a phone conversation to hear and understand each other and this can lead to poor customer service. And that, in turn, may lead to an angered customer giving up on a company, which costs the company money.

An office worker may relocate to a home office to avoid the noise and dirtiness of the office entirely. A home office needs the right furniture, along with a telephone and a computer with Internet access. In this quiet space, phone-based customer service may be much better, and email, Cloud data storage, and live video chat keep a remote worker connected with everyone else.

Remote Work for Job Seekers

Some job seekers may want remote positions to start with. Some job seekers have a college career or an existing job that takes up time, and a “nine to five” office job may clash with their schedule. By contrast, flexible remote jobs over the Internet or phone may mesh easily with an existing schedule, as remote workers often choose their own hours. And as mentioned earlier, selling life insurance over the phone or jobs like that may be helpful for single parents who can’t easily leave the children behind for work, so they can have it both ways. Remote jobs are also an attractive option for job seekers who do not have reliable transportation to an office. Finally, job seekers with sensory issues, phobias, or social anxiety may enjoy remote jobs, when office jobs (or the commute there) might overwhelm them and decrease their productivity.