Telecommuting: The Entrepreneur’s New Best Friend Written by Tigo Ponce de Leon ‘22
W
ith the COVID-19 pandem-
ma, which in the physical sense of the workplace was
ic having ravaged the globe,
unsolvable, is now non-existent thanks to the spread
white-collar workers in all
of video conferencing platforms. Ian Siegel, the CEO of
hemispheres have now been
ZipRecruiter, sums it up nicely: “Already, employers
confined to their small living
are finding themselves offering [flexibility] as a benefit,
spaces, wrestling with the ques-
that flexibility of remote work, [where you can] set your
tion: will this situation last? Today, video conferenc-
own work hours and location.”
ing services are the non-essential worker’s equivalent
of the brick-and-mortar office—that is, without the
about many things, but most importantly, they care
mindless hours of commuting, the constant overwatch
about profitability. Put bluntly, 9 out of 10 startups fail.
of coworkers, and the deflating small talk. Pre-pan-
When there is a chance to reduce costs, business own-
demic, only a slight 15% of Americans worked from
ers make sure to take advantage of it. Now that busi-
home full-time; post-pandemic, the figure is now up
nesses have abandoned their physical workspaces, its
to an astonishing 50%. Although many employees miss
importance is being heavily questioned. In fact, some
the simple beauties of face-to-face interactions, pro-
companies are already making changes; Aetna, a large
ductivity levels for businesses are around 35-40% higher online, leading many to assume that this virtual world, whether employees like it or not, is here to last. As the very essence of how a company can manifest itself progresses into this new e-frontier, entrepreneurs are
When it comes to business, entrepreneurs care
Most importantly, Entrepreneurs care about profitability. Put bluntly, 9 out of 10 startups fail. When there is a chance to reduce costs, business owners make sure to take advantage of it.
insurance company, has transitioned around half of their workforce online, thereby saving $78 million in real estate costs. With the exception of essential services, everything that can be done physically can also be done online, not to mention at a lower cost. Especially in the initial stages of
beginning to learn that online, anything is possible.
a business, where budgets may run thin, entrepreneurs
must save every dollar they can.
The bane of many emerging businesses is the
extreme difficulty of finding talented and gritty pro-
spective employees. According to CB Insights, 23% of
businesses will capitalize on its many advantages to
failed startups can be attributed to an ill-qualified team.
ultimately experience more success. With lower costs,
To find a vast network of hiring options, entrepreneurs
higher productivity, and more convenience, virtual
must spend large sums of money to operate their busi-
working is not just a temporary solution to the current
nesses in dense cities. On the other hand, more afford-
pandemic; it is the gateway to the future. As more and
able and less dense areas are cheaper, but the hiring
more businesses shift online, the entire premise of work
talent pool is also considerably smaller. This dilem-
will forever change.
15 Entrepreneur Illustrated | Society
With the rise of video conferencing, emerging
