Over 4 billion people now working from home due to COVID-19 crisis

LOS ANGELES - If you’re suddenly and unexpectedly working from home, you’re not alone. Transparent Business, a remote workforce management and software company, estimates 4 billion people are now remotely working with no clear end in sight.

What’s more: nearly 75% of companies are planning to keep up to 40% of their employees at home,  even when safer-at-home guidelines relax.

If that’s the case, now may be the time to start embracing it.

“If you as an employee can make this work; make it effective for your employer right now - then it could become your new normal post pandemic and, guess what, you have a better work-life balance,” says Moe Vela of TransparentBusiness.

Vela says working from home provides a better work-life balance for both employers and employees.   

He shares tips for both.

For employers:

1) Make sure you’re using the best technologies and tools available in the marketplace to run your company remotely.

2) Do not micromanage. The tendency is to do just that, but Vela says that’ll only make workers less productive.

3) Communicate more than ever, preferably through videoconferencing for that eye-to-eye contact.  

For employees:               

1)  Establish a routine. This means, get yourself ready as if you’re heading into the office.

2)  Designate an area of your home as your new office space and maintain that.

3)  Communicate more than ever to build that trust with your boss.

Vela does have a main concern and it’s a big one: the toll it can take on one’s mental health.

“You can feel very disenfranchised.  So it’s really important to engage in self-care.  Take breaks, take a walk, go into the garden, go to your own kitchen and make your own sandwich. THAT’S therapeutic!” says Vela.

From the money saved by eating at home to the time saved by eliminating your commute, Vela says it’s a win-win.

Get breaking news alerts in the FOX 11 News app. Download for iOS or Android.