Does Working from Home Decrease Productivity

After Yahoo decided to ban its employees from working remotely, a serious debate has started around the world, whether working from home decreases productivity of a company or not.

Due to this ban, people who want to work from home would be disappointed. With this ban the most affected class would be the woman. For them working from home gave an opportunity to earn their living as well as take care of the family from the comfort of their home.
But now it would not be possible, at least for Yahoo!

So why working from home decreases productivity of a given company?
Is it true or just a myth?
Let us find out.

Why there is a Debate that Working from Home Decreases Productivity?

Why suddenly Yahoo decided to ban their employees from working remotely? Does it really decrease productivity? Or Yahoo is just overreacting?

Well! we really do not know what is going inside yahoo, so we can only speculate.
Before we discuss all possible reasons that may decrease productivity, let us debate why people want to work from home.
Is working from home better than working from office? It may be good for you but does it benefit the company.
Therefore, we will also compare working from home to working in office.

Why People Choose to Work from Home?

Today technology has made things easier for us. Now we are connected through each other much closely than before.
People want to take advantage of the technology and want to work right from the comfort of their home.
They do not have to waste time in commuting and choose their working hours.
Moreover, working from home allows them to make money and at the same time they can take care of their family.
Hence, they want to work from home especially women.

Working from Home Vs Working in Office

If you compare both of them then you will find both have advantages as well as disadvantages.
In a work from home job, you do not have to travel and you choose your own work time. So boss is not standing on your head.
You can also take care of your family as you get more time.
But working from home could be less productive as I give you 5 reasons why it is so.

Possible Reasons Why Working from Decreases Productivity

1. Inferior Work Culture

The first possible reason why working from home decreases productivity would be inferior work culture. There is a lot of difference between working from home and working from office.
The work culture is very negative if you are working from home. At home, you cannot focus completely on your work because of disturbances and commotions. In home, while you’re working anyone can come and disturb you.
This certainly decreases the productivity. In office, you have to work in an environment which is very competitive and you have to give results within a specified timeline.
So the inferior work culture in home may be the reason for banning employees from working remotely.

2. Not Able to Conceive New Ideas or Thought

If you work for a company which pioneers technology then you have to be very innovative. For innovation or creating something new every day you need an ideal environment or the work culture.
In office, you will get to meet new people in cafeteria or while having lunch or tea break. There you could share an idea with them, so this exchange of ideas would help you think something new and innovative.
On the other hand, if you work from home then it is quite difficult to come up with an idea while sitting in a room. You have no one to share thoughts or exchange ideas.
So this could be another reason why working from home decreases productivity.

3. Poor Management

From the aspect of a company, it is going to be very difficult for HR managers to manage their employees. Moreover, managers or team leaders would find it very difficult to assign task and monitor each employee.
If employees are working from home then because of poor management company will not make the profit they desired. So it is certainly going to affect the productivity of a company.
Lack of discipline and inferior work culture would never allow a company to grow as they expected.
So working from home might be convenient for an employee but it has adverse affect on a company at large.

4. Reduced Competitiveness

As I said earlier working in home would never allow you to come up with innovative ideas. Hence it will reduce the competitiveness of employees working for a particular company.
Reduced competitiveness of employees means a company can never compete in a tough environment. If workers are not competitive then other competitors would take the lead.
So competitiveness of employees would be affected if they are working from home.

5. Breach of Company’s Business Secrets

This is the most important factor why companies would not allow their employees to work from home. Every company wants its business secrets not to be revealed.
A company puts all its effort to protect their data and other important intellectual property. Companies totally depend upon their intellectual property, specially software and IT industry.
So there is always a threat that an employee working from home could pass secrets regarding the work he or she is assigned.
You might have seen how it is difficult to get an entry to workplace of a company. You need special ID cards or biometrics to get access. They take all security measures to ensure only right person gets the entry.
Therefore, a company does not want their employees to work from home.

What is Your Decision?

Well! Finally, it is your decision. Whether you want to go for a regular job or work from home.
If you feel that a company is not allowing you to work from home then you can start your own business right from home.
There are plenty of business opportunities which can be started from the comfort of home.

If you are determined to work from home then you can do it because there are plenty of jobs available. You do not have to depend upon a big company.