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Working from the office has always been the norm. But when the pandemic hit, institutions and companies in Malaysia, and the rest of the world, had to make changes to adhere to social distancing rules. We now see a change in tune to working from home. In fact, it is more than a trend, an employee benefit, or a temporal solution to the current pandemic. Expect working from home to become the new mode of work in the future.

However, it is now apparent that technical requirements have a key role for remote working to be successful. A strong internet connection happens to be the most important thing for sound work from home. It allows remote employees to complete their work, collaborate with colleagues, and remain in contact with customers.

Let’s talk about the growing demand for high-speed internet for work-from-home employees.

In 2020, a massive shift from the traditional office to the home office was inevitable as organizations strived to adhere to the health protocols aiming to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Some companies took all their operations online, while others required some of their team members to work from home. Many globally renowned organizations have already changed their conventional way of work. During this period, 67% of Malaysian companies required their staff to work from home.

Among the top companies that have adopted a full work from home model is the credit-card startup Brex. The company announced that it would be allowing its first shift of employees to work virtually.

Coinbase also allowed its staff to choose between telecommuting or working in the office once the pandemic ends. The company, which has several offices in different cities, aims to reduce the office space to a single city. This clearly shows how serious they are about embracing work from home.

Spotify also released a policy allowing its staff to work from anywhere. Employees working from this music streaming company are now free to choose whether to fully work remotely from the office or combine the two.

Major companies that have settled on hybrid models include Reddit, which allows staff to choose whether to work remotely, from the office, or combine the two. However, it excludes some roles in IT and facilities.

Salesforce also announced three options too, including office-based, fully remote, and flex working. The flex policy means employees will work from the office 1-3 days a week for customer meetings, presentations, and collaborations. Another major company to adopt a hybrid work model is Intuit. The financial software company now allows employees to work in the office for 2-3 days per week and the rest from their home.

A strong internet connection plays a central role in achieving the essential tasks of a normal executive and stay in touch with the office. For example, Zoom calls with colleagues and downloading cloud-based documents. Although working from home may sound easy, it is often a complex endeavour. When a job is typing in a PC and submitting work or attending several Zoom meetings, it appears easy to achieve that from any location. But in reality, not any space can double as a workplace, particularly when you think of the remote work internet speed requirements.

Internet services often require minimum connection requirements, whether you are aware of that or not. For example, streaming the highest quality content on Netflix requires 25 Mbps, while standard definition content would require you 3 Mbps.
When you attend an online meeting, it is not whether the picture is 4K quality but whether you can communicate to your coworkers, clients, or bosses.

For video conferencing, the minimum speeds needed depend on the video app you are using.
The following video apps require the adjacent minimum speeds.

• Zoom – 600Kbps (1.5Mbps recommended)
• Skype – 512Kbps
• GoToMeeting – 1Mbps
• Microsoft Teams – 500Kbps (1Mbps recommended)
• Google Hangouts – 2Mbps
• FaceTime – 128Kbps

Note that you need to have faster speeds than the listed minimums, especially when you are on larger group video calls. Besides, you need faster speeds of other people in your home who might also be working from home or just video calling their friends. If you are web browsing or using email, 500Kbps is enough, but you need 5Mbps to download large files.

Work from home employees who use cloud-based services would want to know the Mbps they need. Basically, downloading or uploading large files such as videos on a cloud-based application like Dropbox, Google Drive, and Adobe Creative Cloud would require you to use 10Mbps. But chances are, you would want faster speed than that. Fast internet speed is critical; otherwise, one gets grainy video calls, interrupted communication, and prolonged download times that delay their work. When such happens frequently, it can lead to a decline in productivity.

If you think remote working will end with the pandemic, you are mistaken. Companies have realized how work from home reduces site costs, while employees now find remote work setups to be more productive, thus helping them accomplish more.

A survey by theSkimm revealed that over 1 in 5 millennial women would prefer to quit a company that bans working from home in the future. In a different survey of over 2,000 people who worked from home during the pandemic, 58% revealed they would consider looking for another job if the company could not allow them to continue telecommuting in their current position. Additionally, 65% would prefer full-time telecommuting post-pandemic, while another 33% revealed they prefer a hybrid work model.

Businesses that may still insist on working the traditional office in a post-pandemic world should expect an increasing disconnect between workers reluctant to return to their offices and leaders pushing to get them back. Companies will be looking forward to offering greater flexibility to compete for limited talent.

Working from home requires a strong internet connection. You need flawless video calls, communications, and faster download and upload. Working with a leading connectivity provider such as Allo Technology can help improve your internet connection to meet your work-from-home requirements. Focus on your fundamental duties as we offer the support you need. Reach out to us today to learn more about how Allo can help.