Have you seen virtual offices for rent? Did that leave you wondering how in the world you rent a virtual office? Virtual offices provide all the benefits of an office space including online space, technology, support, conferencing options and more while allowing employees to work from the comfort of their homes.
The first use of a virtual office space by a commercial company was in 1994, well before most people realized that option even existed. In a recent study of over 1000business professionals, 65% of them reported that they allowed their employees to work remotely.
The ability to work from home is a significant job perk that will entice the requirement of top quality employees while also increasing employee retention because telecommuting employees don?t want to give up the option of working from home. A recent survey found that 46% of companies that allow employees to work remotely experienced a reduction in attrition and a 63% reduction in unscheduled absences.
When asked over 80% of workers said they would view the option of working remotely as a significant perk. Having to commute to work has been found to be an important factor in employment decisions. 14% of people in the United States have reported changing jobs in favor of a shorter commute. Almost 60% of the state that the greatest perk to telecommuting in the cost savings of not commuting to work.
There is an ample amount of research supporting the benefits of telecommuting and the use of virtual offices for both employees and businesses. Sun Microsystems found that employees are working from home use up to 60% of the time they would have spent commuting to work actually working, so the company was getting more out of each work day.
According to the Office Business Center Association, the growth of virtual offices is exploding in many areas. In a survey of 442 office business centers, the growth of virtual offices went from 7.8% in 2008 to 18.3% in 2009. That means the number of virtual offices being used for business more than double in a years? time. According to another recent study, the 10 industries most likely to use virtual offices are financial, legal, consulting, technology, real estate, healthcare, marketing and advertising, entertainment, retail, and construction.
From the business standpoint, the benefits of utilizing a virtual office are nearly endless. In addition to better employee participation, productivity, and retention, the company is also saving an enormous amount of money that would have been spending on office space rental, utilities, furniture, office supplies, renovations, and many more overhead expenses that add up really quickly.
This isn?t to say there aren?t costs involved in running a virtual office. There are still rental costs, storage, software, technology solutions, and more than need to be purchased and maintained in order to have a productive virtual office. However, those costs are nominal compared to the cost of running a physical office. You completely avoid the need for things like cleaning personnel, receptionists, office maintenance, etc.
Finding virtual offices for rent is also significantly easier because you don?t need to concern yourself with location or traffic. You can find virtual offices for rent within minutes from the comfort of your home, and you can have your virtual office set up and ready to go in no time.