Africa’s top Global Talent Acquisition Specialist and Human Resources Consultant, Temitope Olukunle, has said that the most qualified and skilled individuals for a particular job or project may not be physically located in the same place as the business.

She noted that in today’s global economy, it is increasingly common for businesses to work with individuals and teams located in different countries or regions.

Explaining the concept of the remote work stratosphere in the present day gig economy, she said that remote work is essentially the work that can be delivered outside the confines of a physical office location.

The ‘Gig Economy’ advocate, believes that technology has enabled great flexibility and opportunities to access talents across the globe, adding that businesses and organisations can lower overhead personnel costs and even scale their operations by engaging talents, especially from emerging talent pools like Africa and Asia.

She stated that several factors such as technology, reduction of overhead costs and others, make recruiting ones best talents remotely attractive.

According to her technological advancements in the 21st century have seen borders and barriers broken or become seamless. Innovations in messaging structures, payment systems, learning platforms among others, ensure that people can get the required training and infrastructure, to perform value-added tasks from wherever they are in the world.

Olukunle, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Outnovately Africa, gave an instance of the trend of self-taught programmers in Nigeria, who account for 4.1 per cent of the traffic that reaches freecodecamp; an online programming platform. At present, nearly 145,000 developers from Nigeria continually update and upscale their programming knowledge to global standards; hence forming a veriable source of skilled workers for software companies around the world.

On reduction in overhead costs, she said one of the biggest cost centers for many businesses is the rental payment for office space.

“These expenses can be significant, especially for businesses that operate in urban areas where real estate prices are high. By engaging remote staff, however, businesses can significantly reduce or even eliminate these expenses. Remote work allows businesses to operate without the need for physical office space, which can greatly reduce the costs associated with renting or leasing a commercial property. Instead of paying for rent and utilities, businesses can simply provide their remote staff with the necessary equipment and tools to work remotely,” she said.

She explained that hiring remote workers can be cost-effective for businesses because they are often more affordable than hiring in-office staff. This is because remote workers do not require the same level of benefits or overhead expenses as in-office staff. For example, remote workers do not require a physical workspace or office equipment, as they typically provide their own. This means that businesses do not have to invest in additional office furniture, computers, or other equipment.

“In addition, remote workers do not require the same level of benefits as in-office staff. This includes things like healthcare, paid time off, and retirement benefits. While it is important to provide fair and competitive compensation to all employees, the lack of these additional benefits can help to reduce the overall cost of hiring remote staff. Temitope believes businesses and companies can key into contracting best talents via the remote work pathway. With the ubiquity of international recruitment platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr, many talented but out-of-work professionals can offer their skills and experience, at agreed fees and commissions,” she added.

Stating that its a fast-expanding trend, Olukunle said that many businesses are turning to the remote work space to fill in roles and responsibilities that were traditionally carried out from an office location. Numbers abound that substantiate this claim.

A study revealed that roughly half of South Africa’s workforce engaged in full-time remote work, by the middle of 2021. Across Africa, current estimates have it that 42 per cent of the continent’s workforce work from home at least once a week.

She expressed optimism that the numbers will only experience an upward trajectory as candidates distinguish themselves in their roles and businesses see a reduction in overhead costs/expenses.

Another factor listed was better work-life balance. She noted that employee health, happiness and productivity should be one of the main concerns of any forward-looking enterprise. Remote work opportunities are the perfect, low-cost mechanism to achieve this objective. Temitope cites that remote workers who are able to take a quick nap or tend to the little one, will put in more productive hours and thus, give more value to the business they work for.

A recent study by a research group in Stanford University revealed that generally, remote workers averaged productivity levels 13 times higher than their peers in offices. Again when the anxiety of commuting to and from work is also removed from the picture, then you will have super-charged staff, ready to meet the day’s objectives.

She noted however that though remote work sometimes comes with certain challenges, they dwell chiefly on issues such as loose workplace structure and weak team bonding/collaboration as well as inadequate supervisory oversight.

“There are also barriers peculiar to remote work ecospace in areas such as Africa. The first in the category will be the inadequate power supply and related power infrastructure. The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) study, shows that 46 per cent of the population of sub-saharan Africa do not have adequate access to power supply. In addition, fast and reliable internet access across the continent is pegged at 39 per cent(2019), with data costs rising significantly over the years,” she added.