There are pros and cons for working remotely. And although there used to be a single option (go to an office), today more and more employees have the option of working remotely. In fact, 60% of companies offer that as a perk to employees. This raises new challenges and questions. There are many tasks that are difficult to complete.

And there are distractions as well.

The perks for working remotely have also some detractions. Consider the following examples.

Many consider a perk of working remotely is that they don’t have to go into the office. They get to stay at home, wear whatever they want, relax and not feel as pressured as they would at an office. They can get work done at their own pace, in their own time. They feel less pressure than working in an office.

Unfortunately, a lot of these perks can be seen as negatives as well, at least to an employer. An employee working at home may not have the same drive as they would have in an office. They might struggle to handle the work load. They might be slow to meet deadlines. They might have a lack of productivity.

An employee who feels that he or she is motivated by having a boss check on them may need to be in office to continue their productivity. But they may also need to adjust to having a less “intensive” approach when it comes to work focus and concentration. So there would be challenges if that person would need to work from home.

Another perk many people see when they work from home is that there will be fewer distractions than if they had been working in an office. There are no coworkers coming into their cubicle, less distractions from employees of other departments, no loud music, no general disruptions.

But working from home can pose additional challenges. While there are no coworkers to disrupt, there are no people to talk to and share conversation with. If a person working remotely wants to talk to someone, they can always call someone but there is no one there in the house to talk to. While this is not always the case, it happens sometimes.

Working from home, while having fewer distractions than working in an office, can be isolating. This may make it difficult for people who are used to being around people and want to be around people. Staying in a house all day can give someone cabin fever. That leads to someone working from a public location.

And someone working from a public location can face numerous distractions. Distractions happen in coffee shops, in libraries, in parks, in museums, and in many other locations that people would work from. Distractions can happen at numerous locations. If a person has cabin fever, they will face distractions in a public environment.

Still, many companies are turning to the virtual office as a way to have employees engaged in a virtual company. A virtual office has many of the same characteristics as a regular office. There may be a meeting room or different cubicles to sit in. There may be ways of messaging different people. There may be ways to go into the executive office.

There are some statistics about virtual offices that are worth noting. They are:

• One of the things a virtual office can provide is the on-demand use (hourly, daily or weekly) of conference rooms and offices for meetings.
• One of the many benefits of using a virtual office is not having to commute.
• According to a new study, the top 10 industries most likely to use virtual offices are: financial, legal, consulting, technology, real estate/brokers, healthcare, marketing and advertising, entertainment, retail, and construction.
• According to the American Management Association, organizations that implemented a telework program realized a 63% reduction in unscheduled absences.

Virtual office suites are a popular way of doing business in a virtual world. Virtual office suites enable a company to have virtual offices where “people” can “reside” and “can be contacted.” Virtual office suites enable people to also have meetings or communication with one another. Virtual office suites are helpful.

There are many terms that are associated with the virtual office. They are office solutions, office space, office in the city, office space for rent, virtual office furniture, and more.