With the rising cost of living and interest rates going up, now would be a really great time to earn more money.
Inflation is rising at an alarming rate globally, according to the figures released by central banks all over the globe. We’ve already seen prices of things like groceries, fuel and other goods steadily rising, and it looks like there’s no sign of that slowing.
There is a surprising trick to making more money in this stagflationary environment. According to Winston Ong, CEO of outsourcing firm BruntWork, remote work allows staff to make more money. Remote work allows the lower cost of living and allows people to relocate to cheaper areas.
“While many professionals are no longer limited by jobs in their local area, there’s the potential for some to save on living costs by moving away from the big cities,” he says.
BruntWork is a company that specializes in helping SMEs set up remote teams in countries like the Philippines (virtual assistants are their specialty). While local companies enjoy substantial cost savings versus hiring locally, remote workers report earning much more than they would if they were working for a local company in an office environment.
In a May 2022 survey of over 500 remote workers by the outsourcing specialist, 84% reported earning more as a remote worker. This data suggests that remote work might be the very trick to push up wage inflation globally, allowing workers from developed and developing countries to increase the quality of their life and the size of their pay packets.
“Employees applying for remote roles should balance the cost of their living location with the salary on offer in order to extract the maximum financial gains from their arrangement. For instance, an employee based in a city with a lower cost of living while working remotely for an organization that pays a higher salary based on their location may be able to increase their discretionary income,” he adds.
It’s clear that the advantages of remote work help keep employees happy, engaged, and fulfilled. The optimal engagement boost occurs when employees no longer need to report to an office. Need to take a trip across the country to visit family? Or be home in the afternoon to attend a child’s soccer game? A traditional employee would need to request time off in order to do so.
But a remote employee can still clock in from home or regionally, as well as check in, as needed. Employees enjoy the freedom of remote work, all the more when 84% of remote workers reported earning more than their office-bound counterparts.
