companies who adopt or support a work-from-home model havepositioned themselves for two distinct opportunities. (Photo:Shutterstock)

As most places in the U.S. continue the practice of shelteringin place, many companies are starting to realize that remote workisn't just becoming the new normal in the age of coronavirus — itmay also be what they will need to implement to get through apotential recession.

Companies that have historically shied away from adopting moreagile work styles will struggle to attract and retain top talent,which could impact their bottom line.

Related: 4 ways agile working can help your organization toadapt

So as we anticipate the next recession, leaders will have toreimagine the workplace as an opportunity to evolve. It will proveto be, most simply put, a matter of organizational Darwinism.

Antiquated dress codes, workspaces, work hours, policies andprocesses are all up for revision – so how will companiesrespond?

As COVID-19 wreaks havoc on a global scale, markets haveplummeted, depleting $9 trillion and counting. Events,festivals and conferences have been canceled, professional sportshave been postponed indefinitely, flights have been grounded.

Leaders are faced with answering a seemingly impossiblequestion: What, if anything, can be done to shore up business nowas we collectively stare down a prospective recession?

Whether the recession rears its head now or 10 years from now,one thing is certain: It is inevitable. It's only a matter of timeif the patterns and repetitions of history are to be believed.

How a remote workforce can help

A recent study examined the market effects ofcoronavirus, with some remarkable findings. While mostcompanies' value have plummeted, they discovered that severalcompanies have thrived.

But how? According to the study authors, "We spottedfile management software Atlassian (TEAM), video conferencingprovider Zoom Video Communications (ZM), remote healthcare accessTeladoc Health (TDOC), exercise equipment and class providerPeloton (PTON), contact center 8×8 (EGHT) and similar names were up… we realized that this is the "Work from Home" portfolio."

In layman's terms, those companies who adopt or support awork-from-home model have positioned themselves for two distinctopportunities. The first opportunity is recognizing thisdownturn as an ideal time to invest in, create or support aremote-work workforce.

Take Growrk as an example. As a company that manages distributedteams' remote office needs, Growrk officially launched just sixmonths ago and has enjoyed a tenfold surge in client demand inrecent months. Their business model seized an opportunity to servethe burgeoning remote workforce – and has seen a windfall ofsuccess as a result.

The second opportunity recognizes that a recession providesfertile ground for market disruption. Consider the casefor companies like Uber and Airbnb–gig-economy newcomerspost-2008–which found that self-employment could provide a morereliable income than the unstable mega-institutions of the time.Airbnb was launched in 2008 and Uber in 2009, and both pioneeredthe rise of the gig economy initiated by the collapse oftraditional workforces.

We could even consider the case for our organization. Started in2010, BELAY took advantage of both opportunities afforded by aneconomic downturn by not only creating a remote workforce, but alsoby disrupting the traditional workforce models in providing otherbusinesses access to immediately deployable remote workers.

After all, necessity is the mother of invention andinnovation.

Making the case for long-term remote workforces

In a global market downturn, the only way to stave offirreparable financial catastrophe is for every organization torecognize that this is no time for rigid, reactionaryleadership.

It is time for proactive, adaptive leadership. It'stime for leadership to buck the status quo – to reject 'how thingshave always been done' – and to accept that survival will only beguaranteed to those who prepare and pivot.

But how, exactly, does remote work answer that call?

One word: Cost.

Let's break down the numbers. According to Global Workplace Analytics, the average savingson real estate with a full-time workforce is $10,000 per employeeper year, per employee.

Insurance giant Aetna, for example, eliminated 2.7 millionsquare feet of office space and saved $78 million per year. That aloneshould make the case for recession-proofing an organization with aremote workforce.

But incredibly, the financial benefits don't stop there. Becauseif saving tens of millions per year isn't enough, organizations cansave even more with a remote workforce by reducing:

Absenteeism: Unscheduled absences havebeen estimated to cost American employers $1,800 per year conservatively and up to$3,600. But with remote work, research found a 63 percent decrease in unscheduled absences peremployee.

Costs: More than 33 percent of U.S. workers surveyed said theywould prioritize remote work over having a more prestigious,higher-paying role. Another survey found that 78 percent of respondents said that flexibleschedules and remote work would be the most effective non-monetaryway to retain employees – up from 67 percent the year prior.

Turnover: According to a recentremote work report, 42 percent of 100-percent remoterespondents said they have been working remotely for more than fiveyears, 28 percent have been working remotely for three to 5 years,and 19 percent said they have been working remotely for one to twoyears.

Remote work makes dollars and sense

The bottom line: Hiring and maintaining full-time, on-siteworkers is expensive, but companies that can successfully migrate –in full or in part – to remote work will position themselves toadapt, survive and ultimately thrive when global markets inevitablyturn.

Still not convinced?

Then allow me to leave you with this: Based on conservativeassumptions, a typical employer can save an average of $11,000annually per part-time remote employee – yes, you read thatcorrectly – thanks in large part to increased productivity, lowerreal estate costs, reduced absenteeism and turnover, and betteroverall disaster preparedness.

It's been said that the best time to plant a tree was 20 yearsago. The second best time is now. My recommendation? Sow that seedtoday, and be prepared to reap the windfall of benefitstomorrow.

Tricia Sciortino is CEO of BELAY.

Read more: 

• What are the most desirable attributes in a remoteworkforce?
• Remote working: Preparing for the long-termworkplace shift
• How to create a policy that supports remoteworkers' needs