A substantial 69.9percent of people currently lacking jobs or "economically inactive"say that if they could work flexibly, they'd be interested in doingso. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Companies that want to better their position in a tight job market, as well as those concernedwith their employees' well-being, ought to be looking at how muchthey rely on remote work.

That's according to a new survey from The Center for Economics andBusiness Research, conducted in partnership with Citrix Systems, Inc.,which finds that a range of benefits ensue from companies relyingon technology to help them adopt a "work from anywhere"culture.

Related: 5 tips for managing remote work arrangements, froman expert

Not only can a remote work model be helpful to new employees orto workers recovering from illness, but it can expandaccess to job opportunities for potential workers with their ownneeds. According to the report, this is beneficial to employersbecause it boosts their profile in recruitment and labor retention,as well as increasing productivity gains across the country'seconomy.

This is not nickel-and-dime stuff, either, either to the economyor to workers. A substantial 69.9 percent of people currentlylacking jobs or "economically inactive"—such as people who had togive up working to care for children or elderly relatives, orboomers who are retired but would have preferred to stay active inthe workforce at least a few hours a week—say that if they couldwork flexibly, they'd be interested in doing so. That could add upto $2.08 trillion in economic gains across the country, as well asa GDP boost of 10.2 percent.

For people already working, there's even more interest, with 95percent of knowledge workers saying they'd choose to work from homean average of 2.4 days per work week. Not only would that save themtime—a cut of 5.8 billion hours in commuting alone each year—but itwould benefit their bottom lines, with $44.4 billion in commutingcosts eliminated annually.

A whopping 93 percent of all workers said that virtual/remotework would let them organize their time and tasks more efficiently,and 68 percent of part-timers, too, say they'd be more productiveif they weren't devoting time to commuting.

And then there's the benefit of greater work-life balance, with 11.9 billion hoursliberated that workers could use for personal and leisureactivities. The resulting greater productivity, motivation and jobsatisfaction workers would experience would pay off for theiremployers in a happier, and more loyal, workforce.

A change in government policy, as well as in the thinking ofemployers who don't currently use remote work, could streamlinesuch a transformation; in addition, the adoption of technology thatfacilitates "digital workspaces" could to an extent offset its ownexpense thanks to lower overhead, the need for less desk/officespace and lower printing costs. And that doesn't even take intoaccount reduced expenses from less absenteeism, less need torecruit/replace employees and a wider/better pool of candidates tochoose from.

Read more: 

• 7 ways to HR departments can make remoteworkers feel more included
• Cutting flex work harms companies' productivity,collaboration
• It's not enough to give employees flexible workschedules