Having to work from home for the third time in the past two years, Ngo Thu Thuy, manager of a technology firm based in Hanoi, has been getting used to the cups of coffee made at home, the lunch by herself in her apartment without the voices of her colleagues, and the daily meeting with her boss.

In early 2020, when Vietnam officially announced the Covid-19 epidemic, many businesses allowed their employees to work from home even though the remote working culture was not common in Vietnam. Again, the 4th wave of Covid-19 that broke in late April has forced many businesses to switch to 'work-from-home’ mode.

Thuy's working time is quite flexible but she is still very busy. Online meetings are held regularly, even at 9pm when unexpected problems arise. She sends reports via email and her activities are managed by software. If she needs documents with signatures or seals of her bosses, Thuy orders online delivery services.

Under the impact of the global pandemic, working from home has become popular in many countries. Fujitsu said it will permanently close half of its offices in Japan and will ask 80,000 employees to work from home permanently. The idea of working remotely to reduce traffic is very important to Japan. The long-term goal is to create a less stressful working environment.

Large technology corporations such as Alphabet, Google or Facebook also offer similar policies. Twitter and Slack may allow their employees to work remotely indefinitely. Cloud storage service provider Dropbox claimed to be the first "virtual company”. For all of its employees, online working will be the “main experience”.

The Covid-19 pandemic has spurred a worldwide trial of working from home, reinforcing the viewpoint that many office tasks can be done in the garden, living room, and even the kitchen. In terms of benefits, employees are more flexible in their time and more active in their work.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of people working from home rose sharply. In the early months of 2020, about one-fifth of the world's workforce had to work from home.

Technology plays decisive role

A decade ago, most business managers disagreed with the idea of letting employees work from home. They argued that employees cannot be productive and effective when they are not under the constant control of team leaders or supervisors.

However, after being forced to allow their employees to work from home, businesses have found solutions to manage their employees. According to PwC’s survey, 31% of survey participants believed that technology plays an important role in enabling employees to work remotely.

Many service providers such as Misa, Mobiwork and FPT have launched a series of applications to help manage employees effectively. These task management apps also allow managers to analyze the status and the amount of work completed by each employee, department or the whole company to make timely decisions. Instead of having to do time attendance with fingerprints directly at the office, employees can check in anywhere with face recognition app.

Working from home doesn't mean that employees cannot see each other's faces and hear each other's voices. Managers can communicate with their employees through OTT applications and social networks. Zoom, Slack, Google Hangout... have been developed and updated continuously to optimize remote working efficiency. There are also storage and support platforms to help employees access to company data.

In Vietnam, Skype has been popular for a long time, but recently, since traveling has been restricted due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Zoom has become more popular. This app has been at the top among the applications downloaded on mobile phones since March this year. However, Microsoft Teams has been getting more popular among Vietnamese users after Zoom exposed some security problems.

For companies aiming for digital transformation, working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic is a good opportunity or a "test" to enhance online interact and work working method.

Control yourself to be effective

According to Mr. Simon Matthews, General Director of ManpowerGroup Vietnam, Thailand and the Middle East, the biggest difficulty of working from home is that it is difficult for employees and leaders to coordinate to carry out the work as planned.

In addition, employees must also strive to balance work and family, to minimize distractions at home. Lack of direct interaction with colleagues will increase feelings of isolation and reduce work motivation. This requires professionalism and self-control.

“To ensure efficiency when working from home, leaders must have team management skills, have a good business plan to motivate employees to follow the goals,” said Matthews.

With the new way of working, companies are looking for formulas to measure and improve productivity wherever their employees are. Trang Bui, Senior Director of Market at Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) Vietnam, said that training and development programs for employees and surveys about their physical and spiritual health when working online are being held continuously.

“Creating a good environment for employees to help them bring them to their full potential, whether they work at home or at the office, will bring high profits to companies. Making people feel that they are safe and comfortable working from anywhere is something every business must do right now,” said the JLL Vietnam’s expert.

According to JLL’s report, some corporations also support their employees by providing lunches and delivering office furniture and equipment to their homes. Google, Twitter and Shopify even offered subsidies worth up to $1,000 to their employees to buy furniture or equipment needed to work from home.

Although working from home is a trend, going to the office is still supported by more workers. According to a JLL survey, 37% of people said that working from home is effective but employees still have to go to the office at some point. A third of the survey participants said they did not want to work from home.

Duy Khanh

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