Working Remotely

We've learned to work remotely during the pandemic, but will that continue into the future here?

The pandemic last year, remote work has become routine for thousands of companies across the country.

But with vaccination rates steadily rising, how much longer can we expect working from home to stay?

News 12's kenan scott joins us now live with what local businesses and the chamber of commerce are saying about the future of remote work.

Emily, andrew the short answer is that a lot of businesses are expecting to adopt a "hybrid" model of both remote and in-person work going into the future.

When i spoke to the local chamber of commerce this afternoon, they told me that chattanooga has actually become the number one destination in the country for remote workers.

With the rate of covid-19 vaccinations steadily increasing, many employers and employees alike are thinking about the future of working from home something that has become part of our lives for the last year.

Sybil mcclain-topel with the chattanooga chamber of commerce says she expects that remote work is here to stay, at least partially.

In fact, she says that chattanooga is now one of the most highly sought after cities in the country to live for remote workers.

"we got a very high ranking with pc magazine, number one in the country for remote workers, and that's based on a lot of factors like quality of life and the fact that we have the fastest internet in the world.

So those are things that people are really looking at, lot's of great stories about people working for companies like spotify and other big brand name companies that have moved here."

At bluecross blueshield of tennessee, 96 percent of employees have been doing work remotely since the start of the pandemic, leaving their corporate offices largely vacant.

According to public affairs manager john hawbaker, this has shown that a hybrid model of remote and in-person work can be successfully utilized in post pandemic times.

"i think hybrid's a good word for it.

I think flexibility's a good word for it.

Resilience is another, we've demonstrated that we've been able to shift rapidly and still deliver the service that our members count on.

Another good example of when this matters is when we have a severe weather incident.

Now we know that we can deliver the service we need to with people working from home."

Hawbaker adds that the time at home will allow workers to spend more time with family, running errands, and doing other household tasks that they normally wouldn't be able to do if they were working full-time in the office.

Live in chattanooga, kenan scott news