The COVID-19 pandemic brought many changes to the world, and one still seen to this day is the high demand for remote work from employees across many industries.

While remote work physically can’t be done in certain industries, such as hospitality, some workers who find themselves behind a computer for eight-plus hours a day have been reaping the benefits of today’s modern technology by working from home over the past five years, and, according to some industry leaders, remote work is here to stay.

Darla Livermore, senior vice president, director of human resource management at NexTier Bank, said 165 of the organization’s 312 employees work what is called a “hybrid” work model where they spend some days of their work week in the office and some days working remotely from home.

NexTier has a remote work policy that all employees must sign off on, with the details of that policy determined by department managers.

“There are some departments that work two days remote and some that work four,” Livermore said. “It is all on the supervisor’s discretion. There is no set number of days for everybody. We do, though, reserve the right to pull everyone back into the office for any reason.”

For example, as department manager for human resources, Livermore allows employees in her department to work one day per week from home. The employees chose what day works best for them.

NexTier Bank moved into its headquarters at 101 E. Diamond St. in Butler in 2019, just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down businesses across the country, forcing them to go remote.

Despite investing in a new physical location, NexTier then had to make more investments, this time in new technology such as laptops, scanners and printers so its employees could work from home.

Lou Palumbo, chief information officer at NexTier Bank, said when the pandemic lockdown first began, he had to scramble to get all employees set up to work from home.

He sent employees home with laptops that were found in the office, but there weren’t enough for everyone, so he had to purchase more.

It cost NexTier about $1,500 per employee to get the remainder of the workforce the technology needed to work from home.

Livermore said the hybrid model of work at NexTier has worked well for the organization over the past couple of years.

“There is better employee satisfaction and retention,” Livermore said. “It gives them that work/life balance, less distractions and saves on commute.”

According to a study by the U.S. Career Institute, an online school that offers certificate programs, associate degrees and high school diplomas, remote workers in the U.S. saved an average of 55 minutes every day not having to commute to work in 2024.

The same study concluded that companies with 50 employees could save a half-million dollars annually by going fully remote, which comes to about $10,600 per employee.

Nearly all workers surveyed by the U.S. Career Institute agreed that working from home was good for their health, as 93% said working remotely has had a positive impact on their mental health and 90% said it has had a positive impact on their physical health.

“If we say we want everyone back in the office full time tomorrow, people that want remote jobs are going to start looking to leave,” Livermore said. “I think employers can’t take that risk because they can’t lose key people because they have a business to run.”

Speaking from personal experience, Livermore said she believes the main disadvantage remote workers have compared to those who are in the office is that it can be harder to advance a career within an organization.

“I think that for people who want to move up and have that career trajectory, it can be hard to do if they are not here,” Livermore said. “I tell my staff I can’t teach them anything if they are not here. My point is, whenever I was moving up, I learned off the other supervisors and had different experiences to get where I am today.”

According to John Birckbichler, managing partner of Habenicht Novak & Birckbichler LLP, 287 Pittsburgh Road in Penn Township, COVID-19 changed the landscape of the accounting profession in terms of client expectations and employee expectations as well.

Birckbichler said the firm has 34 employees, with 12 of them working a hybrid model, five working fully remote and the rest working full time in the office.

For example, one of his employees works full time from their home in California, and some also reside in other states such as North Carolina and South Carolina.

“When COVID-19 hit, the job market in public accounting was turned upside down,” Birckbichler said. “They didn’t want to apply to a firm where they had to go to the office every day, they wanted a firm that was remote. There was a time when it was very slim pickings in terms of available people to hire. We were sort of forced to open our criteria and accept someone who lived in California with a three-hour time difference.”

Birckbichler said changing the criteria for who they can hire benefited the firm because he was able to attract and retain individuals with skill sets he needed.

“The reality is that all we care about as an employer is that our clients are being taken care of and we are doing our jobs,” he said.

The firm did have to make some technology investments, particularly with the purchase of a digital document platform called GoFileRoom, which is essentially a “giant file cabinet.”

“That platform was very instrumental in us being able to be completely digital,” Birckbichler said. “It has the storing of documents and access from basically anywhere.”

The firm’s initial investment for GoFileRoom was around $15,000, with an annual investment of about $6,000.

Birckbichler said the firm also had to invest in multifactorial authentication to help protect the sensitive information of its clients.

“It’s like Fort Knox trying to log in to our system,” Birckbichler said. “Can’t do anything without your cellphone and two or three other verifications before you get in. We can’t afford to be hacked, and we are a target of hackers. We feel like our security protocols are extremely tough and have to be.”

For some businesses and organizations, creating a strong office morale is essential to its success.

That is the case for Experience Butler County, formerly known as the Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau.

“I think that people interactions are essential,” Amy Pack, president of Experience Butler County, said. “The fact that we make that happen is a priority for us. I think that the only drawback to remote work is not having your peers face to face where so many people feed off that interaction and collaboration.”

Experience Butler County has 14 employees, and has been operating on a four-day work week for more than a year.

Pack and her staff have an in-person staff meeting once a week to discuss ideas and for her to learn what everyone is working on.

Employees are able to work from home when they become sick or when the weather makes driving in to work too dangerous, but there always is room for flexibility depending on the employee’s work.

“We are in the people business, so we need each other as much as we need to interact with our partners or member base,” Pack said. “There are required office hours, and there are times you are working wherever you are. At the same time, everyone knows the work is there, and they know what they have to get done.”

When situations come up where employees need to work from home or remotely, Pack said there has been no decline in productivity.

“Zoom, Google Meet and all those things are so important to get the best you can out of not being in the same place as someone,” Pack said. “I see very little drawback in terms of what people can get done.”

Overall, Pack said she thinks remote work is here to stay, but what works for some businesses doesn’t always work for all.

“Each industry is different,” Pack said. “I think there will always be a balance of it. I see more flexed schedules compared to fully remote. I think some things you need to be in the office for and other things can be remote.”

This article originally appeared in the March edition of Butler County Business Matters.