Cloud Geeni: Is remote working here to stay for law firms in the UK?
Throughout 2020, we’ve seen businesses across the board be forced to adapt to remote working suddenly and abruptly. Here at Cloud Geeni, as providers of managed cloud computing, we’ve been working closely with our clients to make sure that they remain protected and productive throughout the pandemic. If one thing is certain, it’s that the legal sector has been no exception to this change.
I have personally worked alongside clients in the legal sector and understand just how many unique challenges and hurdles law firms potentially face when taking on remote and hybrid working solutions. But with the hunger for remote working opportunities in the UK workforce only growing amidst COVID-19, this raises a question: is remote working here to stay for law firms, or is it a temporary measure?
Hybrid working presents itself as an enticing option
The short answer is that: yes, remote working is here to stay. With experts predicting that the number of permanent remote workers will jump 733% by the end of 2021 globally, there is little chance that the UK legal sector can avoid embracing this transition.
It’s worth remembering that remote working has long been coming – the effects of the pandemic have only accelerated this process (exponentially, to be fair). The advancements of technology and changing worker behaviour make remote working the productive and efficient work culture of the future.
But for law firms, it’s a little more complicated. With a need for watertight cybersecurity and data protection, alongside the need for the personal touch and contact that people will always demand from their solicitor, hybrid working begins to look like a more sustainable and permanent option.
Research is beginning to show that the UK workforce is entirely in favour of this, anyway. Around 77% of UK workers believe that a combination between office and remote working is the way forward in a post COVID-19 world. Visions about how this split is applied may currently vary between employees and employers, but the change should be welcomed by the UK’s legal sector. With the right services in place, law firms can ensure that their team remains productive and communicative while also mobile and flexible enough to work in a post COVID-19 UK.
But hybrid working will still mean embracing remote working solutions
This begins to sound like a perfectly appealing option for the legal sector. But it is also worth remembering that hybrid working still requires firms to invest in remote working solutions. The same issues of security and communication still apply to a hybrid workforce. In fact, from my own experience I have seen the incredible taxation that managing hybrid workers can take on IT managers and their team.
Managing the IT of a workforce that is split between working from home and working from the office makes performing the same duties twice as difficult. Fortunately, the rise in managed cloud computing services provides the perfect antidote to this problem.
I’d love to hear from those working in IT for legal firms to discuss your remote working or hybrid working needs. Get in touch with me at conor.marken@cloudgeeni.co.uk
