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CategoriesLifestyle

How to Work Remotely in Canada for a Foreign Employer

Numerous polls indicate that remote work is here to stay, with 68 percent of respondents from a recent survey indicating they want to work from home either most of the time, or every day.

The remote work “trend” is turning into the “new normal”: many employees are demanding more flexibility when it comes to where they work and some are even choosing to leave their current job to find one that is fully remote. While remote work itself knows no borders, being hired to work remotely by a foreign company does involve some complexities.

Recently, we spoke with Marc Pavlopoulos, Founder of Syndesus, who says that using a professional employer organization (PEO) like then removes the complexities of cross-border employee-employer relationships. This company is making it even easier to work remotely!

Serving as the employer of record, PEOs help companies in foreign countries recruit, hire and legally employ remote workers. PEOs manage payroll, currency conversion, employee benefits, human resources and essential taxes on behalf of the foreign employer. They also ensure that cross-border employer-employee arrangements are in compliance with employment and tax laws (bet you didn’t expect to read that in a Big Calm post!). By enabling seamless, legal cross-border employment arrangements, PEOs open up a world of work opportunities for remote workers in Canada, including Big Calm tiny homesteaders!

And that’s where Syndesus’ recruitment services come in. Marc says that, due to growing demand, they will be enhancing their recruitment services to match Canadian workers with foreign employers. So, if you’ve decided to take advantage of the ability to work from anywhere, or #workfromhomestead, the world is your oyster!

Here is our conversation with Marc. Check out the Syndesus website for more information.

a remote digital worker with laptop outdoors at night under a starry sky
CategoriesLifestyle

The Future of Work is Remote, and the Future is Now

What do you value most in a job? If you replied “flexibility” or “work-life balance,” you’re among the majority of individuals who also place these values ahead of the nature of work, career advancement opportunities and even salary.

Below are the most interesting insights from reports examining the increasing trend in remote work.

Remote work is increasing. An analysis done by FlexJobs and Global Workplace Analytics showed a significant upward trend in the number of people working remotely in the U.S. In the last five years, remote work increased 44%.

FlexJobs: Trends in Remote Work Growth

Those who currently work remotely want to continue doing so, citing flexibility as their top reason. In a three-year survey conducted by Buffer.com, 98% of remote workers said they want to continue working remotely.

Buffer: Remote Longevity Buffer: Remote Work Benefits

Meanwhile, in Canada, individuals are similarly interested in remote work. In a survey conducted by the Government of Canada, most Canadians responded that, if they had the right to request a flexible work arrangement, they would be very likely to use that right.

Government of Canada: Flexible Work Arrangement

Not only is the ability to work remotely one of the most sought after work perks, individuals are increasingly demanding more flexible work. A study conducted by Regus Canada identified that workers demanding to work closer to home and remotely are the second and third biggest drivers of flexible working (following businesses’ desire to decrease office costs)..

Regus: Main Drivers of Flexible Working

Here are some other interesting stats:

  • Upwork’s May 2019 Future Workforce Report shows that 73% of all departments will have remote workers by 2028.
  • In a study by Softchoice, 85% of North American office workers expect their employers to provide technology that enables them to work remotely, while 74% of workers would change jobs based on a work-from-home policy.
  • In 2016, the Oxford Internet Institute created an Online Labour Index (OLI) that provides an online job economy equivalent of conventional labour market statistics. Here’s the 28-day moving average OLI for Canada showing a 50% increase since July 2016 (check out the site for overall OLI; and OLI by country and occupation).

Oxford Internet Institute: Online Labour Index

Bottom line: the remote work revolution is happening. It’s a great opportunity for both companies and workers (and reduced commuting means it’s also environmentally friendly!), and in most cases, it’s the employees driving the trend.

Photo by Johnson Wang on Unsplash