Vodafone Hungary is one of the first companies to switch to permanent remote working

As a unique approach in Hungary, since July this year, Vodafone Hungary has been offering customer service staff the opportunity to work from home in a permanent manner. Teleworking had already been part of ‘business-as-usual’ for the company; however, experience from recent months has shown that this approach can be introduced in areas such as customer service, where it had been thought to be unthinkable before. The company offers the option of continuing to work from home even after the epidemic, to colleagues enrolling in the programme; thus, taking a pioneering role in the development of innovative, digital ways of working.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced millions of employees around the world to work from home. In mid-March, Vodafone ordered all its staff working in the company’s Budapest offices to work from home, which did not cause any disruption in the company’s life, as home office had been part of the daily routine for years. At the same time, there are colleagues for whom, due to the nature of their work, it would have been previously unthinkable to work from home.

In view of the pandemic, the company also reorganised the work of these colleagues in a mere 2-3 weeks, allowing almost all of them to work from home during the emergency.

The rapid switch-over gave a new impetus, so Vodafone began working on making the new approach to work feasible and workable in the long run. In the first phase starting in early July, 50 percent of customer service staff will have the option to work from home permanently, which the company plans to expand in the future.

In addition to the pandemic, the needs of employees also justified a change in the working method of customer service staff, as a survey had found that nearly three-quarters of employees would take advantage of working remotely in the long run. This is not surprising, as remote working has numerous benefits both for employees and employers. On the one hand, colleagues save time and money by eliminating the need for commuting to work, and, on the other hand, the solution allows for more flexible work, and these factors, in turn, reduce stress and increase job satisfaction. It is also extremely beneficial from the employer’s perspective, as with the need to commute to the office coming to an end, it will be possible to attract employees for whom commuting had previously been an issue.