Everyone dreams about working from home. For the American worker still struggling with the stress of commuting and the distractions of coworkers visiting their office, working remotely sounds like cool salve on a hot sunburn.

But how many American workers could really get things done if they had the option of hanging out in their pajamas all day? It turns out, a high percentage of workers are not only more productive working remotely, but they’re also more engaged.

What are the latest statistics on the WFH craze? What trends will impact what is becoming the new normal of a distributed workforce? Is working from home a totally positive experience or are there drawbacks to consider?

Happy New Year, Creative Professionals!

January of the New Year always brings forward-thinking predictions and historical look-backs. In the creative fields, we often try to determine in advance what consumer or economic trends will affect the products and brands we’re trying to promote. Predicting future advertising trends is always tricky, but there is one thing that we can count on as staying front and center in 2019 — technology.

Try Googling “age discrimination in the workplace, 2018.” You’ll get millions of hits.

At Artisan, we hear a lot of stories from "older" workers (this essentially means anyone that isn’t a millennial or a member of the new Gen Z) about working for years at a big company only to be laid off just as they were beginning that final march toward retirement. Many of these workers believe sincerely that they have been discriminated against.

Freelancing contract jobs are definitely the new normal. That’s because the work world has shifted into an on-demand employment model that mirrors our on-demand digital lifestyles. We can work anywhere now, and we do. Freelancers can be found in every coffee shop and nerdy hangout space in our nation, and of course, at home on the couch.

It seems we have a wee bit of a problem extending outside ourselves to apply empathy in the workplace. That wee problem translates into big money for companies of all sizes that are failing in their efforts to engage their workforces.

A 2015 Gallup article spells out the problem: Only 30% of U.S. employees are engaged. Worldwide, only 13% of the workforce is engaged. This means the majority of employees aren’t fully contributing at work. This leads to lower productivity, higher absenteeism, higher safety incidents, and according to Gallup, more theft. Gallup also says that companies with engaged employees outperform competitors by 147%.

Building digital products is a complicated process that requires some way to organize all of the products' features. Think about it for a moment; every functionality on this website was created by a Web Developer. Every scroll, button, click, automation, page loads, and so much more, were mapped out as part of the software development process.

We’re not that into our jobs. No, really. Most American workers are unhappy with their work and calling it in.

Last year, CBS News did a report on the American worker and found that 51% are disengaged, meaning they do the bare minimum to make their paycheck. Another 16% are “actively disengaged,” meaning they spend time at work complaining about the job, the company, and anything else they can think of. The keyword is “actively.” These are the employees who are acting out of their unhappiness, spreading negativity, and ruining workplace culture.

Every culture has its own lingo. In addition to native language, there are buzzwords and lexicons that involve a kind of vernacular shorthand. Industries are ripe with acronyms, slang is rampant across cultures, and popular activities have their own vocabularies.