The 21st century has come with many things, one of which is technological and ICT advancement. These technologies have assisted in many ways to make our lives easier as task that would have been done with much stress ten or twenty years ago can be achieved with one or two clicks on a computer.
These advancement in technology have also crept into our workplaces and have influenced the way we do our jobs. Complex analysis that would have taken days to compute by hand or simple calculator can now be done in minutes. Although these advancements seem to be very beneficial there are a few downsides, such as loss of jobs, as jobs that would have been done by ten people are now handled by simple machines.
One important area where advancement in technology have influenced how we work is in the rise in the number of sit-at-home professions. There is an astronomical increase in the number of people working from home, no thanks to 24/7 connectivity. A recent survey found out that 64% of people with regular daytime jobs still moonlight at home. 38% of people in management, business, and financial sector and 35% of people in professional and related occupation work from home. The number of people working from home increased from 19% to 24% between 2003 to 2015.
The most important reason for this paradigm shift in work pattern is the technological advancement. With the aid of effective and efficient connectivity, people can work from just anywhere in the world, be it home or play. The benefit attached of this is the reduction in time wasted in commuting and the avoidance of the commuting stress. The cost factor is also important, as the cost of commuting or renting office spaces can be taken out while working from home.
The financial sector has similarly experienced this shift in work pattern as many of its practitioners, from tax advisers to auditors, although having regular daytime jobs, work from home. According to a top financial site, the top 4 financial jobs that can be done from home includes; Day trading, financial writing, independent financial planner and other corporate financial careers like financial analyst and certified public accounting.
Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) can work from anywhere as well as provide 24/7 online services. A survey of almost 800 CPAs revealed that about 58% of them spent at least 11 hours per week in their home offices. Consulting services are one of the most popular task that moonlighting CPAs are involved in, as this does not necessitate the accountant to be present in person. This can be done online via Skype or any suitable social network. Tax return analysis can also be done online and sent back via mail. Writing of business plans can also be done online.
The bottom line is this, computers and smart phones are allowing many people in the financial sector to leave their monotonous office environment and work from the comfort of their homes, saving money and time in the process.