Did you know that 45% of U.S. employees work from home, or are virtual employees?

The concept of working remotely has been floating around for a while now, but it’s only in recent years that it’s becoming more apparent to companies about how beneficial it could be to offer the option of remote working to the whole team.

According to Forbes, Amazon (3rd), Dell (6th) and IBM (7th) are just three of the 100 top companies that allow telecommuting in 2016. Here’s an infographic highlighting some of the top benefits of working remotely.

Improves employee satisfaction

Working remotely can improve employee satisfaction because of the ability to create more of a balanced work and personal life. In fact, 36% of employees would choose working remotely over a pay rise, and two-thirds of people want to work from home. It can also help work absences: 78% of employees, who call in sick, really aren’t. They call in sick because of family issues, personal needs and stress. These are three reasons that employees are less likely to use to take the day off when they’re working remotely.

You can save time and money

By working remotely (or telecommuting), money can be saved for both the employees and the company itself. Whereas employees will save on the commute and time wasted getting to and from the workplace, the company will save on office rent and employee retention. Nearly six out of ten employers identify cost savings as a significant benefit of working remotely.

It offers more flexibility

Flexibility for employees working remotely is another benefit that you’ll struggle to find when working from an office. The flexibility allows you, as an employee, to work around you other commitments without compromising your workload. For example: caring for children and pets, as well as be able to attend doctor’s appointments and run errands. 67% of companies are starting to understand this, by occasionally allowing their employees to work remotely.

It improves productivity

58% of both employed and unemployed Americans believe that workers who work remotely are just as productive as those who work in an office. Being able to work to your own schedule and have more autonomy can have a significant impact on your productivity – over 2 thirds of employers report increased productivity amongst their telecommuters. If you’re a night owl, you can get your hours in during your evenings, and early birds can get stuck in as early as they want to. Clinked’s client portal is a perfect example of a SaaS designed to improve productivity in a company. The perfect amount of collaborative features makes Clinked ideal for teams looking to work more efficiently (together, whenever, wherever), without getting distracted by unnecessary extra features.

Better employee engagement

Employees will feel driven when given the freedom to work away from an office. 32% of employees who work remotely are even slightly more engaged when compared to office workers, who are 28% engaged. Armed with the knowledge that they’re being trusted to manage themselves, employees will have a confidence boost and will be more motivated to work harder and yield better results when working remotely.

It can help the environment

Working remotely eliminates the need to travel to an office everyday, saving costs and helping reduce climate change. In fact, half-time telecommuting could reduce carbon emissions by over 51 million metric tons a year – the equivalent of taking all of New York’s commuters off the road.