A day in the lives of Nigerian remote workers

Bola Deji, a 27-year-old staff of one of the new digital banks, had never thought about remote work as a long-term fixture until her company declared everyone was going remotely.

To her, a normal day starts when she leaves the house every morning to the office, and her day at work begins when she logs into the desktop the company assigned to her. She works in the client service unit of the digital bank.

So at the close of work, she logs out and that is the end till the next day. It was therefore difficult to imagine bringing ‘the bank home’ and still doing the same job that was taking her out every morning and subjecting her to unproductive Lagos traffic.

But when the coronavirus pandemic became a national concern in Nigeria in March 2020 and a countrywide lockdown was imposed, Deji was one of the reluctant workers to embrace remote work.

Remote work is the practice of employees doing their job from a location other than a central office operated by the employer. Such a location could include an employee’s home, a co-working space, a private office, and any other place outside of the traditional corporate office building.

In recent times, many companies have come to embrace the concept for various reasons, chief among which is a reduction in overhead cost.

According to Global Workspace Analytics, companies can save around $11,000 per employee per year if they allow their employees to work remotely 50 percent of their time.

Deji says her office responded to the situation quickly by establishing a business continuity plan, by creating technology platforms with personal codes that enabled every staff member to work remotely without any hitch.

Setting up an office at home was the first step in enabling Deji and her coworkers to align with the new realities.

“All it took me to set up my remote desk is my laptop, my internet and we have our individual token from the office which authenticates our personal identity electronically by storing some personal information,” she said.

According to her, she subscribes N10, 000.00 per month on Spectranet. When there are issues with the network, she connects with her MTN or Airtel.

She uses Microsoft and Zoom for meetings with other office members, or to hold team discussions.

“It depends on the network. We do have challenges with the network, but the Microsoft team is the best to connect with my working place. Sometimes we usually get N5000 allowance from the office to support our subscription and other maintenance. But most of the time, we finance it ourselves,” She said.

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She has no more anxieties about remote work and would even be reluctant to go back to full onsite work should the company ask to come back.

Working remotely for her has been very productive, with flexibility in working hours at the same time helping me to give my family more attention and care.

Samuel Davis who works with High Brow Research, a media company and always works from home, agrees with Deji.

Davis says setting up his remote desk has been the best thing given that he is an introvert who enjoys staying and working on his own.

“I set up my remote work with my laptop, internet connection – Spectranet, and I have some applications on my phone like alarm and reminder that always helps in keeping me on track,” he said.

Davis also gives an idea of the cost of his remote work equipment including his Spectranet, laptop, and the cost of the subscription.

“I bought my laptop N120, 000 and it has been serving the purpose, and then I have my Spectranet which I bought 23,000 and serving me too in getting my work done. Where I work, we get a bundle of Data every month but if you finish it before the month runs off, you will be the one to further the finance. When I was using mobile data, I subscribed to N5000 and will now have an added bonus that helps me,” he said.

However, Davis said he will always choose to work from home because of the flexibility, no pressure attached to work, and no time constraint while he still pointed out some disadvantages like being overweight due to staying in one place and feeding habits that would have been reduced when you are working in the office.

He also noted that sometimes he gets bored and feels the need to communicate with colleagues physically.

Emma Orji, a graphics designer who often works from home noted that workers from home deliver more irrespective of some challenges in terms of the internet, light, and other hindering factors.

He said the closing time for normal work in the office is 6pm but he works anytime at night and sometimes wakes up as early as 4am in the morning to connect and start working because the productivity of his work depends on the number he is able to work per day.

“I started working from home since the Corona Virus outbreak and I must tell you that the advantages are much despite the fact that sometimes there is a breakdown in facilities needed to carry out effective work. I don’t care about traffic, transportation fare, and there is a joy I derive from working without supervision which has always helped me to be good in what I do,” he said.

A staff of one of the insurance companies also gave his own point of view on remote working following his experience.

“Companies can save a lot of money on running costs that come with employees reporting to the office,” He said.

The staff noted that working from home is definitely not advantageous to employers alone, but employees can also save costs from transportation, fueling their cars, and eating out as a result of having to check into the traditional work environment.

“Working from home can be a huge contributor to the overall wellbeing of an individual as a result of reduced commute time, fewer hours in the office, more family time, and less contact with potentially ill co-workers. All these are the right mix for a healthier and more productive worker,” He said.

However, he said that as of 2019, Lagosians were said to spend an average of 30 hours in traffic weekly. According to him, these are hours professionals can put to productive use for their businesses or employers.