LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Before the pandemic, studies show only about 5% of Americans worked from home.
Now, it is believed that as many as 50% of people are working from home and many are wondering how long it will last.
If you're looking for a work-from-home success story, look no further than Rimini Street. The Las Vegas-based software support company has been operating remotely for years.
The company's chief executive officer Seth Ravin, says other companies are catching on, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the novel coronavirus closed businesses across the country and offices became potential breeding grounds for the virus, companies were forced to get creative.
"You’re in an environment, right now, where, the revenue stream has been disrupted for so many companies, and they have to adjust their cost to match the reduced revenue or they will bleed to death in cash," said Ravin.
The simple solution for many has been allowing employees to work from home. It's something Ravin knows all about. He founded Rimini Street in his living room in Centennial Hills 15 years ago and built a successful software business with mostly remote workers.
"A lot of the reasons the costs are so high in this industry is just because people are flying around and it costs a lot of money to move people around to work on-site," said Ravin.
He says Rimini's remote workforce allows them to offer software services at a fraction of their competitors' prices.
"We come in and we offer our services at half the price of what the software vendors charge the customer. So, think of us as the Jiffy Lube of the software industry. You can go over to Jiffy Lube and get an oil change for $29 or you can go to the dealership and probably get it for $70. A lot of people choose Jiffy Lube," said Ravin.
Plus, working from home allows employees to spend more time with friends and family.
"In our world, if you’re not home, you’re on the road and you’re going out to customers. And so a lot of our employees, our engineers, would’ve been out on the road for four or five days a week, coming home for a weekend. And now, they get to be home with their families all the time," said Ravin.
With teleconference technology like Zoom becoming more mainstream during the pandemic, Ravin says companies will use the tool to transition to a remote workforce.
"That change is going to change business further because once you culturally accept remote meetings and the idea we have these remote get-togethers, then you can bring it back into the business and you can capitalize on it," said Ravin.
Ravin believes businesses are currently re-evaluating whether it's wise to downsize their current offices or keep their offices closed indefinitely.
"Is it really just to get together with other employees where that’s an efficient use of time? Rather than spending your days in the office, you come in for particular reasons and primarily to meet other employees," said Ravin.
Rimini Street is one of the rare companies that's seen growth during this pandemic. And as a result, Rimini currently has dozens of job openings they're hoping to fill as soon as possible.
If you'd like to view Rimini's current job openings, click this link.
