The coronavirus has most likely changed the way we work forever. Prior to Covid-19, working from home was gaining in popularity, yet it was far from mainstream. Many employers simply weren’t happy to have employees out of the office on a regular basis.
Attitudes towards working from home have changed dramatically this year however. Not only has it become clear that modern technology enables employees to work remotely without disruption, but also working from home offers significant advantages for both employers and employees.
Given this win-win situation, working from home (at least part of the time) is likely to become the norm in many industries going forward.
For investors, there appears to be a huge opportunity here. With that in mind, here’s a look at some top stocks that could potentially make you money as the remote working trend accelerates in the years ahead.
UK work-from-home stocks
Two companies that immediately come to mind are Softcat and Computacenter. Both of these FTSE 250 companies help organisations with their technology infrastructure. Their services include digital workspace (remote work), collaboration, and cloud solutions.
As companies across the UK move to transform themselves digitally so that employees can work remotely, Softcat and Computacenter should benefit. Both of these tech stocks have outperformed in 2020 and I expect them to keep rising over the medium to long term.
Operating in a related field is Kainos. It’s an expert in digital transformation that has been helping organisations with their technology needs for over 30 years. I imagine it too will benefit from the work-from-home trend.
Gamma Communications is also worth mentioning. It’s a leading provider of communications services, or Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS). Its highly flexible communications solutions keep businesses connected.
Turning to the FTSE 100, I think Sage could also benefit from the work-from-home trend. It’s a leading provider of cloud-based accounting and payroll solutions. When a business chooses Sage for its accounting or payroll systems, employees can access the systems from anywhere.
Cybersecurity play
Finally, don’t forget about cybersecurity. More people working from home means more vulnerabilities for cybercriminals to potentially exploit. It’s crucial that employees working remotely have robust cybersecurity systems in place.
One UK company that should benefit from the work-from-home trend is Avast, which recently joined the FTSE 100. It’s a leading provider of cybersecurity software with over 430m users worldwide. It advised recently that the work-from-home trend has provided a “strong tailwind.”
Foolish takeaway
In summary, there are quite a few UK stocks that could benefit from the work-from-home trend in the years ahead.
Most investors are looking at the more obvious, US-listed plays such as Zoom and Microsoft. However, I think taking a closer look at these more under-the-radar UK stocks could be a very smart move.