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1/ How working from home could change the world (a thread)...
In the last few months, Facebook, Twitter, & Shopify have announced they'll continue to allow employees to work from home indefinitely. Other giants such as Morgan Stanley and Mondelez are considering doing the same.
In the last few months, Facebook, Twitter, & Shopify have announced they'll continue to allow employees to work from home indefinitely. Other giants such as Morgan Stanley and Mondelez are considering doing the same.
2/ Let’s imagine a world where working from home does become the new norm. What are some of the second- and third-order effects we may see?
3/ It’s well-known that the information age has caused the largest cities in the world to become overcrowded, overpriced, and over-developed, as everyone flocks to them for the high-paying tech, finance, and service jobs.
4/ Cities such as San Fran, São Paulo, London, & Shanghai have seen their cost-of-living soar, while internally their communities erode as they struggle to maintain jobs. This urban/rural divide has been ongoing around the world and governments have seemed helpless to stop it.
5/ But if you can now work from anywhere, why pay $3K/mo in San Fran for a dingy apartment when you can live in a house with a huge yard and a pool in Boise? Why spend 2 hours a day in traffic in São Paulo when you can enjoy the same quality of life somewhere smaller and quieter?
6/ Working from home might provide the great demographic reversal that policymakers have been desperately trying to create for decades. We may see a much-needed economic leveling occur between the coastal megacities & the interior small- and mid-level cities. That would be great.
7/ But another consideration: the culture & character of cities would change as well. Until now, cities have culturally and logistically organized around their major industries.
8/ Cities that relied on car manufacturing became car manufacturing cities. Cities that depended on finance developed cultures around finance, and so on.
9/ With most of the workforce being remote, I could see cities instead organizing themselves around hobbies, interests, and attractions. Cities will develop much more “character” & “personality” as the increased freedom of movement drives like-minded people to each location.
10/ Beach people will live by the beach. Mountain people will live in the mountains. Country people will live in the vast countryside. And busy city people will still opt for the bustling urban chaos.
11/ The quality and character of each location will become amplified, reversing another trend—the cultural homogeneity caused by globalization. Being in a high-end mall in Bangkok is indistinguishable from being in a mall in Toronto or Mexico City, in many ways.
12/ There are the same stores, same shops, same restaurants. Perhaps this will change that as regional tastes are amplified and each city/country develops more of its personal character.
13/ Either way, I welcome and encourage more companies to implement remote working. It’s good for the employees (no time lost commuting). It’s good for the companies (no more expensive real estate to maintain). And perhaps, it’s good for the world, too.
