The 2020s will be known as the Remote Work decade

A few predictions of what is likely to emerge

[ a thread ]

Third Space: Office and Working from Home will be joined by somewhere close by that a number of people will use

Supermarkets or local bank branches should emerge as a convenient ubiquitous location option – if they are smart

Asynchronous Work: Offices are instantaneous gratification distraction factories where synchronous work makes it impossible to get stuff done

Tools that enable asynchronous work are the most important thing globally remote teams need. A lot of startups will try to tackle this

Hobbie Renaissance: Remote working will lead to a rise in people participating in hobbies and activities which link them to people in their local community

This will lead to deeper, more meaningful relationships which overcome societal issues of loneliness and issolation

Rural Living: World-class people will move to smaller cities, have a lower cost of living & higher quality of life

These regions must innovate quickly to attract that wealth. Better schools, faster internet connections are a must

Constant Presence: Asynchronous work lets you have the issolation to do deep work but it's not always required

Communication solutions which enable presence, like an open mic while gaming, will become more compelling

Bad Tech: Remote will grow so popular so quickly that it will attract people who have no interest in it other than greed – like blockchain/crypto in 2017

Their lack of understanding of remote work will lead to them replicating the bad parts of office working remotely

Remote Rejection: Certain demographics and generations will reject the transition. Their benefit – that everyone in the office is like them and it's easier for them to progress – will be their reason

Companies that don't transition will be left behind

Diversity & Inclusion: The most diverse and inclusive teams in history will emerge rapidly

Companies who embrace it have a first-mover advantage to attract great talent globally. Companies who don't will lose their best people to their biggest competitors

Output focus: time will be replaced as the main KPI for judging performance by productivity and output

Great workers will be the ones who deliver what they promise consistently

Advancement decisions will be decided by capability rather than who you drink beer with after work

1 Car Households: The rise of remote will have tremendous indirect benefits towards slashing pollution

Families will benefit from only needing one car slashing cost of living, potentially cutting commuting a lot

Private Equity: the hottest trend of the next decade for private equity will see them purchase companies, make them remote-first

The cost saving in real-estate at scale will be eye-watering. The productivity gains will be the final nail in the coffin for the office

The death of Coworking: The last recession was the beginning of the end for bespoke vanity office

The next recession will spell the same thing for co-working spaces

The rise of remote will mean a majority of the 255m desk jobs globally are remote by 2029

Talent Wars: Remote work is the perk that is most sought after by workers globally. This will only increase

Remote-first companies will disrupt every incumbent who doesn't/isn't able to make that transition

Written Communication: the most important skill for workers to cultivate. Reading and understanding also key

Cultural issues arising from misunderstanding meaning behind the way people write becomes a big issue

Working Too Much: Companies worry that the workers won't work enough when operating remotely.

The opposite will be true and become a big problem

Remote workers burning out because they work too much will have to be addressed

Distraction Avoidance: The home office will skyrocket in popularity. A space at home to get away a necessity

There will be an explosion of people purchasing standalone units for their backyards for this

Global Citizens: Individuals with no national attachment become ubiquitous. Challenges of paying people cross border due to compliance and legal issues slowly fade away as the world becomes more borderless

Retreat Destinations: Global hubs will pop-up that cater to remote teams getaways

Resort-like escapes with a deep focus on team building, collaboration, planning, and efficiency. Hotels with facilitators /coaches who assist teams for the duration

Life-Work Balance: The rise of remote will lead to people re-prioritizing what is important to them

Organizing your work around your life will be the first noticeable switch. People realizing they are more than there job will lead to deeper purpose in other areas

Fractional Ownership: remote work will make advancement less important/more difficult

Rather than reward being a better title, fractional ownership could enable workers to be more easily rewarded with ownership of their companies/make the market for equity more liquid

Bullshit Tasks: The need to pad out your 8 hour day will evaporate, replaced by clear tasks and responsibilities

Workers will do what needs to be done rather than wasting their trying to look busy with the rest of the office

Decentralized Opportunity: Remote work will do more for inequality than anything in history. Workers everywhere will find the best, highest paying job

The fear that this will depreciate wages will be unfounded as companies will need more talent than exists

Accessible Jobs: Remote work will make work more accessible than it has ever been

Nothing will stop workers getting the job they deserve because there will be no obstacles in their way

Remote Tools: Companies operating remotely now will have created tools every remote team on the planet needs

@Zapier, @Gitlab, @GitHub, @FirstbaseHQ will spawn Mafias who take these internal tools and create startups around them

Several $Billion Startups to emerge this way

Multiple Jobs: The gig/freelancer economy will evolve. Remote work allows workers to have multiple employers

The difference in terms of reliability and consistency will be huge, eradicating doubt, lead to better conditions for workers

Remote Jobs: There won't be enough remote jobs for at least the next 5 years. World-class people will drive the change

They will demand more remote opportunities and realize the influence they have to make their companies give it to them

Remote Infrastructure: The focus on the sexy won't change any time soon

There is a missing half of remote work that's neglected because it's difficult, boring, and unsexy

It will be the most critical. Until that's solved remote teams won't scale globally easily

No Code: Will grows to dominate creation

@webflow, @figmadesign amongst others will democratize access unlike ever before. Remote workers who have an area of expertise and one of these broad skills will be unicorns at first, before everyone else realizes the need

Social Contact: Loneliness, disconnection neither improved or worsened by remote work

A number of people's main social contact comes at work, with people decided by their bosses hiring policy

Remote work must lead to deeper more meaningful relationships with friends/family

Health & Wellbeing: A lack of commute will give workers 25 extra days a year to do other things

Workers will exploit the freedom they have to organize things more freely in their day. Afternoon runs, morning meditation, 2 things a lot of people I know now do

Child Connection: Hearing your child's first laugh, seeing their first steps won't just be in the memory of one parent

Being there, feeling like your children know you. Dropping them at school each day. Small things that remote gives

Visa Issues: The problem with workers having to leave a job due to the expiry of their visas will no longer exist

Companies won't accept losing their best people simply because their right to be in a specific country expires

Remote will be an easy option

International Talent: Great for developing countries. International companies will access to talent globally

Access to opportunity will be decentralized

Job Title Death: What your job title is will become more irrelevant as remote work becomes more prominent

What you do, what you're capable of, the tools you can wield will enable you to do jobs that break you free from the shackles of a title

Universal Tools: Global workforce that understands and the same SAAS services means technical debt for training =$0

Companies add another seat to SaaS platform and worker uses the same tool they would use if they were in an office or with a different company

Older Workforce: Boomers may be standing in the way of the remote work revolution happening quickly, believe least in its benefits, lack the trust for it to emerge

Ironically, remote work will allow them to work far more easily later in life

Remote Living: Work from anywhere RVs will become huge business

Associated business parks and services will spring up. This will happen even more rapidly as self driving tech emerges

Expect a @Tesla product in this space

Personal RPA: robotic process automation will transform work for individuals.

No-code tools that enable workers to built bots that automate menial parts of their roles will be huge

Micro Co-working: a home on every street is transformed into a hyper-local co-working space.

It comes with all the amenities needed, like high-quality coffee, and has on-demand fitness equipment like @onepeloton bikes

Micro Co-working: a home on every street is transformed into a hyper-local co-working space.

It comes with all the amenities needed, like high-quality coffee, and has on-demand fitness equipment like @onepeloton bikes