I've spoken to 2,000+ people about remote work in the last 12 months
A few predictions of what is likely to emerge before 2030
[ a thread ] ๐ป๐ ๐
๐ 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
โฐ 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
โฝ๏ธ 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 isolation
๐ 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
โ 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
๐ฐ 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
๐ด 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
โ๏ธ Remote Retreats: Purpose-built destinations that allow for entire companies to fly into a campus for a synchronous week
Likely staffed with facilitators and educators who train staff on how to maximize effectiveness
โค๏ธ 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 their job will lead to deeper purpose in other areas
๐ฉ 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
๐งโโ๏ธ 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
๐ค Personal RPA: Robotic process automation will transform work for individuals
No-code tools that enable workers to build bots that automate menial parts of their roles will be huge
๐ Death of HQ: The office is dead but offices will persist. Theyโll be used less frequently then hardly at all
Co-working, subscription clubs, will emerge that let workers who prefer that mode of work to operate from there
๐ 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
The more companies I talk to the more I hear modern IT leaders expressing the need to completely shift how end-user computing equipment is managed, due to remote work
There are a variety of reasons why
Managing end-user or desktop computing equipment was always the most manual, least rewarding, hardest to staff, and lowest ROI activity IT engaged in
Thereโs no reason to be nostalgic or protective about this set of tasks