Plunged head-first by the pandemic into a future of work few had prepared for
But the novel coronavirus pandemic has forced a global rethink of where work happens. Overnight, working from home has become a sudden necessity for vast numbers of employees who’d never done so before. Before the pandemic, many digital tools for remote work existed; we just weren’t trying them.
Now, though, the virus has vaporized work-from-home falsehoods about “tele-shirking” or beliefs that certain work could never be done remotely.
Where once working from home was a privilege for the few, it’s suddenly become a necessity for many. Everything that can move online, must move online. With #WFH now firmly established, it would be foolhardy to assume we’ll ever go back to the old ways of working.
Remotopia will have important, lasting significance as a place where we’re empowered with networks and platforms to connect, create and accomplish. It's a place where we can self-isolate and still stay connected with the entire world.
We’ve been well on the road to Remotopia ever since digital tools and techniques began transforming how we live, shop and play.
In the early 1990's, before the Internet was even widely used, French economist Jacques Attali predicted a future in which rich elites would embrace a nomadic lifestyle, traveling the world for work opportunities.
Thankfully, the prediction extends beyond the rich. The archetypes of Remotopia are the young tech workers “crushing it” on a project for a few weeks in exotic locales, and then retreating to the nearest Instagrammable ecosanctuary to decompress. Imagine 21st century hunter-gatherers, armed with iPads and helipads.
But Remotopia isn’t found just on the beaches of Bali or Phuket. It’s also happening in small towns, where life moves slower and earnings stretch further, and in bustling cosmopolitan cities, where there’s no need for a draining daily commute.
No matter the lifestyle, people all over the globe are finding ways to make remote work fit their needs, both professionally and personally.
Organizations must learn to keep pace if they are to reap the benefits of a more engaged and agile global workforce. A growing number of workers won't have it any other way.
Welcome to Remotopia, the most productive place on the planet. Represented by both every place and no place at all. The term draws from the Latin root, Remotus (removed or far apart) and Greek word, Topos (place). It's not to be confused with the lauded Utopia nor the loathed Dystopia. Challenges and triumphs both take residence in Remotopia.
Any "remote place" is relative. Thus organizations and individuals must continuously update their understanding of Remotopia as a dynamic concept as opposed to a static location. In sickness and in health, in horrendous or gorgeous weather, work tools will accompany Remotopians from their home office and bedroom to their couch (and if it’s nice outside, to their lawn chair).
Because of the coronavirus, a more focused picture of what Remotopia looks like is coming into view. Caregivers will remain gainfully employed. Older workers will extend their careers from the comforts of home.
It’s not difficult to imagine homes of the future being built – or retrofitted – with dedicated home offices: routers in the right place, soundproofing, and flattering lighting for video conferences. Perhaps we'll even see advanced child locks to keep them out of the office for those all too important calls.
