Remoting like a boss
There’s a temptation to think that being or hiring ‘remote’ is a leap into the unknown and the unaccountable. Work in tech long enough and you will have your own war stories of outsourced work that never really lived up to quality expectations or heard the line sold by most off-shoring companies — “we work whilst you sleep” — only to be terrible for the work, as well as your sleep. It was simply more assured and less-stressful to do things in-house — and that included engaging freelancers.
If you make location an issue, it’s bound to be one.
Over the past few months there has been a clear mindset shift within the professional world with the way we are all working and how jobs can be done. A lot can change in 20 years and we have seen a rise of professional freelancing in the most sought after disciplines.
Due to better connectivity and collaboration tools, as well as the general embrace of better work/life balance, have made the labour market a lot smaller — for the better. This is especially true for the creative and tech sector.
Throw in COVID-19 and the new paradigm that has been forced upon all of us, the viability of remote working has been well and truly been answered in the affirmative. The main catalyst being in no small part because the economy would collapse if companies didn’t embrace this style of work amid lockdown and social distancing restrictions. Work still needed to get done.
However, there’s also been a clear mindset shift within the professional world. You only have to look at the multitude of empty office spaces in any of the world’s metropolises to appreciate that both hirer and worker are rethinking how jobs can be done — even as restrictions are lifted. The distributed workforce is here to stay.
