Happy #Valentine’s Day. Do YOU people really #LOVE #RemoteWork.

Dan #FutureOfWork Sodergren

7 min readFeb 14, 2020

Remote working is a hot topic. It’s relevant. It’s emotional. It’s very millennial.

It can be controversial and divide opinion. It’s a bit like putting YOU in a headline…

Some people love it.

Some people don’t.

Those that love remote working — like Chris Herd (online advocate for remote working) think it’s the next big thing.

That offices are DEAD.

And many many more middle managers hate it. Or fear it. As they control those offices.

And it gets rid of their power. And they lose control…

But the question for me — as a futurologist is…

Will remote working be the norm for #TheFutureWorker?

I discussed this and other things on a couple of podcasts I have been invited to. One around tech 4 good and the other The Northwestify Podcast. It is also something that fellow futurologist Tom Cheesewright discussed on his podcast. About the future of recruitment.

So what’s your take on Remote work?

A few years back — there was a thought that up to 50% of people would be working remotely at least part by 2020. As reported in the HSO

“Between 2012 and 2016, flexi-time has risen by 12.35 per cent; and data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that the number of UK workers who have moved into remote-working has increased by nearly a quarter of a million over a decade.”

But surely not 50% are remote working now?

More importantly. Are you even allowed to remote work at your work? It really depends where you work. And how you work. Some jobs are impossible to be done remotely — some would be scary if you did. But if you are reading this on a computer or on your mobile. On LinkedIn. It is likely you CAN do your job remotely. Not to say that you would want to. But it’s an option. And apparently more and more people are signing up to it.

So what is the state of play for #remote work in 2020.

This year, Buffer, and AngelList interviewed over 3,500 remote workers from around the world. Their biggest data pool to date!. Each remote worker completed the survey (I am guessing remotely.) This gave them a behind-the-scenes look into the experiences and feelings around being a remote worker.

And it is firstly interesting to note that those people who don’t recommend remote work. Are on teams split between offices and remote workers. However those companies — like Buffer that have purely remote teams LOVE it.

Why LOVE remote work?

But why love it and why do it in the first place? One reason is as Chris Herd an online advocate of remote working points out ….

“The office used to be the only place you could access the technology you needed to do your job — which explains why we travelled to them. Now we commute to the office to use technology that is functional and available almost anywhere on the planet”

Some people LOVE remote work.

From the report many people love remote working.

With some compelling stat comings from the report including that: :

97% would recommend remote work to others.
Home is the number one primary work location for remote workers.
80% work from home.
32% say having a flexible schedule as the biggest benefit.
Not having to commute is a top benefit to remote workers.
Remote workers are happiest when they spend more than 76% of their time working remotely.

But it’s not all good as…

Some of the negative insights the new report uncovered:

20% of remote workers say loneliness and collaboration/communication as the biggest struggle.
Communication, collaboration, and loneliness continue to be top challenges for remote workers and remote organizations
The majority of organizations with remote workers don’t pay for monthly expenses associated with remote work.

And there could be a darker side to remote work as well. Which is not often thought about. And there is also the difficulty of remote work and the creation of a positive culture in the workplace. So not everyone wants to work remotely more…

It could be for some — that they NEED the office space to help create a sense of belonging and culture. When you have no shared workspace. It could be for some people working from home. Makes them more likely to have mental health issues and feel lonely.

But for some…

However — remote workings key function is to increase diversity in the workforce for your company. As if you product or service can be helped by remote workers,. then a recent U.K. study found that the gender gap in tech could be lessened by offering remote work options.

“Some 76% of women surveyed who work in technology said a remote work option is increasingly necessary to attract and maintain females in the tech industry.”

Perhaps this is the main reason why people are starting to fall in love with remote work. As well as the other benefits the evangelists for it say.

For me — the real interest comes from the HOW.

How do you create a successful company remotely?

How do you do what other don’t.

Getting rid of the office seems like a bold move.

Maybe even a foolish one…

As it simply isn’t possible for places where you want innovation and collaboration.

Especially when you want that between companies and ideas like at The Landing.

To conclude…. Remotely.

So we can’t get rid of offices and spaces and places just yet. However, we will need help in recruiting the right people if we want to remote work.

The person has to enjoy autonym and working freely.
They have to have a different mindset.
They have to be a different type of worker.

The future worker — might well be remote as well as office based. And so:

“recruiters and bosses will have to be aware of the values of those their look to employ BEFORE they employ them.”

Which is part of the reason WHY we built FLOCK.

With FLOCK with have a remote team too. Crossing two continents and two time zones with a tiny and growing team. As well as having a part time office / co working space. Originally with WeWork. And now at Manchester Science Park and The Landing too for our growing team.

Perhaps some people MIGHT love remote working but the future of work is a bit of both.

What do you think? Is purely remote the future of work?

Should we all love it?

I do.

But I am not so sure the rest of the world does.

Perhaps remote work — like love — depends on who you are and who you are with.

Happy Valentines Day from FLOCK.

As Birds of a feather…. FLOCK together.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -

Thanks for reading…

Please do “give this a clap or two”

And remember “sharing is caring” 😊

If you would like to read my regular posts then please click ‘Follow’.

And, of course, feel free to also connect via Twitter.

About The Author….

Dan Sodergren is a professional technology and digital marketing trainer and occasional futurist keynote speaker. He is a digital marketing trainer based in Manchester with Great Marketing Works. He trains companies and individuals in digital, social and mobile marketing. He also sometimes gets to talk about it all on radio and is even occasionally on the BBC.

He is an early stage investor in HR tech company FLOCK and now works as head of business services and marketing at the MediaCityUK innovation tech hub — The Landing.

The Landing @ MediaCity UK is workspace, community, business support, user experience testing labs, maker lab and events. The Landing is the technology enterprise incubator for high-growth companies at the heart of MediaCityUK.

However, all the comments and thoughts in this blog are from Dan Sodergren and to not necessarily represent the views and position of The Landing. Find out more about Dan Sodergren on bit.ly/DanSodergren

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —