Where the Trend of Remote Work Settles
Remote Work
is a flexible way of earning and living that drastically reduces commute times and supports teams working in different countries, cultures and timezones.
It's not the same, but it rhymes with the past
It's never been this way before, but it rhymes with the past. In the 20th century we saw a boon in commuting because the Ford Model T made cars accessible for the middle class.
· Early 1900s - streets dominated by pedestrians, people moved freely, cars only for the wealthy
· 1908 - Model T by Henry Ford came out, cars accessible to the middle class
· By 1925 accidents had become major issue, campaigns were initiated by car associations to shift public behaviour.
· 1930s - One strategy way to popularize the term "jaywalking", by the 1930s streets had become the domain of vehicles
· Jump to 2019 - 80% of people commuting use cars https://www.statista.com/chart/18208/means-of-transportation-used-by-us-commuters/
The Transition to Remote Work
Now let's take a look at how this translates to remote and telecommuting.
Up until 2018, remote work was seeing signs of interest, but the proverbial dam had not opened yet. E-mails and conference calls were the best we had, but it wasn't enough. It needed something drastic to change public perception. Unfortunately we found that event in COVID-19. The entire world shutdown and we had to adapt to not being able to go outside. One of the adaptations was socializing and communicating online. Video call platforms stepped up and saved the day.
During COVID, Zoom went from 200 million meeting minutes to 3.3 trillion meeting minutes every year! Wow.
Zoom hosts 3.3 trillion meeting minutes every year.
https://teamstage.io/zoom-statistics/
We now had the Triple Tailwind that enabled Remote Work.
1. Pristine Video Calls (Hardware and Software)
2. COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of remote work and made video calls socially acceptable
3. We've spent the last 14 years developing an online reputation and moderation tools
Software is the backbone of remote work
It's important to note, as we (Vibehut Video and related tools) pioneer a new way to connect online, the quality of the software and hardware has a drastic impact on our desire to use them.
Google Trend Term: Remote Work
This is a Google Trends graph. I've only talked to a few people about this. What is your best guess for what the search term is? Hint, for the first time in human history this is possible. [..] Query parameters: Worldwide, from 2004 - present, and a 2 word search term.
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7141463404711428096/
When Taboos Become the Norm: Online Dating
On December 11th, Scott Belsky posted on X about a graph from Our World In Data. The red line stands out isn't shocking, it's clarifying with data the reality we all see. People meet online for relationship purposes now.
https://twitter.com/scottbelsky/status/1734299970155462816/photo/1
The Big Question -- What About The Office?
The total value of commercial real estate in the world is approaching US$115.00tn. The second largest being office real estate.
The value of Commercial Real Estate market is projected to reach US$115.00tn in 2023.
https://www.statista.com/outlook/fmo/real-estate/commercial-real-estate/worldwide
Comparisons of IRL > URL are signs of social media saturation and office culture swinging back. People are tired of doom scrolling and looking at the 100th list of 5 things you should know before Monday. IRL is preferred because it fully utilizes all 5 senses. Specifically, the physical world has better resolution than the pixels on our screen. We can smell the fresh cup of coffee and feel the water while we swim. IRL is clearly preferred in most environments.
However, there are scenarios where technology and the virtual world have changed our lives for the better. Video calls allow us to teleport. We can talk to people who are physically in different places around the world. The alternative is to fly and meet in one place. Spending valuable time and money. Video recordings, allow us to have infinite memory and perfect recall of a conversation. Say it once and replay it forever. Additionally, the internet allow us to multiply our audience size into the millions, imagine a stadium with the size of MrBeast's reach. Our technological feats have not gone unnoticed.
But to compare means to choose one over another which isn't needed. Instead, let's identity the scenarios where IRL or URL are best suited.
Our new normal is IRL + URL.
