The changes caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic can be felt in every facet of life. From healthcare, to travel, and even down to how we choose to spend our free time, it’s undeniable that the global pandemic forced everyone to reassess their approach to life. And in very few places is this reassessment more evident than in our new approach to work. Strict restrictions on in-person engagements meant that several organizations across the world had to reconsider how they engaged with their staff. This meant that organizations had to employ measures in making work more remote-friendly in order to begin functioning in full capacity.
Almost two years later, relaxing restrictions and new policies have indicated a return to work. But with the recent adaptation of remote work, ‘return to work’ now has a new meaning and a new dynamic.
The global push to remote work is not without reason. Remote work has proven to be better for employees by making it easier to achieve a healthier work-life balance and eliminating commute stress. By eliminating stress factors like a daily commute, engaging in remote work allows employees to often achieve higher levels of productivity and output as they can work in as much comfort as they want.
Remote work also greatly expanded the labour market beyond your immediate location. Looking for work suddenly became a truly borderless endeavour. And this bore advantages for the employers as well — they no longer had to rely on building or renting office space to accommodate all their staff. They could also broaden their horizons while looking for labour.
Lacking local skilled workers to accomplish certain tasks is no longer a difficult problem to solve, but instead, an opportunity to not only inject some diversity into your staff but also a means of providing people across the world access to new opportunities.
Additionally, by eliminating daily commutes or long relocation trips, remote work is better for the environment in the long run.
An industry that really benefited from and seamlessly adapted to remote work was the tech space. As employers across the world were pushed to rely on virtual office spaces and remote employees, it became increasingly apparent that tech experts like developers and product designers could also be the most easily outsourced. Businesses realised that as technology allowed work from home, it also strongly benefitted tech jobs that were already reliant on the use of technology to simplify tasks and streamline processes. Once businesses realised that tech labour could be perfectly conducted remotely, the door opened to several emerging remote markets where this tech talent had been rapidly developing over the years.
A perfect example of one of these emerging remote markets is Nigeria, where the increasing prevalence of tech startups has been encouraging several people to also pursue a career. Boasting Africa’s largest technology market by Internet users and mobile subscriptions, as well as being the second-highest tech-startup density on the continent, with Lagos alone having over 400 tech startups valued at over $2 billion, the climate has created an encouraging ecosystem for people interested in starting a promising career in tech. The lower barrier to entry (all you need to start is a laptop and an internet connection) combined with the increasing presence of tech communities and resources that aim to provide training for people also interested in entering this space, has led to the creation of a large, skilled workforce that is ready and willing to work remotely.
Ultimately, remote work has presented many workers worldwide with an opportunity to take control of their working lives in a way that’s comfortable for them, while simultaneously allowing businesses to save money, and broaden the talent pool. Noting the benefits it poses for both employers and employees, it is difficult to say that the era of remote work will end anytime soon. It is instead a precursor to the new methods of working we’ll employ in the future.
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