🎉The top remote work news stories (2022) | Ep19 OoO
Your news roundup and trend forecast for 2023. WTF happens to remote work now?
🕵️♀️ A year in review: The best news stories of 2022
🌟 Coming up: Remote work trends you’ll see this year
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👋 Hey! Welcome to 2023!
A new year means new episodes have arrived, but before we dip our toes into what’s ahead, let’s recap the huge moments we’re leaving behind.
It’s time to say goodbye to 2022, with a full-minute review of the headlines that shaped the future of work last year.
Here’s the official summary you’ve been waiting for –
🏫 Back to The Future: Year Three
It’s officially the third year of the post-office era.
No, not the place with envelopes and long lines. I’m talking about the office-free era that got it’s jump start in 2020.
Things have been moving that way since the beginning of the internet.
I remember when my dad switched from a chunky briefcase stuffed with legal paperwork, to an even chunkier laptop bag. Those 90’s bags were giant.
But that’s when the shift really started.
Over two decades we got high speed wi-fi, cloud storage and late-night texts from work. These were the harbingers of the end. The reign of the cookie cutter cubicle 9-5 would soon be over.
The fever dream of 2020 made sure of it.
💼 It’s three years later now.
Remote work has risen to become an integral part of modern work life.
It’s not just viable, it’s superior in every way.
Sure, some people still don’t get it (and some don’t want to) – for them work will always be a cubicle. For us, it’s so much more. This past year has seen roaring results, savage success stories, and the best post-office data of the era.
Here are the best picks -
🥳 60 Second Roundup: 2022 in Review
💸 13% Reduction in the Geographic Pay Gap
If you’re counting (we are) that means more people outside big cities are being paid what they’re worth. We can’t wait for this gap to get even smaller.
👨🏿💼 Nigeria Rises as a Remote Work Leader
Remote engineering jobs are pumping $50 billion into the economy, putting Nigeria on the fast track to transitioning from developing nation to world leader.
👨🏽🦽 Record Highs in Employment for Disabled Adults
People with disabilities rejoiced in 2022 as they found greater access to jobs, opportunities and careers with remote companies.
🏡 In Seattle Most People Work from Home
The Emerald City reported that more people WFH every day, than are commuting – which is having a fantastic impact on traffic and pollution rates.
🏝️ Airbnb Announces Work from Anywhere Policy
In a stroke of genius, Airbnb announced a new policy allowing all workers to stay remote, working from wherever they like.
Their careers page got 800,000 hits as a result!
🎯 Dropbox Doubled Application Numbers
Speaking of on-point remote work policies, Dropbox managed to double the amount of people applying to work there. All it took was embracing the remote revolution.
📉 Spotify’s Employee Turnover Drops
At Spotify, employees have decided to stay for longer thanks to their remote policy. Turnover hasn’t been this low since before the pandemic.
🏢 IBM Saves a Stack on Office Costs
Slowpoke IBM announced massive savings to the tune of $50 million on office costs, thanks to remote work. Shortly afterwards, they announced return to office plans.
🍏 Google Takes a Bite Out of Apple
In a move more blind than shortsighted, Apple lost their top machine learning expert to Google – because of inane RTO policies. But they did an excellent job of pretending like it wasn’t a big deal.
📦 Amazon (and Others) Cancel RTO Plans
Giant tech companies quietly cancelled their return to office plans, as employees made their true feelings known.
🐓 Twitter Cancels on Cancelling Remote Work
A chaotic year for Twitter, as remote work is cancelled by Elon Musk – only to be un-cancelled again. Something about a mass exodus after declaring WFH illegal.
🚀 Positive Studies on Remote Work Surge
Studies from Stanford, The Harvard Business Review, and many others have proven that productivity is unequivocally higher (and workers way happier) when working from home. Regaining some 4 hours each week from commuting has that effect!
🔮 Remote Work in 2023: Coming Trends
So, what’s this year going to look like?
🥽 Meta’s Horizon Work Rooms Expands
Meta announced that Horizon Work Rooms is on its way to Zoom and Microsoft Teams this year. That means conference calls are going to be a lot less Brady Bunch, and a lot more like the real thing, (theoretically).
⌨️ Apple’s Freeform Hits the Net
Freeform by Apple has just been announced. It’s a new remote collaboration tool that behaves like a virtual whiteboard for teams.
🤖 AI Automation Will Prompt Sweeping Change
Like we said a few weeks back, AI tools are going to make work a lot easier this year. Those common, repetitive, boring tasks are a thing of the past, and greater creativity is on the horizon.
Soon, what was once the future of work will be mainstream. It’s happening right now, in our day-to-day lives.
Waves of change are coming – might as well grab a surfboard!
Okay, that’s everything…did I leave something out? Let me know below.
You’ll also get entertaining remote work news right here, every Thursday. You won’t believe the epic episodes we have coming your way. Stay tuned!
And remember, the future of work is Out of Office.
Andrew
💡 This Week’s Shareable
WTF happens to remote work now? Get the biggest and best remote news stories of 2022 recapped by Andrew on this week’s Out of Office. Then find out which trends and developments on the future of work are coming. Read it here.
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