As Covid restrictions forced many workplaces to shut down, around half of the workforce began working from home for prolonged periods of time.  The general feel has been that such remote workers have been as productive as they were in the office, and indeed this positive reinforcement has prompted some workplaces to remain either fully remote or partly remote even as restrictions have eased.

Of course, when work is no longer tethered to a particular location, then it raises the prospect of work being done from anywhere, even from different countries.  Data from HostelWorld reveals that around 15% of employers currently allow people to work from anywhere, with this primarily focused in roles such as software development, data science, and content marketing.

Working from anywhere

There is clear growth in the desire to be able to work from anywhere, however, with research from Harvard highlighting some of the organizational benefits of allowing this, including reductions in property expenses, a more engaged workforce, and a broadening of the talentpool.

“It is hard for many executives to imagine this entirely new way of working,” the author explains, “but there are ways to make working from anywhere succeed. Maybe you have mandatory ‘all-in weeks’ twice a year, or in-person team meetings quarterly. You start to build a different collaborative culture.”

The paper outlines a number of barriers that are preventing employers from allowing work from anywhere.  These barriers are predominantly grouped into three categories:

1. Regulatory barriers, which tend to restrict or limit mobility at either international, national, or even local levels.  Visa regulations are a prime example.
2. Organizational and occupational barriers, such as specific internal challenges that prevent people from operating from anywhere or the licenses that are required to practice certain professions.
3. Personal barriers, with these especially common for people with immediate or extended families that tether them to a particular area.  These frictions could also include financial costs of relocating, however, or even cultural and racial barriers.
4. Economic barriers, especially surrounding any relocations to a new place or changes in cost-of-living that may arise.

Despite these barriers, however, the author firmly believes that working from anywhere is the future and that none of the issues outlined should be insurmountable, especially given the considerable upside potential.

Benefits of working from anywhere

For instance, both the Harvard paper and the HostelWorld data cite an increase in employee engagement as a result of being able to work from anywhere.  This then typically translates into higher productivity.  For instance, when we can work from anywhere, we can often strip out the commute from our daily lives, which means we can work nearer to our families and in the location of our choice rather than wherever jobs happen to be.

There are also numerous benefits for organizations too, with arguably the biggest being the significant increase in the talent pool that becomes available when you’re available to recruit globally rather than locally.

“In the race for global talent, companies are looking for talent worldwide,” the author explains. “Instead of moving employees to where there is work, hire them, and let them live where they live. The entire world is your labor market.”

The gift of global talent

This broadening of the talent pool was also highlighted by a second study, from Cambridge Judge Business School, which highlighted how in an age where talent is more important than ever before, being able to shop more widely for the best people is an enormous benefit for organizations.

The authors argue that for many organizations, the pandemic has really opened their eyes to both the possibilities of working remotely and of the previously hidden pool of talent this has made available to them.

“[The pandemic] has opened our eyes to the existence of this hidden pool of amazing talent, that due to obliviousness or ignorance, we
didn’t know even existed,” the report says.

The Harvard paper goes on to argue that there are also environmental benefits to remote working, not least by the eradication of our commute.  This is a notion I have challenged in the past, with environmental costs incurred from duplicating office equipment and indeed office space, with these costs especially prominent in hybrid workplaces that require duplication in both home and office environments.

Organizational transformation

Nonetheless, in an age where organizations are scrambling to try and attract the talent needed to thrive, the possibilities provided by geographic flexibility and a work from anywhere model are considerable.

“Geographic flexibility can be a great solution if you have temporary co-locations; if you establish virtual water coolers for knowledge sharing and training; and if you accept that there can be a different kind of mobility,” the researcher explains.

For those wishing to begin experimenting with working from anywhere, a good start point is to move away from synchronous working that requires everyone to be online at the same time towards a more asynchronous approach.

This can allow teams to effectively cooperate even when doing so across timezones.  Various cloud-based technologies have arisen to support this kind of working, so it’s likely that organizational rather than technological barriers are the main issue to address.

“Once you embrace geographic flexibility, you have a different sense of mobility,” the author concludes. “If people remember that they all work for the same organization and need to rely on each other, new patterns of connection and coworking will be established. And organizations and workers will thrive.”