Having your business meeting in a forest. Making a sales call on the beach. Or accounting at the top of a mountain.
This could be your reality if you could work anywhere in the world! Is it really possible to work from anywhere?
What jobs could you do? And how would this affect the job market?
So sure, you could go to a factory in any country and get a job there. But that’s not what we mean by working anywhere.
You’d still be surrounded by the same four walls every day. When we’re talking about working anywhere, we mean literally anywhere you could choose to go.
People around the world are doing this already, and they’re known as digital nomads. These are people who work in coffee shops, in a park or wherever else they please.
But they aren’t doing any job. To be a digital nomad, you need to have skills that you can use on the internet.
So what kind of jobs are those?
Since the internet affects almost every industry and profession, there are many different jobs you could do online. You could be a freelance writer, a translator, or a social media coordinator for one of the biggest brands in the world.
With the ability to freelance, in theory, you could work at all three of these jobs. You might even earn more money than you would in a traditional 9 to 5 job.
Another benefit of being a digital nomad is that you can choose your working hours. Do you like to get your work done in the morning, or are you more of a night owl? The choice is yours, and it can all be made while working anywhere.
Well, not exactly anywhere. At least not yet, as reliable internet isn’t available everywhere.
Places like Singapore, Europe, or Taiwan have some of the best internet coverage and speeds in the world. If you worked in these countries, it would be a pretty safe bet that you’d get internet coverage almost everywhere.
Unfortunately, you may not be able to work on a beach in Costa Rica and have a good Internet connection. That is, not until companies like SpaceX and Google put fast, reliable, and affordable Internet literally all around the world.
By putting thousands of satellites in space, these tech companies will be able to beam the internet down to receivers, and then to you–anywhere in the world. With being able to work anywhere you want, why wouldn’t everyone do this?
If you could work anywhere you want to, it could have some serious implications for businesses, transportation and even cities. Being able to work anywhere means companies would no longer have to pay for office space.
That would save some companies thousands, if not millions, of dollars a year. Not only that, you’d no longer have to commute to your office, saving you money as well.
Instead, you’d go wherever you choose to work that day. What could we do with with all that empty space?
New York City has hundreds of thousands of businesses, with a vast majority of them having offices. Some even own entire buildings. What could we do with all that empty space?
We could convert the office buildings into apartment buildings. This could vastly change the housing market, making it more affordable than ever.
And hey, since you could work from anywhere in the world, you might even work in your home. That sounds pretty good. You might be making more money, have more time, and even be saving money with your decreased commuting costs.
But, with no more office buildings, what would happen to the janitors, building maintenance people and bus drivers? With everyone working in a non-office environment, some jobs could become obsolete. If people in these professions don’t adapt quickly, they could most likely end up without a job.
There are nearly 2.5 million janitors and building cleaners in the U.S. alone. They would probably work in apartment buildings.
Luckily, if you work in the personal service industry, you’d still have a job. I mean, you can’t get a haircut online, at least not yet. But many services that you might think can’t be done online, are actually starting to be worked remotely. Things like surgery can now be done online with a surgeon working remotely!
But it doesn’t have to be like that. Everyone becoming a digital nomad probably isn’t the best idea. Maybe only certain people can work from anywhere.
Speaking of which, that’s what we’re doing today. With the help of Inergy Solutions we’re spending the entire day in a forest, making this video.
Their portable solar panels and batteries allowed us to work the entire day without using electricity. Where will we go next?
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Sources
- “18 Jobs & Skills That Enable You To Work From Anywhere And Travel The World“. Völkner, Johannes. 2019. webworktravel.com. Accessed September 2 2019.
- “20 Surprising Jobs You Can Do From Anywhere | Slice.Ca”. Alexandre, Susy, 2019. Slice.Ca. Accessed September 2 2019.
- “Want To Work From Anywhere? Here’s How To Make It Happen”. Ryan, Robin, 2019. forbes.com. Accessed September 2 2019.
- “7 Jobs You Can Do From Anywhere”. 2019. remoteyear.com. Accessed September 2 2019.
- “List Of Countries By 4G LTE Penetration”. 2019. en.wikipedia.org. Accessed September 2 2019.
- “Flow | Jamaica | 4G/LTE”. 2019. discoverflow.co. Accessed September 2 2019.
- “List Of Countries By Internet Connection Speeds”. 2019. en.wikipedia.org. Accessed September 2 2019.