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There are a lot of jobs where meeting the public is not required. Over the last year or two, I’ve spoken to a number of customer service reps, and many say they work from home. It would be nice to see this happen with banks, but they are notoriously cheap, so that will continue overseas. It’s surprising that less than four million people work from home. I would have guessed more.
I worked for a nationwide company, and their sheer size made sense for them to start letting employees work from home. After they started the work at home program, everyone always commented how much better the parking was. This trend could also continue with smaller companies if the employees are working in cubes.
My spouse’s corporate office has always been in Portland, so he flies out for annual company meetings. Doesn’t matter where the office is, as long as there is an airport close by. People who have been driving to work, will love the once a month drive to the office after they become work at homes. Those who have been longing to buy a house in a cheaper area, will have now the chance when they are free from driving to the office. If they get laid off, another online job could take its place. If they like where they live, it would mean they get to stay, instead of having to move to another state.
A couple of people mentioned millennials, they love mail order, ordering food online, even cars online. Working from home seems perfect for this generation. There may be no need for car salesman in the future, the sales would be done online. My nephews generation is Gen Z, and they are an even larger group than millennials. It will be interesting to see if the online buying, ordering food and workforce trend continues with them. If they do, the real estate market will adjust accordingly.
I work in federal government and most of my office telecommutes two or three days a week. Even with only two or three days, most people live 30-45 minutes away from the office. We have several that live 60 miles away, both in the 2-day and the 3-day crowds. Most of the people working in my office are Gen X age group, with some older millennials who are 35+. The telework is a huge draw for some of the positions.
I work in federal government and most of my office telecommutes two or three days a week. Even with only two or three days, most people live 30-45 minutes away from the office. We have several that live 60 miles away, both in the 2-day and the 3-day crowds. Most of the people working in my office are Gen X age group, with some older millennials who are 35+. The telework is a huge draw for some of the positions.
Government jobs are the most likely to telecommute.
But, then again, IBM has certainly lost its luster over the years to employees and investors.. Maybe just another example of them being behind the curve.
I don't think telecommuters are affecting real estate because majority of those doing so aren't easily out of range of their offices. Most that are doing so because their companies' policy. Those are who 100% remote are special task workers that are special cases but most important workers still commute to work atleast 25% of their work week.
I've done telecommuting on a long term basis. I think the best thing is a 75% telecommute for just Fridays and Mondays. Once you do 3 or more a week, it throws you off rhythm. Take the days I telecommute, you end up waking up an hour early and waiting to get started and then work those hours and sign off. You actually didn't gain back much time.
My last company actively encouraged telecommuting, at least one day a week for every employee. We also had a number of full time telecommuters, living in other states.
The company wanted to be sure that we could continue to operate, in the event of any disaster with the main location. This was for “business continuity”.
We actually planned and practiced for 3 levels of disaster. Losing the main location, losing the whole North East, or losing the whole East Coast of the country.
Making sure anyone and everyone could telecommute was a big part of being prepared.
I'd say the overall numbers of people who work remotely 100% are too small all across the board for them to be a factor in influencing local real estate markets for the most part for workers in the US anyway. The majority of telecommuters do have to report in at least once or more a week, so they tend to live relatively close to their offices. All things being said remote workers comprise a small percentage of the work force. Demographics such as retirees or seasonal residents influence a local real estate market much more than those of the small groups of remote workers.
The other remote workers who are 100% can live where they want if they have reliable internet and their company allows them to live in another state from the home office. And assuming their company is set up to allow remote workers in a particular state in which they wish to reside. The business that a remote worker works for in the US has to cover all its bases as well to allow full time remote working. The corporate office has to have business license set up in another state in order to comply with labor and tax laws of those states. So there are many factors out there that people don't give much thought about it that might make remote working too bureaucratic and expensive to set up.
I have seen a number of Chinese companies recruiting English teachers to work online..they are considered contractors. Time difference is tough, though. Also seen a number of expats doing it here in Thailand.
1) Most remote workers still have to go into the office a few days a week. Typically 2-3 days a week for team meetings, face-to-face interaction, working sessions, etc. A lot of companies are becoming more liberally in WFH Fridays or giving people more leeway in times to avoid rush-hour, coordinate with school schedules, where they WFH a portion of the day or certain days of the week. My wife's company has a lot of remote workers, but they all come in Tue & Thu for in-the-office collaboration days.
2) Most 100% remote jobs ultimately have a ceiling in terms of salary and upward trajectory. Most 100% remote jobs, without any in-office or any travel, typically top out at some point since these are rarely managerial, director-level, or sales type positions. Thus those who want to climb the corporate ladder generally won't be in 100% remote positions.
3) Its not uncommon in dual-income families one person may have a 100% remote position, but the other has a job where they have to be in-person whether that be a corporate job, a teacher, a lawyer, or whatever. While one may be remote, they still have to live in proximity of the others' profession. Dual-income familes with both having 100% remote jobs are pretty rare.
4) While some in consulting or client-service occupations may be able to work remote and not have a true office, they have to go visit clients and need to have access to an airport.
5) Most people starting-out, right out of college are not going into 100% remote positions. You will not grow professionally, network, or build your brand in the company without interaction with other employees. Most people move into remote positions mid-career or when it makes sense from a work-life balance reasons.
I'm 100% remote. The main constraint to choose a location is that we, the people, are disposable commodities. I have a job today, but tomorrow I could easily be thrown out for various reasons, and then what? Finding another 100% remote job is not an easy task - in my field I come across such opportunity may be once a year, and the pay rate is not necessarily a good one. So, if this happens, what I gonna do in a rural area with no jobs? That's why I had to settle in an area that is not too far (max 1 hour) from potential local jobs.
Otherwise I would not even be in USA - there are much cheaper places to live in.
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