The Work from Anywhere Revolution in Tech Sales
The "Work-From-Anywhere" revolution is 100% among us and will be the fastest growing trend in corporate America over the next 24 months.
"[The office was] an anachronistic form [that was] from a pre-digital age. " Words just this last week from the CEO of one of the largest technology companies in the entire world, Airbnb. Brian Chesky just initiated what will be a slow, and then "all at once" transition across the corporate landscape of America, towards what many acclaim to be the ultimate perk and employee benefit you could ever ask for. A work-from-anywhere policy.
Airbnb announced just last week that they will let employees work remotely forever, wherever, without losing any pay. 1 day later they had over 800K views on their career page - in one of the most brutally tight recruitment markets that we have ever been in.
They essentially came to the conclusion that: if you have a cell phone, laptop, and internet access. You can provide the same exact value in your role from a high-rise in San Francisco as a beach in Mexico or a ranch in the middle of Texas.
Work-From-Anywhere polices are going to become commonplace over the next 24 months. They'll be expected from top tech employees.
Here's a few reasons why they are a great idea:
- Employees want it. It will make them happy and content. If they are happy and content with their work, people stay at their jobs and stay productive at their jobs. They'll be more engaged in their work and have a better opinion of their company. Simple as that.
- Companies will save millions of dollars on P&Ls to office related costs. These saving essentially should trickle down to consumers and employees.
- This will have a huge impact on diversity and inclusion efforts. Essentially, you can hire from anywhere, therefore any culture with no boundaries, and have much more opportunity to increase diversity. There is less room for unconscious (or conscious) bias in a remote first setting.
- It helps the environment. People commute less and people pollute less.
- Salaries equalize. Companies can pay the same competitive rates across anywhere in the country or world. This will slowly have a rising effect on generally lower income areas.
The fastest market this is going to effect is the technology and software sales space. These are the jobs that went remote the quickest, generally have the most autonomy in their work-flow/hours, and essentially are in the highest demand right now. Meaning they have the cards to be able to ask for this whenever they want it nowadays.
Airbnb has just officially kicked off what I think will be the #1 employment trend of the next decade - and companies will need to adapt quickly if they want to stay competitive as an employer; both in recruitment and retention.