Ask HN: Do you think we will see a rise in remote jobs now?
If so do you think we will then see a decrease in the amount of "bullshit" jobs or an increase in freelance culture? Across the entire globe, businesses, investors, and employees are being ruthlessly punished to the degree they cannot operate remotely. Previous/quick adopters of remote work capabilities will be relatively rewarded. Suppliers of remote work capabilities and services are being highly rewarded. Going forward, the motivation for companies and suppliers to highlight remote operation capabilities will be very high. Even where it is simply a useful option or makes no sense. And when something is easier to do, more people will do it. Less bullshit jobs? Surely not! Contrast someone doing non-work in his cube all day, where you may mistaken what he’s doing for something useful, against simply forgetting about the existence of an employee who no longer needs to even pretend to do work. Presenteeism and the ability to watch people doing pretend work plays a huge part in bullshit jobs. Arguably, it’s the main reason those jobs exist at all. Where’s the point in employing someone to act as if they were doing anything useful if you can’t watch them while doing so? There might be a remote work variation of this but in general bullshit jobs shouldn’t fare as well in that kind of setting. I've been doing remote work for 15+ years. As long as you (the customer) can clearly articulate what you want done, I can do it. So long story short - as long as you know what tasks you want done and in how long a period of time, this (=remote work) will work. In the current global context, there should be an increase in freelance work. A lot of "managers" will try to fight it, but there's no way around it. Personally I am not sure. I am not that productive working 100% remote. I like flexibility but I like being in an office that is not in my house. In some fields sure. I suspect we'll see a lot more web development/software engineering companies allow/offering remote work than before, since the current situation has basically confirmed said fields don't require employees to be in an office. Same with digital marketing companies, design companies, advertising agencies, etc. I don't think it'll affect all fields though. As someone working as a remote Product Manager, I think the current situation is quite possibly one of the worst ways "remote work" could have gone mainstream. I have been working remote for three years now and even I'm not enjoying it as much as I normally do.