Remote Work Trends in 2023
Explore 2023's remote work trends, from the rise of coliving spaces to the debate on digital nomadism and its impact on the future of work.
Recently I was on the Future is Freelance podcast talking about my research on the impacts of digital nomadism on local communities. With Maya, the host, we had a great conversation about the future of work and leisure and how remote work can potentially impact the global economy. You can check out the video version here or find The Future is Freelance on your favorite podcast platforms.
Speaking of the impacts of remote work, there has been many evolvements and setbacks in this landscape in the last year. From protests to growth. From new apps to new ways of attracting remote workers. We’ve seen it all.
I decided to create a brief overview of what happened in the last year or so that contributed to setting the field where it currently stands.
This helped me get a bigger picture of the current state and where we are potentially going. I hope this insights will help you as well.
Here are 6 observations from my end.
1) Digital nomads go home
Digital nomads, go home, but spend some money in our country first.
This is the mixed message I got from reading the media in the recent year. On one side, we had protests from local communities saying that digital nomads are the neo-colonialists and they’re gentrifying their cities.
On the other side, governments in these same countries are working hard to attract this segment of travelers and convince them to stay longer.
The media is then in the middle amplifying things and thus portraying digital nomads as intruders.
I don’t think this amplification of the negative impacts will make a lot of people not visit the destinations which are already full of digital nomads. There appears to be no shortage of tourists in Venice, even though most people are probably aware of the overtourism situation.
It’s a good first step to set the awareness but it doesn’t seem to be very effective yet.
2) Is digital nomadism becoming mainstream?
The new MBO report says it is. But in the title, they forgot to mention that this is relevant only for the US, where apparently 17.3 million workers identify themselves as digital nomads. This makes up 11% of the total American workforce.
Compared to pre-pandemic times, we’ve seen a 131% growth (from 2019 to 2022).
But from 2022 to 2023, the growth normalized immensely as we’ve only seen a 2% increase in digital nomads.
The growth has also been set only by independent workers, whereas traditional employees have been called back into the office. Which brings us to another trend.
3) The push to return to the office
Yes, remote work is becoming popular. But there’s an opposition to it.
Big companies have started to mandate people to come back to the office. Apparently for the culture and better productivity.
Although it seems like a viable reason, the motives are much bigger then that.
During and after the pandemic, as more people started working from home, office buildings and thus cities suddenly got emptier in the US.
San Francisco's office vacancy rate has risen to 29.4% - eight times its pre-pandemic figure. Cities, who are promising to be hubs of commerce and social activities, are losing their charm.
The shift to remote work also threatens some urban businesses, from cafes to gyms. For instance, Manhattan's workforce is spending $12.4 billion less annually than before, as reported by Bloomberg.
Among other, the US Travel association is also advocating for the return of federal workers to the office as this will supposedly make US cities lively again and return business back to normal.
I believe many big companies will impact the work from home narrative. Just as Airbnb pushed the narrative to one side when they announced their employees can work from anywhere, so can other companies shift the trend to the other side.
4) Airbnb and long term stays
Airbnb has made long-term housing mainstream and easy to implement.
20% of bookings on Airbnb in the recent year were long term stays (1 month +). Lack of other efficient options and Airbnb’s easy-to-use platform have shot them to become the most used platform for booking their stays.
It’s going to be hard for other competitors like Flatio and Nomad Stays to take the share from Airbnb in the segment of long term stays.
5) The rise of colivings
One of the main challenges of digital nomadism and remote work is loneliness. One part of the industry solving this issue in a concrete way is the concept of colivings.
Coliving spaces offer a community of like-minded nomads, fostering meaningful connections and mutual understanding of the nomadic lifestyle.
Platforms and solutions for coliving have evolved in the recent year and are gaining popularity. With Agartha we highlighted some of those resources in our recent blog.
6) Merging travel and remote work
In every Travel Massive newsletter I saw a new platform, app or blog under the category digital nomad. This to me is a sign that the we’re seeing more and more connections of tourism and remote work. More and more tourism professionals are seeing the connections and new opportunities.
Bringing the two together and growing the tourism industry with the latter is interesting for designing new ways of connecting travelers with local communities.
Hopefully, with remote work, more 2nd or 3rd option destinations get their share of travelers and strengthen their local communities.
2023 has been a pivotal year in the remote work landscape, marked by both growth and challenges.
While platforms like Airbnb have capitalized on the trend, emphasizing long-term stays, the rise of coliving spaces addresses the loneliness aspect that many remote workers face. The blending of tourism and remote work suggests a future where travel and work are intertwined.
The remote work landscape is undoubtedly evolving and maturing, and it will be fascinating to see where these trends take us in the coming years and how they will shape travel.
This research reflects my experience on the ground in Europe. I was a reluctant digital nomad for 1.5 years at the beginning of the pendemic and stayed for 90 days in countries like Croatia, Italy, Romania, Spain, and Albania. The vibe was exactly what you said, "come spend money but don't be here too long" and especially "dont take our housing". Very confusing for sure. But also understandable since we were experiencing the first big pandemic in our lifetimes. Pricing were surging and people were scared. I hope things calm down soon and everyone understands the benefit of remote workers in their community.
Hi Rudi, I recent completed a huge research study on remote work, and analyzed things like how the # of remote jobs has been trending the past year, whether remote jobs are more common among senior leaders vs lower level workers, and how remote work culture correlates with work satisfaction.
I thought you might find some of the findings interesting: https://bloomberry.com/the-state-of-remote-work/ . Feel free to share/cite it if you feel it'd be useful to your readers