You’re not going anywhere anytime soon. But while “stay at home” orders are keeping most of the country at home (or nearby), there’s a bunch of whippersnappers who have turned this whole disaster into an excuse to travel more than ever: the young professionals who can now work from any place at any time.
“Work from home indefinitely” could mean weeks in only pajamas, but it could also mean working from Uncle Dave’s empty Miami condo for all of January or setting up an “office” in some European city while prices are low. We have a new class of digital nomads who live on a subsistence diet of WiFi and the juice from a power outlet.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, a growing number of recent college graduates were opting for gig economy-type jobs that offered both flexibility and freedom. Now that corporate jobs are also offering remote work, the number of full-time digital nomads could increase from 2% to 10%, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“It was a nicely growing niche. Now it is going to explode,” Emmanuel Guisset, the CEO and founder of Outsite, which offers houses where travelers can rent rooms, told the Wall Street Journal.
Companies have popped up in recent months to accommodate these new travelers. For example, a hotel company called citizenM launched a subscription service in September called a “global passport,” which allows members to stay at any of its 21 properties around the world at any time for a $1,500 monthly fee. Members must stay at their chosen location for at least seven days, according to the service.
A similar subscription service, offered by hotel chain Mint House, said it had seen a significant increase in bookings throughout the coronavirus shutdown. The length of guests’ stays has increased as well, the company said. Back in March, the average stay at one of Mint House’s hotels was three nights. Now, it’s close to 20 nights per stay.
Before you sell your house, cancel your office lease, or encourage your millennial and Generation Z workers to go nomad, beware that there are plenty of costs. People need people, and workers need coworkers. A lot is lost when you don’t see your colleagues face to face. And historically, most nomads aren’t solo adventurers because people need communities (not just WiFi), and a community is a lot easier to find in a particular place.
Then again, if it costs $1,500 a month for a roof, a bed, and WiFi wherever you want and someone else doing the sheets and towels, who needs human-level belonging?
