We have called them – at best – digital nomads, globetrotters, globe-trotters. We fantasized about their wonderful life always on the go and never monotonous and – let’s face it – we wondered how they could do it. They are the homeless workers, who to complete their assignments they do not need a fixed location, a desk, an office, a card to stamp and a physical place to reach. They carry out their duties on the beach, in front of a sunset, on top of a mountain, in a busy metropolis, they perfectly embody the new way of interpreting work in its true essence and, before others, they learned one of the lessons that the Covid-19 has taught us: jobs are not all the same. Because if it is true as it is true that the work of the future is nomadic, it is equally true that there are trades which, without too much discussion, need the presence to be carried out.
Taking this assumption into account, Patrick Ambrosettiwhich has made digital work a reason for living, has launched one petition on change.org asking that dictionaries around the world update and change the definition of the word “office”, explaining it no longer as a physical place but, rather, as concept. And don’t get confused with teleworking. The concept is higher, broader and comes very close to the theme of flexibility that smart working and the (famous) work for objectives bring as a dowry. The petition “Let’s change the word ‘office’ in the dictionaries, to help those who are losing their job” was created with the aim of supporting those who wish to be able to work in places other than the physical office, making companies aware of the possibility of approaching the world of remote work as company policy and to encourage the development of growing countries.
The matter is simpler than you think. Despite some adherence, the world changes and we with it. So why not change the words that describe it too? To try and understand something more, we talked about it with Ambrosetti himself.
In times of pandemic there has been a lot of talk about smart working, often confusing it with the more obsolete teleworking. With the end of the health emergency, everything has returned to normal: inflexible working hours, permanence, a fixed PC and four walls. What went wrong?
“Remote work has been around long before the pandemic. In 2010, millions of young people who had lost their jobs in the 2008 crisis, or who wanted to embark on a new lifestyle, traveled to Latin America and Southeast Asia, working from their laptops and forming the first communities of digital nomads. Until 2020, this group of people didn’t have much visibility. With the pandemic, their lifestyle has become a big trend that people aspire to more and more. In Italy, the term ‘smart working’ was coined to explain the possibility given to people to work from home, due to the restrictions. But, of course, this is not the future. In my opinion, the reasons why companies want to go back to the old normal are many: the first is the mentality of control over the employee rather than trust; the second is the fear of losing the culture of work and corporate unity; the third is linked to the need to justify the large investments made in the offices. The revolution, however, is already underway and cannot be stopped easily. Workers have had a taste of freedom and flexibility that has brought them great benefits and are no longer willing to give it up. Those who will make remote work a new and lasting normal will not be employers or governments but employees who will increasingly ask for more freedom or, without thinking too much about it, will resign to seek more flexibility in other companies. In the early 1900s, many people moved around with carriages and horses and thought that cars were just a passing trend… It’s only a matter of time”.
How many job and personal growth opportunities are many people depriving themselves of by continuing on the path of desk work?
“Digital nomad is not a job but a lifestyle. This approach is a real tool for personal growth. I have always been an extrovert and an explorer, but I know dozens and dozens of digital nomads who left their rooms in the city shy and now have friends everywhere, they practice sports like surfing, climbing, they dance salsa, they always have dinner with people from all over the world, teach their work skills in events and workshops and earn and save much more than they did in their old life. Being a digital nomad today is seen as a privilege, a fortune. People see us happy. And the truth is, no matter how many countries you visit and how many languages you speak, being a digital nomad is first and foremost a philosophy. To those who read us I want to say: start from your city. If you have the ability to work remotely, don’t lock yourself in. Go out, go to a café, connect to wi-fi, get to know each other. You may meet people who do the same thing as you. Don’t be afraid, get out of your comfort zone and work to make sure that opportunities find you.”
To change things you need politics. What measures should the government put in place to make the physical office one transform from the rule to the exception?
“Remote work is not only a benefit for employees but also for cities. Less traffic, less pollution, less stress. Imagine cities with many shared workspaces (coworking), where employees of different companies can meet, work, collaborate, discuss and network. In my experience, for example, having contributed to the expansion of WeWork all over the world, I have seen small multinational teams as users of the spaces inviting employees to go to coworking spaces so that they could be more innovative and inspired. The government could certainly favor remote working through a different taxation to be applied to flexible hiring, to ensure that both employees and employers can enjoy benefits and collaborate in making cities less busy – and therefore less polluted – and more sustainable. The pandemic proved it: the world caught its breath when we were forced not to go out“.
Il world of work it is changing, despite more than some linguistic resistance and more. It remains to understand between the past and the future who will win. For the moment, we are stuck in a present hybrid where digital nomads are lucky and offices are increasingly places unable to explode the energy that our country could release. Then there is the (cultural) matter of responsibility. But that’s another discussion.