A Digital Future and a Desk Anywhere: How Remote Work Will Continue to Rise by 2030

You’ve likely noticed that, since the global remote work experiment of 2020, businesses across the world have been slowly aiming to re-introduce office life at least some of the time. However, new research from the World Economic Forum shows that, despite the efforts taking place by companies now, remote work is only going to become more popular and more widespread over the coming decades.

What we’re experiencing now is a resistance to change, which is only natural considering that in our lifetimes we have upheld a mostly 9-5 office-based way of working. But this latest research has shown that, by 2030, the range of jobs that can and will be performed remotely will soar. The result? Increased aptitude for remote work by employees, and a fairer more balanced spread of talent across the globe.

Which kinds of jobs are likely to become fully remote?

The research shows that 218 job types out of 5,400 are set to become digital jobs – these represent 73 million workers, out of the 820 million total global workers studied. Just under 40% of these are in accounting, legal and finance roles, while customer service representatives, marketing, advertising and communication professionals and IT professionals each make up around 10% of total jobs.

In terms of income, the remote switch-up will affect a range of roles, from high-income jobs (over $75,000), such as software developers, financial risk specialists and financial managers; middle-income jobs ($42,500-75,000), such as graphic designers, paralegals and insurance investigators; and relatively low-income (under $42,500) jobs such as customer service representatives, bill and account collectors, and telemarketers.

What does this mean for the global job economy?

Remote work presents an excellent opportunity for both established and emerging economies. When we’re not tied to talent within our own countries, we’re able to better balance higher- income country skill shortages, while enabling a demographic dividend in lower-income countries. It’s essentially a give and take, where global businesses can share what’s required.

It also means that businesses are not held back by borders when it comes to seeking out the best talent. In a world where remote work is the norm, there is no barrier to finding the very best person for the job, no matter where they are in the world.

How is all this being made possible?

The short answer is: technology. We’re already seeing in real time how advancements in technology have enabled many of us to conduct our jobs from anywhere. Well, these types of technologies are only going to become more commonplace and more clever. Expect to see even more focus on integrated workforce and collaboration technologies, Metaverse technologies and generative AI in the coming years as a way to synchronize and enable a wider-scale remote workforce.

With practice comes productivity

The argument that remote work decreases productivity has also been debunked in this latest study, citing that “Organizations also identify the opportunity of digital migration, with 70% perceiving that productivity gains result from remote work.” The fact is, we get better at something the more we practice it. The more we adapt to remote work practices, the more we’ll be able to thrive digitally. But it requires companies to fully embrace the changes that remote work presents.

At Remotify, we specialize in helping companies to thrive remotely, partnering with companies from all over the globe and helping them to seamlessly transition to a fully digital way of working. If you’d like to find out more about our services, book a call with a member of our team today!