By breaking a myth about the future of work
First impressions, bowel reactions, and unexamined assumptions about the future of work are intertwined with ordinary wisdom. Even when they are false, people still believe them.
Here are the top three myths about the future of work.
Myth 1: Zooming in is a real problem
When the first wave of pandemic locks hit 2020, and employees began working from home on a scale, everyone started complaining about “Zoom fatigue.”
And “Zoom fatigue” was real. The shock of isolation has led to overuse of video conferencing tools. Working days were dominated by Zoom and its competitors, and most of the day was by video calls. And it went into personal time, with people starting to have long video chats with family and friends.
This malaria reminded me of the carpal tunnel syndrome epidemic when millions of people started using PC-and-mouse combinations all day at work in the 1990s or vibrating phantom syndrome when people started carrying smartphones in their pockets in the early 2000s.
You no longer hear much about these conditions because people have adapted.
The same is true for “Zoom fatigue.” People have adapted. Meetings are getting shorter and busier. Prolonged personal video calls are declining. And people are becoming psychologically accustomed to video conferencing.
A new study from the Pew Research Center found that three-quarters (74%) of workers surveyed use video conferencing tools “perfectly” with the amount of time spent using them.
Yes, “Zoom fatigue” still exists. And, yes, better replacement technology (i.e. avatar – based AR meetings) is coming. But it turned out that “zoom fatigue” was not the problem that people thought existed.
Myth 2: You can only move to places with fast local broadband
The work, home, hybrid, remote and digital work revolutions were built on the basis of emerging technologies.
These came with significant progress. The home computer. The web. Home networking. Mobile computers. Wifi. Smartphones.
The two most recent advancements came from one company, SpaceX.
The company’s Starlink satellite service, which charges $ 110 a month for fast internet connectivity anywhere within its growing service area, has enabled remote workers to work remotely – in small towns, on remote islands, or way up in the mountains.
Starlink eliminated the need to live in a big city to access fast internet connectivity. As a result, the service surpassed a quarter of a million subscribers in March.
Last week, the company made another huge leap.
He announced that for an extra $ 25 a month, you could bring the service with you. So bring your satellite dish on the road or abroad, and you’ll still get fast internet – as long as you’re still in the service area, including almost all of North America and most of Europe.
These two huge Starlink jumps mean you can get fast internet – and get real work done – in a huge area without worrying about connectivity. Starlink is another technology product that greatly expands the options for living and working as a digital nomad.
Best of all, the company continues to increase network performance with enhanced software and additional satellites in orbit.
Myth 3: The Great Rising is a disaster
More than 47 million people resigned last year.
And the trend continues until 2022. Overall, job turnover rose by 20% in the post-pandemic world and remains at that level.
And the reason is clear: Flexible working, the mainstreaming of remote work, and flexible living locations – especially the ability to relocate to more affordable regions – have greatly reduced the penalties for resignation.
The headlines are scary, treating it like a crisis. But is it?
First, the scale of the problem is exaggerated. While the resignation of 47 million people is disastrous, it helps to indicate that 42 million people retired in 2019, before the pandemic erupted. So the number of people quitting is higher, but it is not to much higher.
The most significant point is that people who have recently retired are leaving because they feel empowered to improve their lives – their job and their location – but before that they felt too constrained or too afraid to do so.
If anyone thinks that having employees in some unwanted world is a corporate advantage of some sort, I would have to disagree.
Instead, it’s much better for employees to have the freedom to choose the life they want, work that fills them with a sense of purpose, and for companies to work harder to improve the employees experience and figure out how to be the most suitable person for them. workers.
The so-called “Great Rise” is a hidden opportunity.
Copyright © 2022 IDG Communications, Inc.
By breaking a myth about the future of work
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