By  Brea Glasko

In today’s fast moving digital world, all organizations, all businesses, and even all families should not only consider but actively seek out remote workers.

This shift to location independence has been happening for some time now, and just like the shift from paper to digital, the digital nomad lifestyle will become the most logical thing to do– be that for a person, a small group of coworkers, or a large organization of thousands.

Many tech companies, many bloggers, and many consultants have known this for some time, but this lifestyle shift is broader in prospect than just these specific industries. And, this ‘lifestyle’ is not just in relation to our professional lives but rather in how we live, interact, and make choices. Even how we love.

If we focus the lens and look at how we now use the expertise or services of others, today the market is a global one. And this expansion exists at all levels, and because of this, everyone should consider remote work as an option–both as an employer and an employee, but just as importantly also as a consumer. Inevitably, if you close yourself off to this option, you are losing out!

And this loss is not always a financial one, but instead you may lose out in perspective, or the ability to choose from a larger group of prospects. Forgoing physical location, for those things you can, creates a much wider variety of experience and ability to choose from.

Some companies see this and have created platforms to promote these types of collaborations among people across the entire world. For example, http://www.UpWork.com a popular site for freelancers and employers alike allows you to find professionals and connect with them for long and short term projects. Suddenly geography no longer limits one’s talent, or the choice of hiring it!

Many companies, small and large, allow remote work and some fully seek out location independent digital nomads to employ all across the globe. JetBlue.com, for example, allows all its flights agents to work from home. Also, the banking sector, surprisingly, has embraced remote workers for some time now. As a matter of fact, a Gartner Group study lists the banking and finance industry as the second top sector for telecommuting. But, just as importantly, new and smaller companies are also embracing this remote work culture, and many are focusing on recruiting personnel based on talent more so than geography. New comer, Los Angeles based technology company http://www.TENiFY.me, allows all its Brand Partners, Sales Associates and team members to work remotely and telecommute, giving them the ability to work from home and maintain a flexible schedule. Who can say no to that?

The idea that one should ‘work to live’ and not the opposite is now truer than ever before. Being able to telecommute gives all of us a much bigger playground professionally but also creates a higher quality of life personally. And when it come to the work itself, remote workers–overwhelmingly–report being more productive, as 91% report ‘being more productive when working remotely’ leaving only 9% who report the opposite.

This digital nomad lifestyle has also created a need for other fast growing industries! Co-working spaces are booming all around the globe. And, sites like http://www.Nomadlist.com, provide info and cost of living break downs for multiple cities to help remote workers chose where to work next, or http://www.NomadPass.com (still in Beta phase) that helps digital nomads find great places to work from and helps the digital nomad community to connect with others living the same lifestyle.

This new way or working and of living–is here to stay! And for those of us who have a penchant for travel, who, though motivated to advance professionally, also have a need to feed our wanderlust hearts, this shift could not have come soon enough.

Culture will become country

And lifestyle will become culture

 

This post was first published on The Food Monsters’ Facebook Page.

Brea Glasko is a San Diego based freelancer.