I remember a time when the idea of working from home sounded like someone was playing. I remember the time when people tagged it lazy and impossible to earn from the comfort of our homes. People saw those working from home as they were joking until they wore suits and went to the office physically, but today, the narrative has changed.
Remote work is now normal; in fact, people take up to 5 different remote jobs in different countries and comfortably live large without dressing to go to any physical office. All these have been possible with the right skills and with a good internet connection, and boom, you are good to go.
Personally, I think that even with the way the labor market is going today, working from home will still stay, but again, I don't think it will replace the traditional workplace completely.
The thing is that remote work is now highly competitive. Peoples' eyes are now open, and they now see the treasure that was hidden before, so learning digital skills has been something a lot of people have embraced, down to teenagers. Today you see secondary school students working remotely and schooling with the knowledge of digital skills. And this has increased the population of job seekers looking for these same remote job offers; in fact, sometimes the job seekers in this aspect are higher than the available jobs, and to be frank, it's a challenge.
Again, you see some people having interest in remote jobs but with unclear skills to offer. It's not enough to have a phone or laptop to work from home, but it's enough to be a problem solver, to be great in communication, to pay attention to details, etc., because those are the kinds of people companies are looking out for.
Having said that, I think in the future, jobs might be a combination of both remote and physical, with no one replacing each other. Some jobs can be done at home perfectly using computers and the Internet, so if that is the case, is there a need for someone to enter traffic and sit in the office doing the same work he can do sitting at home?
I am also aware that some professionals need physical presence to achieve results. the like of medical doctors treating patients, manufacturers working on products in factories, etc. So yeah, I don't think people will be forced to return back to regular jobs because remote jobs have become saturated, but instead, let there be healthy competition for both jobs as long as sound skills are proven.
I love that many people are now digitally inclined, all thanks to remote jobs. On the other hand, we shouldn't make people working physically feel outdated because digital is the trend; no, a good physical job has the capacity to provide values that remote jobs cannot offer. Where will we see social interactions remotely and other values?
All in all, I think the most important thing is to have employable skills, either suitable for remote or physical jobs, just to add value and remain relevant for whatever unfolds in our changing world.
Images were taken from canva
