One of the most immediate and clear-cut effects of COVID-19 has involved the way we work. As folks all over the world took up near permanent residence inside of their abodes, work-from-home policies have come to define the job market in ways that also might become permanent.
Companies the likes of Facebook and Twitter have already told their employees that they will be working from home for the foreseeable future while others have committed to similar guidelines through, at the very least, the end of the upcoming summer.
Needless to say, the ability to work remotely has loosened the shackles that, until now, have kept certain people attached to particular cities and a new study released by freelancing platform Upwork suggests that a whole lot of Americans are actually considering moving because of our new modus operandi.
Specifically, the survey, which was conducted last month, revealed that between 14 and 23 million Americans "are planning to move as a result of remote work." Of those millions, 20.6% are currently based in a major city. The numbers hardly solidify a trend indicative of a mass exodus from big metropolises, but they do suggest that people are likely looking for cheaper homes now that they aren't forced to live within proximity of a physical office. Of course, those cheaper homes tend to be outside of major towns.
"As our survey shows, many people see remote work as an opportunity to relocate to where they want and where they can afford to live," Upwork Chief Economist Adam Ozimek said in an official press release discussing the study. "This is an early indicator of the much larger impacts that remote work could have in increasing economic efficiency and spreading opportunity."
Whether you're planning on relocating or not, one thing is certain: it's time we pay a bit more attention to home office decor.
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