Published on Jan 9th, 2022 by Rhiannon Payne

With so many of us working remotely, it’s gone from being a unique way of life to a norm (it’s now the Remote Work Era, after all). As a result, a lot of conversations about remote work are starting to feel dull and repetitive — especially in places like Tech Twitter.

So what should we be talking about in 2022 when it comes to the future of work?

(Note: this blog was originally published on Medium in 2022.)

I created a thread with six important topics that go beyond the mundane and thought I’d share here as well!

1. Global Equity

Compensation & benefits for global remote workers is going to be a HUGE topic this year.

In my book, I wrote about how remote work brings the opportunity to level the playing field for workers globally. But we can’t do that without offering fair compensation everywhere.

The company I currently work for, Remote, also offers a unique perspective on fair compensation. We have a team of 600+ employees across dozens of countries and huge employee satisfaction and retention rates — which sort of makes us experts on the topic. You can read our CEO’s blog on the topic, but in short, no one at Remote earns less than $40,000 USD/year (note: this policy has been since discontinued) and everyone is offered benefits like unlimited PTO, parental leave, stipends for home office and continued learning, health insurance, and more!

2. Four-day Work Week

The concept of the 5-day, 40-hour work week dates back to car manufacturing in the early 20th century. To say it’s out of date is a serious understatement.

We need to reevaluate the way we work and what we expect of workers in the remote era. The four-day workweek is one interesting option that major tech companies like Buffer are experimenting with (very successfully).

3. Asynchronous Work

Forcing workers to all be online at the same time is detrimental and limiting for most remote companies. It also fails to give workers the flexibility they need to thrive.

Asynchronous work is a topic that gets a lot of play these days, but with good reason. Most remote companies have yet to adopt it as a standard, but I think that will change within the next five years.

4. Side Hustles & Multiple Income Streams

With more flexibility comes more opportunities for remote workers to create, diversify their income, and start businesses. This is going to happen among remote workers regardless of how their employers feel about it.

The companies that embrace and encourage this in their workforce will be the ones that attract the best talent in this new age of work.

5. Relocation

Would you move to another country if your work wasn’t tied to one location?

Helping workers relocate is going to be a huge remote work perk this decade and a real differentiator for companies that can offer this. This support may include visa sponsorship, help with moving expenses, and more.

6. DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion)

With a global workforce to choose from, we can’t accept excuses from remote employers who act as if talent only comes in a homogeneous form.

DEI will continue to be a hugely important topic in the remote era, not just in hiring but in how diverse talent is treated and valued.

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