I've spoken to 2,000+ people about remote work in the last 12 months

A few predictions of what is likely to emerge before 2030

[ a thread ] ๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ ๐ŸŒ

๐Ÿšœ Rural Living: World-class people will move to smaller cities, have a lower cost of living & higher quality of life

These regions must innovate quickly to attract that wealth. Better schools, faster internet connections are a must
โฐ Asynchronous Work: Offices are instantaneous gratification distraction factories where synchronous work makes it impossible to get stuff done

Tools that enable asynchronous work are the most important thing globally remote teams need. A lot of startups will try to tackle this
โšฝ๏ธ Hobbie Renaissance: Remote working will lead to a rise in people participating in hobbies and activities which link them to people in their local community

This will lead to deeper, more meaningful relationships which overcome societal issues of loneliness and isolation
๐ŸŒ Diversity & Inclusion: The most diverse and inclusive teams in history will emerge rapidly

Companies who embrace it have a first-mover advantage to attract great talent globally. Companies who don't will lose their best people to their biggest competitors
โœ… Output Focus: Time will be replaced as the main KPI for judging performance by productivity and output

Great workers will be the ones who deliver what they promise consistently

Advancement decisions will be decided by capability rather than who you drink beer with after work
๐Ÿ’ฐ Private Equity: The hottest trend of the next decade for private equity will see them purchase companies, make them remote-first

The cost saving in real-estate at scale will be eye-watering. The productivity gains will be the final nail in the coffin for the office
๐Ÿ˜ด Working Too Much: Companies worry that the workers won't work enough when operating remotely.

The opposite will be true and become a big problem

Remote workers burning out because they work too much will have to be addressed
โœˆ๏ธ Remote Retreats: Purpose-built destinations that allow for entire companies to fly into a campus for a synchronous week

Likely staffed with facilitators and educators who train staff on how to maximize effectiveness
โค๏ธ Life-Work Balance: The rise of remote will lead to people re-prioritizing what is important to them

Organizing your work around your life will be the first noticeable switch. People realizing they are more than their job will lead to deeper purpose in other areas
๐Ÿ’ฉ Bullshit Tasks: The need to pad out your 8 hour day will evaporate, replaced by clear tasks and responsibilities

Workers will do what needs to be done rather than wasting their trying to look busy with the rest of the office
๐Ÿง˜โ€โ™€๏ธ Health & Wellbeing: A lack of commute will give workers 25 extra days a year to do other things

Workers will exploit the freedom they have to organize things more freely in their day. Afternoon runs, morning meditation, 2 things a lot of people I know now do
๐Ÿค– Personal RPA: Robotic process automation will transform work for individuals

No-code tools that enable workers to build bots that automate menial parts of their roles will be huge
๐Ÿ’€ Death of HQ: The office is dead but offices will persist. Theyโ€™ll be used less frequently then hardly at all

Co-working, subscription clubs, will emerge that let workers who prefer that mode of work to operate from there
๐Ÿš Remote Living: Work from anywhere RVs will become huge business

Associated business parks and services will spring up. This will happen even more rapidly as self-driving tech emerges

Expect a @Tesla product in this space
โš–๏ธ Lifework Balance: Massive increases in part-time and freelance work

A recognition that we no longer have to sacrifice work for living, we can organize work around our lives
๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ‘งโ€๐Ÿ‘ฆ Community-Led SaaS: as no-code continues to grow, tech is barely a barrier

Communities become the most important most a company has
๐ŸŽŸ Remote Visa: Small nations coming together in order to attract remote workers at different stages of the year

Huge opportunity to synchronize education to enable families to be more fluid in their locations
๐Ÿ›‘ Meeting Death: Wasting 2 hours traveling to a meeting will end. The benefits of in-person are eroded by the benefits you get of not traveling

Conferences and quarterly networking events will become more important for cultivating in-person relationships
๐Ÿ’ƒ Personal Choice: The smartest people I know personally are all planning to work remotely this decade

The most exciting companies I know personally all plan to hire remotely this decade

~90% of the workforces we've spoken to never want to be in an office again full-time
โœ๏ธ Written over Spoken: Documentation is the unspoken superpower of remote teams. The most successful team members remotely will be great writers

Companies are searching for ways to do this more effectively. Tools that enable others to write better will explode
Interested in why these companies are talking to me? https://t.co/vM4B5Azi3S

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"I lied about my basic beliefs in order to keep a prestigious job. Now that it will be zero-cost to me, I have a few things to say."


We know that elite institutions like the one Flier was in (partial) charge of rely on irrelevant status markers like private school education, whiteness, legacy, and ability to charm an old white guy at an interview.

Harvard's discriminatory policies are becoming increasingly well known, across the political spectrum (see, e.g., the recent lawsuit on discrimination against East Asian applications.)

It's refreshing to hear a senior administrator admits to personally opposing policies that attempt to remedy these basic flaws. These are flaws that harm his institution's ability to do cutting-edge research and to serve the public.

Harvard is being eclipsed by institutions that have different ideas about how to run a 21st Century institution. Stanford, for one; the UC system; the "public Ivys".