Remote workers have a reputation of being young, carefree professionals working off laptops on a beach on the other side of the world. The reality is that many remote workers do not live this type of lifestyle and this image may be damaging the perception of remote work.
A survey from remote hiring platform Arc actually found that the majority of remote workers aren’t constantly changing their scenery. Simply put, remote workers and digital nomadism are two different concepts.
Almost 30% of the independent U.S. workforce said they had plans to become digital nomads, with no real differentiation between working while traveling and working from home.
Many have the view that a digital nomadic lifestyle includes using working while traveling as a vacation, increasing costs for locals, not giving back to the community and not getting work done during their travels. Despite this, most digital nomads would argue that they have been working to offset the impacts of their lifestyle by focusing on giving back to the communities they reside in.
The major commonality between remote workers and digital nomads is the concept of not using one specific physical office. Still, remote workers typically have stable positions with their company and work regular business hours from home like a traditional job. Typically, remote workers work from a home office.
Creating the distinction between remote workers and digital nomads is important in that it can help companies better delve into hiring remote workers. It also allows workers to make better choices when seeking a specific work lifestyle.
