from Gergely Orosz | by Gergely Orosz

18 months after remote work became the norm within tech, I’m now observing a large wave of engineers *permanently* move countries/states, having negotiated permanent remote with their workplace. Feels like the inflection point for perm remote to stay - for hybrid orgs as well.

My theory is this: - Mar 2020: “remote work for a month. Ok, yay!!” - Nov 2020: “ok, so back in the office the spring. Oh, well.” - Mar 2021: “back to office the fall? Ok, I’ll wait it out.” - Nov 2021: “I’ve been doing this for how long?! Might as well do it from a nicer place.”

Feels like we’ve had a “first wave” of people who always wanted to do remote, and took the leap of faith in 2020 - early 2021, a kind of “YOLO”. This group feels larger, far less “YOLO”, decisions made after long deliberation, moving often w families, decisions not be reversed.