👾 FUTURE OF WORK

Why AI & the 4-day workweek may be the best thing for the Future of Work

The start of the 20th century was an incredible time of work-life progress, and today we may be at the doorstep of a similar moment, if only we can recognize it.

In 1926, Henry Ford announced the start of a 40-hour work week for all his employees.

• Machines had created so much leverage in factories that productivity had skyrocketed

• He found that reducing the workweek from 48 hours to 40 resulted in a negligent drop in productivity

• Until this point 80 hour, 6-day workweeks were common for factory workers

Today we are at a similar point when it comes to work times & technology.

A single knowledge worker, armed with an assortment of AIs, will soon have the ability to outproduce entire teams just a few years ago.

Instead of fighting against this, we should embrace it the same way factory workers embraced technological advances in the early 20th century.

Businesses have the opportunity to take a page out of Henry Ford’s book, and instead of seeing this as an opportunity to “create more” give back to workers.

Productivity can continue on an upward trend AND workers can enjoy more leisure time.

The best part? Altruism isn’t the only reason to do this…

One of the explicit reasons Henry Ford gave for instituting his 8-hour day was that people needed to have the time to be consumers.

More leisure time means more time for workers to spend money, so in the long run, it could be the best thing for the economy as well.

Talk about a win-win-win!

💻 REMOTE WORK

WFA jobs see record remands during summer months

According to a new report from job search platform Flexa, the number of job seekers searching for companies offering “work from anywhere” spiked from 80% in April to 88% in June.

Flexa also measures job seekers’ overall interest in a fully remote role which also rose in the same time period from 52% to 59%.

Interestingly, the demand for fully remote jobs is lowest in the autumn and winter months.

This study may point to a seasonality in the demand for remote work arrangements.

It doesn’t take a PhD to figure out why this makes sense. When the weather outside is crappy, workers don’t really care where they do their work.

But when the weather is nice outside, families travel more, and social calendars fill up, workers can favor a WFA role.

This could help influence companies’ remote/hybrid policies by providing employees with more flexibility and freedom in the summer months, while holding team retreats and onsites during the winter months.

🗺️ TRAVEL

EU launches visa requirements for US citizens for 2024

The European Union has announced that starting in 2024 citizens from the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand will be required to apply for a traveler’s visa called European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS)

For most, this will be more of a nuisance than anything serious…

The ETIAS costs only $8 and is valid for up to 3 years or your passport’s expiration date, whichever comes first. Most applicants will also be approved within an hour of application.

The primary reason goal of ETIAS is to bolster border security and digitally monitor travelers entering and exiting EU countries.

It will not affect the 90-day limit for US passport holders traveling in Europe.

While this will be seen as an annoyance by many Americans, EU citizens are required to go through a much more difficult & costly visa process called the ESTA in order to visit the United States.

🚨 WORD ON THE WEB

• 🛍️ Offices are the new malls. For the first time commercial real estate is reporting higher levels of distress than retail (malls)

• ⏰ Work Dead Zone: hours between 4pm-6pm when workers are technically on the clock but don’t seem to be working. Findings suggest these hours are being replaced by a 3rd peak time in the evening.

• 📉 $800b in losses. According to new research by McKinsey, 9 “superstar” cities will see massive losses in office value.

• 🤝 “Third Spaces”. A new type of community space is seeing a rise in popularity offering the best of a cafe/coworking space/ and events space.

• 🔥 Affirmation Decks. Rage-Create has launched a new version of their hugely popular Sweet-Ass Affirmations Deck & it’s the perfect way to kick-start a productive day

📆 UPCOMING EVENTS:

July 15-29: Nomad City Festival 2023 [📍Gran Canaria] - the original nomadic unconference presented by Repeople. Get inspired, learn, & make connections at the biggest nomad event in the Canary Islands.

Dec 7-13: Nomad Island Fest [📍 Madeira, Portugal] - Learn from world-class industry experts on topics like mindset, marketing, tech, wealth & health

More events coming soon!

🌍 WFA JOBS:

Looking for a job that’s not just remote, but that you can work from anywhere in the world? We’ve done the heavy lifting for you. Check out these awesome WFA positions 👇

⭐️ Online English Teacher @ NativeCamp

⭐️ Director of Software QA @ PhotoboothSupplyCo

⭐️ Virtual Assistant @ FilmHouseWeddings

⭐️ UX/UI Designer @ RemoteMore

⭐️ COO & Senior Project Manager @ Betterproducts