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🧑‍💻 Should we change the dictionary definition of "office"?

Hey, remote work fam! This is Remote Insider your favorite spot to get up to speed on the future of work and the digital nomad lifestyle. 

Here are the most important developments you need to know for this week 👇

🚨 The Scoop...

💻 Here's what the CEOs of Walgreens, Calm, and Nubank think about remote work

  • In a recent Time article the CEOs of several large companies gave their thoughts on topics ranging from opportunities and challenges in 2023, to future economic shifts

  • When asked about how the labor market will evolve in the year to come they all agreed - remote work has changed the game.

  • Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci noted remote works impact on their company both internally & externally. The company is looking to strike a balance between remote & in-office teams while externally they have seen that travel peaks have diminished as remote workers look to fly on normally less popular days like Tuesday & Wednesday.

  • Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer said that the global workforce has a new set of expectations - flexibility and choice and that finding a way to provide those will be critical in attracting the best talent.

💸 Canadian remote worker ordered to pay a former employer for "time theft"

  • On January 11, a Canadian court ordered an employee to pay her former employer over $2000 for "time theft"

  • In February 2022 the company installed a time tracking software TimeCamp on the employee's laptop which records time spent on different websites and apps

  • A manager analyzed the data collected and found 51 hours that appear to have not been spent on work-related tasks during work hours.

  • Many remote workers and digital nomads are concerned that this could set a precedent for other companies to seek similar retribution or double down on time-tracking software that many remote leaders view as intrusive and carrying negative implications.

🏢 Meta and Microsoft vacating Seattle offices due to remote work & layoffs

  • Meta and Microsoft have announced they will not be renewing office leases in Seattle

  • The reason: a combination of continued WFH by many employees and recent layoffs by both companies

  • According to real estate agency Colliers, the Seattle office market is struggling and total office vacancy has reached 25%

  • David Sacks, co-founder and partner at Craft Ventures, tweeted that he was recently offered office rental space in San Francisco for the same price as 2009. Elon Musk responded that "it will go lower" showing that Seattle may not be alone in its office vacancy issues.

🌆 Nomad Internet launches new US plans for traveling remote workers in mind

  • The largest rural internet provider in the US, Nomad Internet, has launched new plans and hardware focused on US based remote workers, digital nomads, and vanlifers

  • Their new modems - the Nomad Air and Raptor, help remote workers by providing them with strong internet no matter where they are located or if they on the move.

  • As many remote workers continue to leave big cities for the calm and lower cost of living that smaller cities and rural communities offer, we can expect services like these to become even more popular and necessary

📈 A petition on Change.org wants to update the word "office" in dictionaries to be non-location specific 

  • Patrizio Ambroetti, and Italian digital nomad, has published a change.org petition to officially change the definition of "office" in dictionaries

  • The goal is to update the meaning of "office" from a physical location to a concept of work to be more inclusive of the growing number of remote workers

  • In addition, Patrizio hopes to help workers from companies like Apple, Twitter, and Tesla who are being forced to return to the office

  • Patrizio cites that the origin of the work office is the Roman word "officium" which simply means "service or a sense of duty". So removing the word's association with a physical location isn't radical, but a return to it's original meaning.

📈 Worker productivity is rising MUCH faster than median wages 

📚 Other great articles you should check out:

🌐 Featured remote jobs by Jordan Carroll:

I've teamed up with THE remote job coach Jordan Carroll to provide you with handpicked work-from-anywhere jobs right here in this newsletter. Here are the picks for this week:

Want help finding the right remote job for you? Join the Remote Collective and get introductions to dozens of remote companies looking to hire people like you!

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That's it from us this week, hope you have an amazing day!