If this work from home trend becomes a more permanent part of the business world, we will see major changes in where people live.
This will also fundamentally transform commercial real estate. Why would companies rent all that office space in gleaming downtown skyscrapers, if their employees can work off site?
And for the employees, as we see in this story, if they don’t have to physically go to an office in NY or LA or SF, then how many will choose to continue to live in such big cities to be close to work?
And more importantly, hopefully public school changes, reforms and a move to private providers.
I left my $1,800/m 550sq efficiency apt in Seattle for a $650/m 1800sq 3BR house in North Dakota. I’m still paid my Seattle wage as a remote employee. Completely transformed my finances.
-20 to -30 winters are a b^%$#, but it keeps out the riff-raff.
More likely, this would force rates for office space to decline.
My son owns a software/internet business in Seattle. ALL of his employees are now working from home. This is how he will do it from now on. It’s worked out really well.
But here’s the fun part: They visited her sister and husband in Louisville outskirts and he’s made the following decisions:
1. He will close his brick and mortar office in seattle.
2. He will hire from tier 2 and 3 markets.
3. He will not fire any of his expensive Seattle employees, but he will no longer hire from there.
4. He and my daughter and grandaughter are moving away from Seattle. They are looking at Kentucky or maybe Tennessee. The latter because his income is pretty high and Tennessee has no state income tax.
They are not the only ones doing this. It is easy for them to move because they made the choice to rent rather than own their home. They don’t have to sell anything. They just leave at the end of the lease. This is what happened during the 2008 collapse as well. Renters were sitting pretty. I was one of them. Renters are very free to move where they want to.
One of my friends from high school is a commercial real estate owner and investor. He said commercial real estate in cities is going to be seeing a very serious and fairly permanent downturn.
That's what I'm worried about.
If Twitter, Google, and the like can work from home, that means they can move to conservative areas and F those up.
“If this work from home trend becomes a more permanent part of the business world,”
Companies are finding working from home =fail. Employees are not as productive and new employees are not able to learn and observe from older experienced employees. There is a whole lot of other issues co’s are finding.
I video chat with my clients and it is no where as good as being there in person.