Financial Times Europe - 19.10.2019 - 20.10.2019

ILLUSTRATIONBY PÂTÉ

8 FT.COM/MAGAZINE OCTOBER19/202019

T

heconundrumofworking

inSanFranciscoishow

quicklythecity’sinsanely

highcostoflivingcaneatup

eventhemostoutsize dincomesin

thetechindustry. Whenrentinga

one-bedroomflatcosts$4,000a

month,youcanse ewhysoftware

engineersonsix-figuresalariesare

stilllivinginhouseshares.

Theansweristogetajobinthe

SanFranciscoBayAreaandthen

move away .AmongmyUSfriends

whoworkintech,fullyremote

workis ahighlysought -outsolution

tothepricesqueeze.Sinceliving

here, IfeelasifI have hadthe

followingconversationonrepeat:

Friend:“I’ve appliedfora

newjob.IfI getit ,I’llbeleaving

SanFrancisco.”

Me:“I’llmissyou!Where’s

thecompany?”

Friend:“Well,it’shere.But

I’llbeinVirginia/MexicoCity/

Missoula/Chicago.”

Iknowworking fromhomeis

commonplaceinlotsofj obsbut,

assomeonewhohasspentmostof

mycareerata newsorganisation,

Ithoughtyouneededanoffice

togotoatleastsomeoft hetime.

Yethereont heWestCoast,where

spaceistightandstart-upsleapat

thechancetosave cashonrent,jobs

thatare100percentremoteare

fairly common.

Glassdoor,theemployee

reviewsite,publishedanarticle

titled“100%Remote!13Cool

CompaniestoA pplytoT oday”.

GitHub,awebsitewheredevelopers

collaborateoncode,hasalistof

largel yorf ullyremotecompanies

operatingin fieldssuchas

softwaredevelopment,blockchain

andanalytics.Mostjobsare,

unsurprisingly, computer-based.It

ishardtobeadoctor,bankmanager

orchefwhoworksremotel y. But

giveitafewyearsandmaybevideo

conferencing,3D printingand

roboticswillchangeeventhat.

Anecosystemofcompanies

alreadyexiststomakeite asier

foremployeestocommunicate

withoutbeinginthesameplace.

Videoconferencingcompany

Zoomhadtheverygo odideaof

allowingparticipantstouseadigital

backgroundsonooneneedknow

theywerein theirkitchen,ora

supermarketcarpark,whileona

workcall.Itsshareslistedat$ 36

earlierthisyearan dhavemore

thandouble dto$74.

Fullyremot eworktendsto

betargetedatm illennials,which

mak essensewhenyouthinkabout

thesizeoftheirstudentloansand

thecostofrentincitieswithbigjob

marketssuchasLondon,NewYork

andSanFrancis co.Whywouldn’t

theywanttolivesomewhereelse

andcutoutlongcommutingtimes

whilestillearningagoodsalary?

Workingfromhomecanalso

easesomeoft heimpracticalitiesof

urbanlife.InAugust ,adesignerat

West Coastworkers

seekremote control

thepaymentssoftwarecompany

Strip ereceived94,000likesfor

histw eet:“Stillhavenoi dea

howpeoplecanworkafull-time

job,cookdinneroften,exercise

regularly, enjoyweekends,keep

theapartmentclean.Seemsbasic

butIcan’t consistently doit .” Amid

ahealthysmatteringofs nark,

therepliesweremostly helpful.

Trymealprep;laundryservices;

Roombaroboticvacuumcleaners.

Butoneofthemostpopular

involve drethinkingthetraditional

set-u pofo fficework.

“Currentfull-time(40hr/wk)

jobsaren’t designedforsingle

peopletodothis;they’repostwar

relics&dependontheunpaidla bor

ofaspouseforcooking,cleaning,

shoppingetc”wroteone.“Basically,

youdon’t gettob eHomer drinking

beeratM oe’s onTuesdaywithout

Margehandlingthehome.”

Remoteworkingpromisestobe

apartia lcorrective.Theproblem

isth atthefocusisoftenfromthe

pointofviewofemployersand

howtheycanbesureemployees

areactuallyworking.Socialmedia

managementstart-upBuffer,which

hasafullyremoteteamafterclosing

itsSanFranciscooffice,wrote

asmuchwhenit call edworking

remotel y“ahugeprivilege”forits

staff.Yetmanyjobsthatinvolve

remote workar eproject-oriented,

meaningthatiti sobviouswhether

orno tworkhasbeendone.

Therealquestionishowgood

thisisforemployees.Ono nehand,

theycanmo ve tomoreaffordable

locations.Ont heother,there

istheproblemofi solationand

increasinglyblurredbo undaries

betweenhomeandworkthatcan

feelunhealthy.Aso nefriendwith

afullyremotejobputitwhen

describingthebenefits:“Weekends

usedtobethebesttimeforme

toget workdoneuninterrupted.

Now Igetto workeveryda ylikeit’s

aweekend.”

TECH WORLD

NOTES FROMADIGITAL BUNKER

BY ELAINE MOORE INSANFRANCISCO

Whynot live elsewhere

and lose long commuting

timeswhile stillearning

agood salary?

ElaineMooreist heFT ’sdeputy

Lexeditorin SanFrancisco