PC Magazine - USA (2021-02)

J

ust about a year ago, it might have seemed

like a fantasy: living and working wherever

we want, thanks to digital technology. Now,

though, that dream is real for many more people,

although the reason for it is something none of us

would have chosen. A Gartner study in July 2020

found that 80% of employers plan to let their

employees work remotely at least part-time after

the COVID-19 pandemic, and 47% will let

employees work from home full-time.

This is the situation for PCMag’s employees: We’ve

all been working remotely since mid-March 2020,

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the earliest. Some of us won’t be returning at all.

Our employers decided remote work was as

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positions and is allowing some of us to work from

home permanently.

Disclosure: I’m one of the people who opted to

move away from New York City. I’ve been based in

Pittsburgh since last August. While I miss NYC

(and I’ll miss it even more when things open up

again), I have very few regrets. My commute went

from 3 hours a day to the time it takes to walk into

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and I’ve truly enjoyed getting to know my nieces

and nephews better. The cost of living here is

shockingly lower than in the Big Apple, and my

apartment is twice as large. And work has been a

breeze. Nearly everything I do is doable online;

there’s nothing more I need here than a computer

Living the

Remote Life

CAROL MANGIS

FIRST WORD