I've heard of many companies offering the "perk" of being able to live abroad for a month, while doing their job in otherwise identical ways.
This confuses me deeply. We are treating people like kids.
And if you treat people like kids, they act like kids.
And because you are tracking them, and presuming the worst, they act out and get around systems, and distrust you and a whole spiral emerges of espionage, spite, workarounds, and more.
These days I think the relationship between companies and staff is a mess. Some thoughts below which may be total nonsense, would love to hear views.
For a long time ( pre say 1920's ?) companies were the boss. Nobody expected anyone to like their job, or their boss, work was work. Heirachy was command and control and clear. Orders were firm and one way.
From around then (?) companies were the boss, but loyalty existed, people got gold carriage clocks for service, the idea of lifetime tenure was in peoples heads, a sense people would be taken care of in some shape or form. Bosses became quite parental. Even today with some Countries, applying for a Visa to visit you need to show your company will let you.
Perhaps around the 2000's new ideas emerged. Jobs should be enjoyed, colleagues could be fun, teamwork challenged hierarchies, a job became an identity, a cause, a purpose, you should feel proud of what you AND your company does. This is a fairly crazy idea, but common in some tribes. Bosses persuading people to do things, leadership though coercion.
The ultimate sign of this was the great resignation, which I have many thoughts on because I don't think it really existed. Maybe I'll add more below.
And now things are a mess... Nobody knows what work is, what bosses can and can't do, or the implications of distributed teams.
Labor in some markets is in more demand than ever, in more tech oriented jobs, openings are still everywhere but layoffs change fear levels.
Some companies are demanding people return to the office, but others are scared of asking too much. Which is quite mad to me. In 2019 you'd be the happiest person alive if able to work remotely one day a week, and now people act like it's a great injustice to be asked nicely to come in 2 days a week.
Truth is true ( in others states or countries) remote work is hard for some roles.
It has massive implications on insurance, tax implications, liability concerns.
It can create resentment, time zones can be hard,
but at the same time, if you're in Paris and more inspired than ever, or moving in with Grandparents in Cape Town who can take care of the kids while you work, or in Goa and happier and more relaxed than ever, maybe it's a weird productivity hack that your company should be grateful for.
But it's also a dangerous thing. If you can do your job brilliantly from Palawan, maybe someone from Manila can for 1/10th the cost & 20x more enthusiasm
Interesting times, no simple answers, except this.
Trust people.
