Escape from America.
The United States is so good right now that Americans who don’t need to be physically here for work are considering leaving.
Meanwhile, migrants who are likely never going to get a job at all, let alone one that can be done remotely, are flooding the country.
Although many people are happy working from home now, that’s not keeping them from packing up and hitting the road — permanently. According to a new survey, 62 percent of Americans working remotely are considering moving to a new country.
The survey of 2,000 people asked if they would want to live somewhere else in the world and if the pandemic has helped that become a reality. The majority of respondents (58%) said they’d opt to live in a major city if they could live anywhere. However, 42 percent said they’d move to a small town or village — with 41 percent of these Americans going so far as to live in the woods.
Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Simform, the survey also finds 82 percent of respondents said their employer is allowing them to work from home indefinitely. Two in three people also shared their companies have allowed all of their employees to work from home permanently. Now that they’re working remotely, 70 percent of respondents feel like they finally have the opportunity to travel and live wherever they want.
As respondents continue working remotely, 66 percent of the poll are seriously considering moving to a new city. In fact, 62 percent have already moved to a new city and 52 percent have taken the leap and moved to an entirely new country.
The survey also took a look at the top benefits of working remotely and discovered 66 percent believe flexible working hours is the biggest perk. Sleeping in later or going to bed later (49%) followed as the next biggest incentive. Seven in 10 respondents also said not having to commute every day for work has made them much happier.
However, 57 percent of the poll aren’t the happiest at their current job. These Americans are looking for a new gig at an average of four times a week. Sixty-four percent of these respondents are even applying for new jobs on their current company’s work computer.
The top reason respondents are job hunting is their desire to relocate or move to another country, with 62 percent citing this feeling. Six in 10 respondents on the job hunt want to expand their skill sets and 39 percent want to experience a new industry.
People appear to be on a kind of honeymoon phase with this whole “working from home because of the pandemic” thing. They should be preparing for when their employers decide they’d rather pay a fraction of what they’re paying Americans to some Indian who lives in India.
If everyone’s working from home, what’s stopping these scumbag companies from just hiring people from countries with lower costs of living? The answer, right now, is time.
“Everyone works from home now” aggressively expands the pool of available workers. Companies are no longer limited to hiring based on the geographic location of the workplace.
We know what happens when the supply increases but the demand stays the same.