The pandemic accelerated a global remote work experiment in the past two years. Workers worldwide stayed indoors and were prompted to work from home, causing massive shifts in workplace setups. By now, employees have had enough time to assess the advantages and disadvantages of remote working since the onset of the pandemic. And, it seems to be running smoothly for many, as people are now more flexible about where they live and work. Airbnb has recently reported about this newfound trend of flexibility among employees and is now introducing a new chapter of how to live and work anywhere. The vacation rental company announced that it would partner with 20 destinations worldwide to support remote working, including Bali, the Canary Islands, and the Caribbean. Keep reading to learn about Airbnb’s Live and Work Anywhere initiative and all the destinations involved.
The "Live and Work Anywhere" initiative
Airbnb is looking to support communities and help them recover from the two-year-long travel restrictions. There’s also an increasing trend where people are travelling to towns and cities that can cater to their working conditions. One measure that Airbnb is using to build on this shift is its Live and Work Anywhere initiative which was launched earlier this year. It is primarily focused to identify and partner with some of the most remote, worker-friendly destinations in the world and launch them as destination hubs in the latter part of 2022.
How the initiative will work
To boost the resumption of the tourism industry, Airbnb will work together with Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) and governments in creating dedicated, custom-built hubs for their destination in the coming months. These hubs will not only provide important information regarding entry requirements and tax policies but also highlight the best local long-term stay listings to attract remote workers. The collaboration with these organizations will also involve educational campaigns for responsible hosting and traveling as remote employees.
The 20 destinations around the world
The participating destinations are scattered around the world in places that range from whole countries to smaller, little-known towns. The 20 destinations that Airbnb will spotlight are:
- Baja California Sur, Mexico
- Bali, Indonesia
- Brindisi, Puglia, Italy
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Caribbean
- Canary Islands, Spain
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Colombia
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Malta
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Palm Springs, California, USA
- Queensland, Australia
- Rural France
- Salzkammergut, Austria
- Tampa Bay, Florida, USA
- Thailand
- Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Live and work anywhere is more than just a lifestyle
Working from home doesn’t have to necessarily mean working from your own home. When work shifted to remote conditions, most people felt like its a confusing new world. However, employees eventually managed to make the changes work for their plight as they found a more flexible way to live and work in different places for weeks or longer. Airbnb shared that about one in five of its users has worked remotely while traveling in 2021. This pattern continued until the first quarter of 2022 when long-term stays reached an all-time high, more than a twofold increase from the first quarter of 2019.
One notable study on the matter is a research conducted by Harvard Business School. Findings show that digital nomads, including remote workers, in addition to being an aid to any economy, might also play an important role in enriching entrepreneurship in the communities where they stay. Such scenarios will lead to the creation of “technology clusters” around the world, the research also noted.
The desire of people to experience living and working anywhere was reinforced after Airbnb’s co-founder and CEO, Brian Chesky, announced the news about their remote-working policy. Airbnb employees were told that they could work from anywhere. Within just a week after this announcement, the platform’s career page received over one million visitors.
Additionally, next month marks the end of the year-long adventure of the 12 Live Anywhere participants who were handpicked to share their experiences about staying at various Airbnb listings across 80 places around the world. The results of this experiment are the foundation for future product upgrades as well as innovation in terms of nomadic living.
Remote working is having a new chapter
For many workers, the impact of the pandemic has made them contemplate one question: Can I work from home and be productive? It seems that remote working could become the norm for most companies that saw great potential for it. Airbnb, for instance, saw a substantial jump in productivity since April 2022, all while its employees were working remotely in a diverse set of communities. A remote working policy designed to the culture you want—this is the kind of flexibility that Airbnb is giving to its employees that is now extended to workers yearning for the same experience. With the launch of the Live and Work Anywhere initiative, remote work is having a new chapter.
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