Silicon Valley seems to be the hub of the working world, from which trends emerge. It seems that whatever goes on there becomes best practise for the rest of us eventually.

Silicon Valley allows a casual dress code? A few years later the rest of the world is wearing jeans and a tee to work. Silicon Valley has ping pong tables and bean bags in the office? 2 years later the rest of the world has ping pong tables and bean bags in their offices.

The latest change in Silicon Valley looks to be pretty revolutionary, and if the previous Silicon Valley trends are anything to go by, we could be seeing it spread far and wide before long. The trend that seems to be emerging from Silicon Valley as of late is remote working.

Although we’ve all been forced to change how we work, and for many businesses this has meant remote work has become the norm, it’s the aftermath that is especially interesting. Now that lockdown measures are being lifted, and office work is looking to be resumed, the world of work is looking to Silicon Valley to lead the way.

Silicon Valley Wants Remote Work To Stay

Tech companies were some of the first businesses to send people home when Covid-19 broke out. Presumably because they were innovative and flexible in the first place – meaning that they had the tools and the culture to allow a ‘work from anywhere’ attitude.

This strength in technology and culture has no doubt made the working from home period a lot easier for Silicon Valley than it has been for other industries, however the onus is now on other industries to step up and provide the culture and tech to allow flexible working.

Silicon Valley has done well throughout the coronavirus period, and therefore it’s no wonder that news outlets are now reporting that many organizations within Silicon Valley are looking to stick to remote working in order to keep employees happy. This change is not only a work from home change, but a work from anywhere change.

After seeing how business can run effectively when everyone is working remotely, that level of trust has been built and now it looks like employees will have much more flexible work schedules in the future.
Silicon Valley Based Companies Are Opening Up

It’s not just that individuals based in Silicon Valley will be working remotely, but that companies on whole will be looking further afield to hire the best talent. Silicon Valley has been very open about the fact that they want to “aggressively open remote hiring” in order to work with the best talent in the world.

Facebook has been a leader of this trend, with Mark Zuckerburg announcing that they will be permanently embracing remote work even after coronavirus. The tech sector will always be based out of Silicon Valley, but there’s a good chance that these changes will see some geographic diversification away from its home in Silicon Valley in order to embrace remote working.

What Does This Trend Mean For The Rest Of The World?

If the way that the rest of the world normally follows on from Silicon Valley is anything to go by, then we can expect to see more and more businesses becoming open to the idea of remote work. This may also mean more companies opt to use remote offshore teams.

Essentially, the focus will be on how suited someone is to the role as opposed to where they are based. Of course, this won’t be true for all industries – legal professionals will need to be tied to a location, real estate agents need to focus in on one area and so on. However, for most businesses the door to remote working is finally opening.

We can also expect to see the job market adjust and change to tailor to remote teams who can work offshore. Post-coronavirus, the top talent is not going to be willing to head into the office each day when it has been proven that remote work is a productive method.

In this sense, we will likely see top talent demanding changes to how we work, meaning that flexible remote working will become widespread.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the changes that we’re seeing in Silicon Valley and how they might impact the rest of the world. Let us know your thoughts in the comments on this article, or get in touch to learn more about how BorderlessMind can revolutionize your workforce.