Since the widespread adoption of the Internet, people have been remote working for years, though this mainly applied to tech workers. Once the pandemic started in 2020 many states and countries began the process of lock-down and asked workers, where possible, to do their work from home. As a result, meeting apps like Zoom took off in popularity as more and more business meetings were conducted virtually. As of the date of this blog post, more companies have asked their workers to go back to the office, though it seems the full time 9-5 workweek has disappeared in favor of hybrid working arrangements.
On March 12, 2020 my office closed and we were all told to work from home with the expectation we would be back after two weeks of quarantine. Well, two weeks turned into two years and I am still working remotely though I’m now on a hybrid schedule. When I went back to the office in 2021 I was the only person there. The silence was deafening and the atmosphere felt like something from the movie I am Legend starring Will Smith. Everyone’s desk calendar was still open to March 2020. It was as if time had stood still.
Social Media Trends as of March 14, 2022
Google Trends: remote working is not a new term, but during the pandemic it reached its peak during the week of March 15, 2021. It dipped for a while but started to increase during March 2022 as the effects of the pandemic waned and more employees were asked to go back to the office.
