Digital Nomads: Why the office no longer makes sense (Infographic)

Work — most of us do it but how many of us enjoy it? Just 13% of people quizzed from around the world said they actually look forward to going to the office. The remaining 87% felt dissatisfied and unmotivated, according to a 2013 Gallup poll.

But what’s causing this mass disdain for work? After all, not all jobs are considered boring. Could it be the environment and not the work itself? This seems to be the conclusion of a survey this Summer by FlexJobs. Of the 2,600 people that took part 76% said in order to complete an important task they would prefer to leave the office and do it elsewhere.

They also found that people report better personal relationships, health and overall wellbeing when they’re given the option for flexible schedules and the ability to complete tasks remotely.

Does this show that the traditional 9 to 5 office concept is redundant?

A new infographic from BargainFox and SavvyBeaver  explores the emerging digital nomad lifestyle, which seems to backup this theory.

Looking at the historical data there is a strong correlation between advances in technology and people working remotely. In other words, when people can leave the office, they do leave the office. This was first seen in the late 70s and 80s when terminals and early computer networks allowed employees to work from smaller branch offices. Then in the 90s when computers and the internet first began to enter the home, some workers started completing tasks there instead. If they had a certain skill-set some were even able to leverage their home office technology to become freelancers, working for any number of companies on their own terms.

In 1990, this accounted for just 5% of the US population, but by time the new millennium rolled around and home computing was even more widespread the number jumped to 15%. Today with our smart mobile devices, super fast internet connections and advanced tools and software, around 30% of the US population class themselves as freelancers.

Today it’s also very common for employers to allow for flexible and remote schedules to improve employee morale and productivity. The infographic explores how viral news website BuzzFeed and the AirBNB travel accommodation service have 50% of their employees working remotely.

You must have heard of the WordPress blogging platform. Its developers Automattic don’t even have an office. There entire workforce work remotely and stay in touch through email, apps, and chat rooms.

The advantages are quite obvious when you think about it. One being the amount of money saved by not paying for office space. Another is the available talent pool.

“This has been amazing for the company in that we can attract and retain the best talent without them having to be in New York or San Francisco or one of the traditional tech centers,” says company CEO Matt Mullenweg in an interview.

A lot of these people will be working from home much like many other remote workers and freelancers, but this is still not satisfactory for one community – the Digital Nomads.

Digital Nomads

“All of the money we save on office space, we blow on travel costs,” joked Matt Mullenweg in a Forbes interview.