One of the fastest-growing working trends in recent years is that of the digital nomad – traveling around the world often working from public locations such as coffee shops in jobs that can be worked remotely to experience different lifestyles and cultures whilst working their way through countries – but the spread of the coronavirus has put this lifestyle at risk, borders have been closed for a number of months, and that’s looking to remain the same for quite some time. The expectation is that the airlines who do manage to survive will have big impacts in passenger experience moving forward – these range from an increased pricing on tickets as well as longer boarding times as methods are put in place to ensure that safety is in place throughout the travel experience.
The same thought can be said for public transport as many fear there will be big changes seen, and as digital nomads often rely on the use of public transport to get around wherever they may be currently located, this could cause further issues – as social distancing becomes more of a social norm and many aim to keep their distance, we may see the use in public transport drop dramatically for a short period of time – if this is the case, there may be large disruptions to services which could further restrict movement and further disruptions for those who rely on public spaces to conduct their work.
Transport may not be the only factor which puts this working lifestyle at risk – the Digital Nomad World has many educational guides on the best ways to work in a host of different locations, but a common theme across the world currently is that those in the service and hospitality sector may be amongst the worst impacted, as mentioned remote workers have a reliance on these public spaces for access to wifi and a space to work – if these spaces remain at risk then they may be forced to close. It’s also expected that these locations may be amongst the last to fully reopen, as with public transport social distancing has become a part of social culture due to the outbreak, and many public service businesses have been asked to ensure that any guests who do attend the location follow these guidelines – remain six feet apart, locations will have to deal with a dramatic decrease in capacity just to observe this rule.
Ultimately only time will tell what the full impact of this may be – for those currently working from bigger and more developed cities, the changes may begin to come through slowly but the continued effect will be felt for quite some time, for those in less developed areas the risks may be greater as safety precautions and testing measures may not be as high as other countries – there’s still uncertainty what time frame this could face, and whether or not we may experience a second wave of infection, but for many currently traveling there could be some difficult times ahead.
