Local work

Turned Off Laptop Computer", by Ken Tomita.

Today I was writing an internal blog post for a client, and was struck by the fact that we in the IT industry have our terminology backwards when it comes to work.

Years ago, my wife and I decided years ago to live in the Dandenong Ranges - initially Upwey, then Belgrave. It's a wonderful place to raise a family. Our eldest child (seven, nearly eight years old) can ride the train a couple of stops and walk home by himself, we have chickens and dogs, and a large back garden for the kids to play in. We could never have afforded any of this in a more central location, and the greenery is amazing.

Of course, this comes at a cost. Depending up on the location of my current client, I commute between fifty minutes to an hour on average, each way. Because we live in the future, that's not wasted time; I can work, read, communicate, and learn on the train. But it's a long hike. And I'm not alone; many of my colleagues live a similar distance from the city, and their commutes are sometimes longer (we're located conveniently close to a station).

The thing that struck me is that we refer to this state of affairs as work. When we stay home, eschewing the commute for collaboration over digital media, we say we're engaging in remote work.

That's the terminology I think we have backwards.

Commuting several hours a day to get to an office many kilometers from our homes: that's remote. When it's not practical for a moderately fit person to walk or cycle to work: that's remote.

In contrast, I propose that we call working in or nearby to our homes local work.

The positive connotations are intentional; if there's one upside to the otherwise dreadful COVID-19 pandemic, it's that it's taught us that many IT jobs are mostly or entirely compatible with local work. And for those of us who commute to work in open plan offices there's a double benefit, as open plan offices have shown to be uniformly bad for productivity, creativity, and even health.

I propose that we start using the term local work immediately, in the hopes that it will become more widely accepted as a default in our industry, and not just something we do in times of crisis.

Originally posted on LinkedIn in 2020.