Weekly Roundup No. 58: Tech Giants and their take on Remote Work.

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If you’re new here, The Remote Work Tribe Weekly Roundup is your go-to resource for everything happening in the world of remote work, dispersed teams, and global management. Another great week for remote workers everywhere. Except, if you happen to work at Google remotely.

Just like last week, it seems the Apple trend of not recognizing the full potential and value of remote work catches on like wildfire. Another fantastic and innovative company that we all seem to rely on, Google, recently announced that remote workers would receive less money simply because they work at home. And, according to Forbes, other major corporations such as Facebook and Twitter will do the same.

WHY IS GOOGLE SO RELUCTANT TO REMOTE WORK?

In a way, we understand why this seems like an intuitive and reasonable decision. If you are no longer commuting to an office, you may save a lot of time and effort by working at home; in a way, it makes sense to reduce salaries. However, this assumption completely misses the point and the value of remote work. 

Remote work is not working at home or your favorite local cafe. It is about focusing on output rather than control.

Micromanagement seems to be a mighty trend, even in “cutting-edge” “innovative” companies. We do wonder, as this user mentioned, if they are paying for all the additional costs that working from home entails:

The counterargument, which also makes sense, is that they will pay employees according to locations – this isn’t crazy; it even makes sense (the cost of living in NYC is not the same as living in St. Louis).

But, even with this logical argument, we believe they are missing out on something far more significant when it comes to remote work. 

THE REAL VALUE OF REMOTE WORK

Remote work can be an ideal medium for knowledge workers. Thus, when something is off-balance, they are more inclined to move to a new organization that can offer better work conditions. 

Recently, @CMichaelGibson shared a fantastic article by the New Yorker that in many ways summarizes this idea of knowledge workers leaving organizations that do not get the importance of remote work. 

But, instead of us telling you what we think, we found this fantastic and insightful graph by the super talented duo @lizandmollie that exemplifies that work is different today (including remote work).

Salaries, job titles, and the company you work for are becoming less important. Your health and enjoying what you do in a place that shares your values seem to gain traction for modern workers. 

What do you think, Remote Work Tribe? Did we nail it? Or are we missing something? Let us know your opinion on Twitter, @RemoteWorkTribe

But before you leave, check out what else was happening on the internet this week.

THE TRIBE’S WEEKLY VIBES

  1. A great thread on Marketing lessons.

2.  Does your routine look like this one? 

3.  Check out this thread with wrong answers for marketers.

4.  True or false??

5.  That’s right!

6.  What remote work actually looks like. 

7.  An excellent team ritual.

8.  Community colonoscopy? 

9.  Message for thinkers and innovators.

10.  How do you save your contacts?

What’s new in your remote world? Tag us on Instagram, @TheRemoteWorkTribe, or on Twitter, @RemoteWorkTribe, for a chance to be featured on our following weekly thread!

By Angela Polo