There’s an image that frequently goes viral in Brazil: Sé subway station in São Paulo, unbearably crowded during rush hour in chaotic days. “It was built beneath a cathedral to symbolize hell on Earth,” I read in one of the posts recently.
I’ve been to hell three or four times in my 15 years in São Paulo. It’s desperate, distressing, visceral, surreal. And there are people who face this every single day of their lives just to go to and from work.
This newsletter has advocated for remote work since 2023. As my audience of non-Brazilians grows, I make a point of showing them this hell so that the awareness of remote work’s importance never fades.
Forcing millions of people to cram into subway cars around the world for jobs that could be done from home is one of humanity’s greatest crimes today.
I’m known for being thoughtful, moderate, conciliatory —but this topic infuriates me. It’s an affront, especially to the poorest. The wealthier will also suffer from traffic and less quality of life, but at least they won’t have to face hell.
The myth of productivity fueled the mass return to the office. Instead of improving workflows, leaders satisfied their thirst for control by forcing everyone around them back —even though most of those leaders spend their time alone in comfortable rooms.
There’s an ongoing debate about the freedom of gig workers. Many of them say they prefer informal work simply because they don’t have to deal with an unbearable boss breathing down their necks. It may be a false sense of freedom, as they are ultimately at the mercy of apps run by big tech, governed by algorithms, forced into exhausting shifts with no labor rights.
Anyone who has ever had a terrible boss (which is to say, everyone) tends to sympathize with Uber drivers’ argument. The exploitation of workers by employers is undoubtedly one of humanity’s worst inventions. At least when a worker is exploited by an algorithm, there isn’t another human being giving them orders.
Remote work restores a bit of dignity to the individual, freeing them from hell. And it can grant autonomy —provided that companies know how to manage their workflows. Deadlines, goals —everything can be quantified.
Remote work allows people to spend more time with family, exercise more, develop their hobbies, and get more sleep.
There are, of course, many challenges to remote work, such as loneliness and distractions. We need to think together about how to address them. There are also plenty of people who pretend to be working —but that has always existed in office environments. The benchmark should always be productivity. Whether remote or in-person, a good worker will always bring ideas, solutions, initiative, and value to a business. If you’re a manager, that’s the kind of person you want on your team.
Everyone should have the right to choose the work model that suits them best—or that allows them to escape hell.
I believe in the long arc of history. Despite the mass return to offices after the pandemic, the technological world will inevitably draw new talent toward remote jobs.
In recent weeks, I’ve connected with a fully remote South African company with employees spread across the globe. Of course, internal challenges might not be visible from the outside, but their asynchronous work model seemed to function remarkably well. And the company is growing rapidly.
Remote work isn’t perfect, nor is it suitable for every profession. But we must ensure that as many people as possible who can work remotely are working remotely.