🌎 Have we found the pollution solution? | Ep5 OoO

🐺 Bloomberg: WFH benefits a threat to Wall Street

♻️ Seattle Times: Driving the pollution solution

🌲 Stay Home: Remote work shows huge environmental gains

Hey! Welcome Back -

It’s episode 5 of Out of Office, the weekly web show that keeps you in-the-loop on the latest news involving the future of work. 

Today’s episode focuses on how remote work can improve some of the biggest issues facing humanity today - issues like global pollution and traffic congestion. 

I’m your host Andrew Allen, let’s see what’s hot in the headlines this week. 

Bloomberg: Fishing For Top Talent

Bloomberg makes an impact this week, with a thought-provoking story on how some companies are using remote work to lure top talent away from Wall Street.

According to the headlines, some European banks have realized what a major competitive advantage it can be to allow their employees to continue working remotely. 

Nicholas Comfort writes -

“Every one of 12 top European banks surveyed by Bloomberg is continuing to allow employees to work remotely for part of the week.”

The remote work lure is terrible news for Wall Street pirates like Goldman Sachs - who have made it loud and clear that they are not pro remote.

Insisting on having people at the office full time may well lead to many of them abandoning ship.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out - will they stick to their guns on return to office, or bomb completely, losing their key people to international companies?

That’s really the bottom line. 

Remote work doesn’t just expand your radius of recruitment, it also expands your radius of competition.

Seems to me that the employees at Goldman who don’t want to return, will allow themselves to be stolen by savvy competitors in Europe.

The days of expecting a line of talent out the door because a company is half decent, in a half decent location - are gone. The best employers in the world will call on the best people - no matter where they live. 

Super bad news for companies still living in the dark ages who are desperately trying to pretend that remote work isn’t ‘a thing.’

Seattle Times: Driving Down Pollution

The Seattle Times has our second story this week, with a report on the dominant way Seattle residents get to the office.

Hint - they don’t! 

While driving used to be the main mode, it’s been completely eclipsed by no commute at all.

Gene Balk writes - 

As remote work became dominant in Seattle, driving wasn't the only commute mode that took a tumble. Public transportation fell dramatically. A mere 28,000 Seattleites used transit to commute on a typical day in 2021, down from 116,000 in 2019 — a 76% drop. Carpooling and walking also saw huge declines.

Working from home now outshines driving and every other form of transportation as the main means of getting to work.

That means less people on the roads, more of the time.

Stay Home: Save The Planet

The impact that remote work has on larger issues like pollution, air quality, and a cleaner environment are not to be ignored. 

Consider that the average car in the US emits 650 grams of CO2 per kilometer travelled.

Multiply that by the average commute and number of cars in any given city - and what remains is a serious urban pollution crisis common to cities around the world. 

No wonder places like Beijing have been implementing carless days since 2008. Fewer cars on the road means far less pollution in the city. 

Pollution aside, traffic is another huge problem for cities. From Mumbai, to Bucharest and Istanbul - traffic congestion is a growing issue.

And while city planners may propose greater investment in public transport, working from home is a simpler, less expensive solution that will have a way bigger impact. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of public transport. 

But what we can learn from places like Seattle is that there has been a better solution to these ongoing traffic and pollution problems, right under our noses.

Instead of making it easier for folks to get to work, let's eliminate the reason people need to get to work every day! Remote work reduces personal emissions by 80%! I believe it’s one of the most eco-friendly things you can do for your planet.

Do you?

That’s it for this week. 

Join me again next week for more top stories. 

And remember - the future of work is Out of Office. 

Andrew