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Remote work

Remote work didn’t liberate labour—it relocated capital’s control over time and space.

Worth your time?3.5/5Yes.Study the whole thing.What works, what does not, who it is for ↓
9:49in productionCh. 1 · What it is/ 9:49 · ceiling 15 min
4 chapters · 9:49Ceiling 15:00

The brief is written and checked. The video joins this page when it is cut.4 chapters · 1 min read · 9:49 planned

Read the brief

Remote work is working from home or another non-office space. It began on a small scale for large employers in the early 1970s using dumb terminals and telephone lines. Jack Nilles coined 'telecommuting' and 'telework' in 1973. The motto 'work is something you do, not something you travel to' arrived in 1995. Workplace hazard controls during the COVID-19 pandemic catalysed a rapid, global shift for white-collar workers in 2020—and a 2020 study found 93% of world workers lived in countries with workplace closures. A 2024 PNAS study found remote work dispersed economic activity away from city centres, especially in cities with high remote-work adoption.

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Chapters & takeaways4
  1. 0:58
    What it is

    Remote work means working from home or another non-office space—not hybrid, not flexible hours, not hot-desking.

  2. 2:52
    Where it came from

    It started in the early 1970s with terminal-based networking—and was named, then reframed, before it scaled.

  3. 4:31
    How it went global

    The pandemic forced it globally—but only for white-collar workers, under emergency hazard controls.

  4. 6:07
    What it changed

    It moved money: economic activity dispersed from city centres, especially where remote work was dense.

1 more chapterFewer chapters
Worth your time?

Yes. Study the whole thing.

3.5/ 5
What works
  • displaces economic activity from city centres
  • exposes infrastructural assumptions about work and time
  • reveals who holds leverage when location is optional
What does not
  • liberate all workers
  • apply to non-white-collar roles
  • originate in the 2020s
Study it if
  • white-collar workers
  • large employers
  • city-centre economies
Skip it if
  • service workers
  • care workers
  • manufacturing workers
Who should study it, and who should skipHide who it is for
The written brief1 min read

What the thing is

Remote work is working from home or another non-office space.

Where it came from

It began on a small scale in the 1970s, using dumb terminals and telephone lines to link satellite offices to mainframes. Jack Nilles coined ‘telecommuting’ and ‘telework’ in 1973. The motto ‘work is something you do, not something you travel to’ arrived in 1995.

What it gets right

Remote work disperses economic activity away from city centres. A 2024 PNAS study confirmed this in cities with high remote-work adoption.

What it gets wrong

It presumes flexibility is universal. It began for large employers on a small scale in the 1970s—never for service, care or manufacturing workers.

Why it matters now

Workplace hazard controls during the COVID-19 pandemic catalysed a rapid, global shift for white-collar workers in 2020—and a 2020 study found 93% of world workers lived in countries with workplace closures.

Is it worth your time

Yes—if you care where economic activity happens, who benefits from it, and how work reshapes cities and time.

Same beat · Society4 of 300
11:13
SquattingSquatting is unlawful occupation — not metaphor, not lifestyle. It began with anarchist rent strikes and silent exits. It houses one billion people. It is ignored by policy. It exploits adverse possession. It belongs to left-wing movements — not as theory, but as daily infrastructure.
8:23
WorkismWorkism is not a movement or a policy. It is a diagnostic label — coined in 2019 — for the belief that work confers moral worth and personal meaning. It applies across employment status. It operates through internalised discipline, not external demand. It matters now because its logic has spread beyond high-pressure professions into everyday expectations of availability, ambition and self-worth.
10:42
Digital nomadA digital nomad is a person who travels freely while working remotely using internet-based technologies. The term originated in the early 1990s, citing precursors like Steven K. Roberts (1983–1991), the 1993 Digital Nomad's Guide series, Craig McCaw’s 1993 prediction, and Makimoto & Manners’ 1997 book. It correctly names a growing demographic—18.1 million US-based remote workers who move while employed—but wrongly implies autonomy without legal, fiscal or emotional scaffolding. Over 40 countries now offer digital nomad visas, making it a policy reality, not just a lifestyle trend.
9:16
CoworkingCoworking is a shared office space arrangement for workers from different companies and the self-employed. It started in San Francisco in 2005 with Brad Neuberg, building on 1990s European hacker spaces. Between 2006 and 2015, the number of spaces and available seats roughly doubled each year. Early adopters included France (2008), the US (2008), Kenya (2010), and Nigeria (2011). It targets freelancers, remote workers, SMEs, and niche groups—and distinguishes itself from incubators and executive suites through its social, collaborative, and cooperative ethos.
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