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AS THE WORLD continues to lurch from one crisis to another; from the pandemic to the war in Ukraine, to the cost of living crisis, many experts are now predicting that we are entering into a recession.
With a recession comes inevitable job losses and we know from past experiences that it is often the regional areas of Ireland that will be hardest hit and the slowest to recover.
According to the Pobal Deprivation Index, small towns, which are defined as having a population of between 1,000 and 5,000 people, were the worst hit by the last recession and also benefited less from the recovery than the most urban, or even the most rural areas of Ireland. Given they took the hardest hit and the pace of recovery was slower, we cannot afford to let our towns decline any further.
Social benefits
We must take immediate action to realise the massive opportunity remote work presents for the development of towns and villages across rural and regional Ireland. The national debate on the cost of living and predicted recession must take into account how geographical location impacts people’s access to good quality job opportunities.
While the public discussion about remote work continues to centre around whether the office is better or the challenges of hybrid working, the potential social and economic impact of remote work for a large portion of our population seems to have slipped out of the conversation. The debate around remote work needs to centre firmly and unrelentingly on how we can grab the opportunity that these thousands of remote jobs present to our local communities. Yes, remote working can be challenging, and some companies are finding it difficult to make the transition, but the social and economic benefits far outweigh the challenges.
There is a clear argument that remote work can be an effective win-win solution in times of crisis, as was clearly evidenced during the pandemic. We now need to recognise that remote work has the potential to be a significant mitigating factor if the predictions of a recession, or an escalation of the energy crisis, are to materialise.
Opportunity for growth
We know that there are 80,000 remote jobs available to people in every community in Ireland. In the context of a cost of living crisis, unaffordable fuel prices, and potential job losses, we have a major piece of work to do to ensure that as many of these jobs land in the communities that need them most.
These jobs are not ring-fenced by companies just for Ireland. Some of them are open to applicants from all over the world, others from the EU and others from our time zone. Nonetheless, we can safely say that the old saying “there are no jobs around here” is simply not true anymore.
The problem is that these jobs are not advertised in the traditional manner – you won’t see them in your local or national newspapers or hear them advertised on local or regional radio stations. The good news is that everyone everywhere can help. Until now, local job creation was the remit of government agencies or a few determined community groups who came together and set up local enterprises centres or business incubation spaces. Now any individual can, as an active citizen, take simple actions to make these jobs visible and accessible in their local communities.
Active citizenship means citizens taking opportunities to become actively involved in defining and tackling the problems of their communities and improving their quality of life. There is no greater service that someone can do for their communities than to bring good quality job opportunities to their locality.
Creating visibility
We need to make these roles visible and accessible in every community in Ireland. We need everyone to get involved and begin to share the word about the opportunities that are out there for people in their communities. We know that for every three new jobs that arrive in a community, another two jobs are sustained locally. Shops, cafes and local businesses will thrive. You will be doing a great service for your community.
At Grow Remote we have a curated list of many of these jobs at our Jobs Portal. Anyone in any location in Ireland can spread the word about these jobs locally.
I have been involved in significant community initiatives during times of crisis in Ireland. During the last recession, I was involved in the Men’s Sheds movement as they helped to counteract some of the difficulties that thousands of unemployed men were facing at that time.
More recently Grow Remote has been helping to support employers and employees through a mandated period of working from home. Now there is another economic crisis on the horizon. One thing that I have learned is that there is strength to be found in coming together in our local communities, which will give us a better chance of getting through the challenges ahead. You can find the resources to “make remote work local” at GrowRemote.ie.
John Evoy is the General Manager at Grow Remote. Previously he founded the Irish Men’s Sheds Association and was a social impact investor for a number of years.
Remote working is great. It’s a real pity a lot of employers seem to have rowed back on their offer of full time remote working and now want their employees in the office a couple days a week. The pandemic was the perfect catalyst for radical change. Some companies have grasped remote working with two hands while others I feel have let a massive opportunity slip.
@Jimmy Chickens: a couple of days in the office and the rest of the time working from home is actually great… What a difference the hybrid approach makes to work and home life balance… Worked remotely full time for two years through the pandemic… Not complaining too much now having the hybrid approach… Can look to live really further out if means two days a week of. Along commute… .
@Stuart Collins: Unfortunately it means people are still tethered geographically to living within a doable commute to the office especially with the cost of fuel and cost of parking in the cities as many work places do not have parking spaces. If we had a decent, well connected, fast and reliable transport network it wouldn’t be such an issue but unfortunately we don’t. This will mean continued pressure on our main urban centres, such as property prices and availability, over subscribed schools, medical practices, creaking infrastructure and overcrowding while meanwhile rural communities continue to decline.
@Stuart Collins: Agree, hybrid is the best balance. Some roles may work fully remote but for companies that have innovation at their core you can see why they continue to push for in office collaboration – it’s been a game changer since returning but you also have the nice cushion of a few extra days at home.
Except rent has gone through the roof all over the country. Don’t vote for landlords.
I’m lucky enough to be able to work from home all the time with the occasional visit to D4 and hare been looking for somewhere to move to for about 6 months. I love Dublin but I want nature around me instead of traffic. I’m fairly open in terms of the move, just not a big town and within 2 hours of Dublin. Any tips from country people? Somewhere that has nice scenic walks, lakes woodland etc.
@Gearóid MacEachaidh: when I lived there, north co. Kildare was close enough to South Dublin and had some nature walks at very short driving distance. Co. Wicklow also have nice spots suitable for the occasional commute
@Daniela Monza: thanks, yeah I looked at a place in Maynooth and quite liked the village. Would love somewhere in Greystones, not sure if I could afford to buy there though but if the right place came along. Love Delgany also. I actually saw a place in Arklow in Wicklow. Train to Dublin too. Its a lovely town. Big enough to have everything you need but small enough to walk around and lovely countryside.
How are staff and management trained? Working from home when building a business….how does that work??
@Brian Corr: same way if has worked in the last 2 years. It’s proven it works
@Brian Corr: Online training is not a recent invention, and if in-person training is required, there are no longer any public health restrictions preventing it.
@Brian Corr: There is a thing called online training Brian, you know the same training you can get without physically being there… I mean are you really asking how it works ??
@Brian Corr: It does’t.
Remote working makes a lot of sense in roles where it is possible to do so, the two reasons many employers are against it is because they don’t have any means of measuring the productivity of their employees, other than seeing them physically sitting in an office workspace and staying awake (which is a failure of management) and also because some employees just cannot be trusted to do anything, unless they are made to attend an office and are under constant observation, even if all they are actually doing is just staying awake..
Not all landlords or employers are wrong . We need both.
With remote working why not move to a low tax country?
@François Pignon: you need to be resident in Ireland fir tax purposes.
@François Pignon: You can if your employer allows it, but your salary will need to be reduced or increased depending on the country you choose…..
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