Debunking 5 myths about remote work and digital nomads

Remote and more distributed workforces are becoming the new normal. Adaptive policies and strategies are needed to manage potential risks. 

These considerations go for work that crosses borders or tax jurisdictions of any kind, attracting different payroll or corporate tax exposures, or regulatory considerations depending on the industry.

“As an employee, I may not realize the risk I’m creating for myself or the company. Being on video so often has furthered this thought that we can be anywhere, but people don’t fully understand and appreciate the risks,” says Maureen Flood, EY Americas Mobility Hybrid Work Leader.

“The Great Resignation is real, and the impulse to attract the best talent is real. There’s a need to enable work flexibility because people want it,” Flood says. “But we need to have our eyes open about what we’re saying yes to with the details of workforce mobility.” 

Myth 3: The immigration system is built for more mobile ways of working.  

“When you’re talking about immigration systems you need to be careful, because it’s about each country and at times requirements in each region and location,” Orme says. “It’s hard to have an overview of immigration because it’s so idiosyncratic and fluid. It’s also changing rapidly so you get some areas of permissibility that could change overnight because of an event or policy change.” 

The pandemic highlighted shifting approaches to immigration, with changing health requirements or the promotion of nomad visas, for example. Orme says the particulars of a country’s approach to immigration are often dictated by internal politics and priorities. 

“Look at different countries with different approaches,” Willis adds. “Some took more conservative approaches to immigration during the pandemic, like Australia or New Zealand, so you would be surprised if they created a nomad visa, as opposed to a country that responded quickly with new visa types like the UAE.” 

Any new visa requirements are on top of broader immigration eligibility considerations or agreements, Willis says, influencing the kinds of workers who might be able to participate. This might factor in free movement of people arrangements between Schengen countries in Europe, or Mercosur countries in South America.  

But typically, immigration rules anticipate certain scenarios: a worker physically moving to another location to work in that location, or staying for a few months, or staying just days on a single business trip.  

“The rules in place today don’t really contemplate virtual assignments, virtual working, or permanent remote work,” Flood says. “I think it will take time for the rules to catch up to it. What does the next iteration look like? Companies don’t have the infrastructure to keep up with tracking where people are, to be compliant with rules that don’t even exist to be compliant to!” 

Any response to changes in workforce trends also rests in the specific processes and legislative steps to enable new options: change doesn’t always come at the flip of a switch, even when the labor market appears ready for it.  

Myth 4: The only tech consideration is getting a laptop to a worker.  

It’s true that organizations need to get employees the technology they need to be productive, and stay connected.  

But having workers in different locations also creates challenges for data management.  

“Can you track your employees’ activity and log data? In some places, mining data like IP address location may be acceptable, but in other locations globally that may run afoul of data privacy regulations,” Flood says. “In some jurisdictions, I need to pay certain allowances for an employee working from home, but if it’s hybrid work, where is the line? What is commuting? What is business expense? How is that information logged? Immigration and tax, as complicated as they are, is just scratching the surface of the complexity.” 

A company also needs to manage the logistics of employee mobility that accounts for shifting immigration, health, or social benefits policies. This is best done in a digital/cloud environment which requires infrastructure and planning. 

The infrastructure also needs to account for the physical security of an organization’s people and property, and also their cybersecurity. 

“Let’s say you have to receive an SMS on a particular phone, in a particular region, for two-factor authentication—how does this respond to worker mobility?” Willis says. “If I was trying to sit on a beach in the Maldives and lodge applications for an employer in a particular country, I would not be able to get that authentication because I’m not in that country. I think some people who want to be on the beach will have their hopes dashed.” 

Myth 5: Companies don’t need a strategy for managing employee experience and company culture with dispersed teams.  

As companies consider the many possibilities for workforce mobility, it’s important to keep the human element front and center.  

This can include recognizing that more employees are looking for flexible working conditions and believe they can remain productive and successful regardless of location or the specific hours of a workday. The EY 2022 Work Reimagined Survey shows that 72% of employers believe new ways of working can cause a loss of career advantage, compared to 56% of employees believing the same.  

“We need to be deliberate and purposeful about creating interactions on a human level,” Flood says. “You have to work hard, schedule time and learn about your people wherever they’re working. Otherwise, we’re going to have teams of people working in-person together for 20 years and a bunch of virtual strangers who can be pulled out. They don’t feel connected, or loyal, or passionate about the organization. That’s not sustainable.” 

The Work Reimagined Survey also shows only a small majority (57%) of employees trust their employer and feel supported by them, and just 53% of employees believe their company has a sustainable employee experience that is allowing them to thrive. 

It points to the need for companies to build intentionality into their operations for high-value touchpoints with workers, both digitally and in-person. These opportunities can reinforce a sense of purpose and mission, and also contribute to employee development.  

For robust and future-proofed workforce planning that supports sustainable value creation, organizations should consider having at the center a comprehensive mobility strategy. Limited travel could be part of an onboarding or training opportunity that can strengthen ties and skills needed for productive remote work, whether an employee is remote working across town or across borders. 

“In the race for talent we’ve seen companies desperate to get the right talent on board,” Willis says. “Hiring foreign labor becomes more frequent, and immigration follows recruitment. Some companies have announced they are going fully remote, but the value of work is person to person. I don’t think you can replace some things that we do in the workforce remotely.” 

“We should be careful before we sit everyone on the beach in the Maldives,” he says.