Remote work is under siege. The largest US employers and business leaders are enforcing RTO mandates left and right. Amazon wants its culture back, the Trump spites the mouse-wiggling bureaucracy, and Jamie Dimon had his RTO manifesto leaked.

Was it all too good to be true? Did we fumble remote work?

No, these are just news headlines, not reality. Most eligible full-time workers are still working remotely, primarily in a hybrid setting. Hybrid work has been stable since 2023, most companies and employees find it as a happy medium. Many business leaders can't risk upsetting the post-covid status quo; employees place a huge premium on flexibility and the best talent in their org its likely to flock.

The real risk lies with those who work fully-remote jobs— especially the younger you are. I'm a career remote worker. My first professional experience was a hybrid internship during covid and today I’m WFH full-time. I like my job. But I’ve come to realize that remote workers are in a fragile situation for two main reasons:

1. Flexibility ain't free

2. Low optionality (by default)

There are a few counter measures that I will propose later in this post. If you're young and find yourself in a remote job, consider what I'm about to say— don't get too complacent.

In This Post

1. Hybrid Is Here To Stay

2. Is A Remote Career Risky?

3. The Remote Worker Edge

4. Final Note

Hybrid Is Here To Stay

Have you noticed that a lot of weird stuff has been going on with planes lately? We got commercial flights blowing out they windows, flipping upside down, colliding with helicopters. What gives?

A small cluster of independent events (min. 3) are enough to trick ourselves into thinking they're related, even though that's usually not the case. Our attention biases towards the sensational, our minds think linearly, and we are fooled by randomness.

The same applies to narratives surrounding remote work. The spectacle involved with a few high-profile employers mandating RTOs qualify as a story for the media. The headlines and coverage collect to appear as evidence of a larger trend, but the underlying data tells a different story.