I'm a strong advocate for remote, and retain huge admiration for the fully-remote companies that existed and drove thought leadership in the area prior to this mass experiment we now find ourselves in, but the speed at which things appear to be moving draw an uneasy cynicism in me at this point.

I'm not worried about jobs being outsourced across the world to places like India. It's just not going to happen en masse. I'm sure some companies will try it and learn the same lessons others have previously about engaging in this behaviour.

It would also be political suicide, if not worse, if world leaders saw their companies trying to move locally held jobs outside their borders and did not drop the hammer on the companies involved. We're already in a time of mass unemployment, in which:

- many were already heralding the death of globalism

- we've learned very dear lessons about outsourcing the supply chain

- people are become so much more aware of the risen inequality that even formerly hardline capitalist media are running headlines about the billionaires profiting massively off the pandemic while millions register for unemployment checks

So if the leaders want to prevent large scale social unrest, a gun which I believe we're already looking down the barrel of, then they would be wise to keep a very close eye on the movements carried out by companies within their governance.

That said, I do foresee some significant, lasting consequences should there be a mass shift to working from home or even a 4 days at home / 1 day in the office situation:

- Today's cities face a real threat of ending up as Detroit did.

-- People will flee for better pastures immediately. Why live in a shoebox in the sky when your money gets you far better elsewhere?

-- Commercial real estate, and nearby residential real estate, has the potential to collapse and rapidly so. If I were living in Toronto, working for Shopify and owned a condo now I would likely be putting it on the market ASAP.

-- Taxes, be it through indirect sales taxes or VAT, land transfer taxes, property taxes, etc. would crater leaving a massive hole in public funding through which no reasonable measure will fill.

-- Public transit fare revenue will evaporate.

-- Small businesses, restaurants, retail etc. will be wiped out with the lack of casual foot traffic

When the above potentially happens, those who wanted to live in a city for the benefits of living in a city would also likely flee.

- A permanent, wide scale loss of jobs in retail, food & beverage, etc.

You could argue that those jobs will be replaced by new demands for new supply in the new areas previous city dwellers move to, but if everyone is WFH I would imagine they won't be frequenting such stores in anywhere near the volume that was provided previously.

Given the above I believe it's pretty self-centered and reckless of large companies to be making such announcements as Shopify, Facebook et al. have made at a time where cities and countries are merely trying to ward off a pandemic and are already facing an employment and budget crisis as a result of it. They're essentially doing one of the most damaging, potentially impactful things they could be by doing so right now.

These announcements, for me personally and despite my previous hopes of seeing more remote opportunities become available over time, are only furthering my cynicism toward this industry in general at this point.