🤑 Cyber Monday for Remote Workers

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Good Morning,

Cyber Monday is here, and we’ve added plenty more deals to the guide since the early Black Friday updates last week: remotesource.com/blackfriday.

You’ll find big discounts on home office, travel, technology, and even a top-tier mobile grill for digital nomads who double as chefs.

Plus, we’ve partnered with FareDrop (below) with a great offer for remote workers who love to get amazing deals on flights.

Save 50% on FareDrop Pro for Black Friday

Looking to travel more in 2024? Us too. That’s why we’re so excited to share FareDrop’s best deal ever for Black Friday. With FareDrop, you can save up to 80% on flight prices with personalized deal alerts from your home airports. The deals will be completely customized to your travel goals, including your preferred destinations, travel availability, budget, and more.
A few of FareDrop’s recent deals have us ready to book our next trip, like Los Angeles to Tokyo for $426, or Miami to Rome for $398!

Right now, if you sign up for FareDrop you’ll receive:

• 50% off the Pro Plan

• A FREE airport t-shirt

• A FREE Lonely Planet eBook

• And you’ll be entered to win a trip to the Maldives!

That’s a total value of $149 for just $49. This sale won't be around long, so sign up for your Pro plan now!

Remote Source Job Board

Featured companies:

OpenTable: 45 remote jobs
ClickUp: 35 remote jobs
Wiz: 43 remote jobs

🤝 Find Remote Jobs Here

Need to Know

🎨 Designers are happier and more productive when remote
Figma released its 2023 State of the Designer report this month, using survey data from designers in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Job satisfaction among designers is higher than it was before the pandemic, and a big reason for that is remote work. This makes sense, because designers are “at the forefront of making remote work work,” given their role crafting software interfaces and more for many tech companies.

The report also revealed designers feel that their workflows have improved overall, despite working remotely. (Figma)

✈️ Supercommuting is on the rise
Remote and hybrid work are obviously changing where people choose to live. One unexpected trend is that “supercommuting” - defined as commuting for 3 hours or more in a single day - has taken off, changing city landscapes.

With fewer required days in office, more people are willing to live further from their primary company offices. That means big cities will still attract commuters, and small cities will attract remote workers who will become residents and grow the local economies. The losers? “Mid-tier cities like Cleveland and Syracuse that have long served as regional hubs for large employers.” (Insider)

👰‍♀️ Remote work boosts wedding travel
In an article that accurately reflects my personal experience, the author showcases that remote work has made it easier for people to extend their stays when attending out-of-town weddings. When guests can work remotely, they will devote more days to traveling before and after the formal wedding events. And remote work also lets more people attend weddings on weekdays.

In conversations with hotel leaders across the US, they all disclosed that they have seen increases in wedding guest stay lengths, and more hotels are marketing remote work-friendly perks as a benefit when couples are choosing where to host their big events.

For each of the last two weddings I traveled for, I booked additional “workcation” days before and after the weekend wedding festivities, and I was pleasantly surprised at the number of others who did as well. Each time, I arrived days before the weekend and left town on Monday night after working from the hotel during the day. This allowed for more time with friends, additional sightseeing, and in one case, much cheaper travel. What’s the point of having flexibility if you don’t take advantage? (New York Times)

☁️ Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff further clarifies his WFH stance
Yet another interview with Benioff includes a WFH reference. The most recent interview with GQ allows Benioff to elaborate a bit on his WFH policy attempts: “I think to optimize the workforce, you have to realize it’s not a one-size-fits-all agenda.” A promising statement from someone who has recently been viewed as a hypocrite for his RTO policies. This Fortune article does a great job of summarizing Benioff’s past quotes on remote work. (Fortune)

🤠 City of Austin cancels office mandate, citing “climate goals”
Many of you will remember Austin’s city manager making headlines for a return-to-office mandate that caused protests by city employees. Instead of reversing the policy by admitting it was a bad idea, it seems the path forward is to reverse the policy while citing the impact that remote work will have on the city’s climate goals.

There’s a lesson here: if your company leadership is on the fence about (or against) WFH, just tell them to turn the remote work policy into a public announcement that they’re doing this for the environment! (KXAN Austin)

⛈ Companies need WFH policies in case of weather emergencies
Speaking of WFH policy and climate, this month Harvard Business Review said companies would be wise to have a plan in place for extended remote work, given the increase in extreme weather events in the past decade.

The researchers liken these WFH plans to insurance policies, and found that companies with WFH contingency plans reported meaningfully higher quarterly earnings during crises than those who did not. (Harvard Business Review)

Stuff We Like

The catch-all section for anything we find that could be useful for remote workers.

• How Not to Motivate Your Employees, from The Economist

  They had me at the second sentence: “Anyone who calls themselves a thought leader is to be avoided.” It’s an interesting breakdown of two dominant schools of thought among managers: 1) that humans have a natural aversion to work and need to be forced into it, or 2) that humans want to work hard and managers don’t need to be directive. As a spoiler, the MIT professor cited falls into the second category.

• 24 Leadership Principles from some of the greatest world leaders, by Ryan Holiday
  Holiday curated this list of principles from those who have found success in business, sports, politics, and more. Among the 24 listed, some favorites are “A Leader Can Do Anything But Not Everything,” “A Leader Is A Reader,” and “A Leader Doesn’t Tell People What To Do.”

• 16 Gift Ideas for Remote Workers, from Engadget
  Still at a loss for what to get the remote worker(s) in your life? Engadget has 16 unique ideas, like the Cube Timers from Mooas, the “ScreenBar” monitor light from BenQ, and the compact Creative Pebble Pro speakers.

Last week, Axios reported that remote work is extending holiday travel this year and will continue to change how we celebrate holidays. Here’s hoping you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving week with at least a little bit of time away from work. While it’s nice to be able to work remotely, it’s even nicer to tune out for a bit and recharge with loved ones.

Just one day left of this year’s Black Friday + Cyber Monday savings, so snag some last-minute deals here if you haven’t yet.

Cheers,
Grant

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