The Pros & Cons of Remote Employment

By Ann Wood

How many people do you know who work remotely from their home? I’m guessing that most of you know at least one person working for an out-of-the-area company while living on the Outer Banks. Since COVID, the numbers of remote workers on the Outer Banks have seen a sharp increase, making a fringe lifestyle not so uncommon anymore.

According to reports published by the Outer Banks Association of Realtors, 2020 house sales were up 44% over 2019, then in 2021 sales were up again by another 17% over 2020. These were unprecedented sales numbers, and according to local realtors, many of the buyers were remote workers with newfound flexibility to work from anywhere – and they chose the Outer Banks.

During the pandemic, remote work became a mainstream workforce solution. Fortunately, the technology existed to make this a rather simple transition as people were forced into isolation. Workers saw this ability to work from anywhere as an opportunity to move out of expensive or crowded housing markets and into lower cost markets or locations previously thought to be unattainable due to limited work opportunities. Workers moved to remote, natural locations, knowing that they could sustain their career from anywhere.

In March of this year, I also joined the ranks of remote workers on the Outer Banks. I had a good offer from a company based in DC, after having worked locally for 20 years. This meant leaving the comfort of my local work family and community network, to work with people I would only see in person a couple of times a year. Of course, I had this aspirational vision of flex-time scheduling and working from anywhere I could find reliable Wi-Fi, so the decision was made. I invested in my new home office, upgrading to a more powerful MacBook, purchasing a big new monitor, and setting up a desk in a space I cleared out in the bottom level of my beach box. Sure, the lines would blur sometimes, but having a dedicated workspace would enable me to give my undivided attention to my husband and kids in my off hours.

Fast forward to today. While I have been enjoying the flexibility, being home when the kids are not in school, repurposed commute time, quiet, focused workplace and my four-legged foot-warmers (my two dogs), it’s not all that I expected it to be.

There are days when I never leave my house. I miss face to face collaboration and social interaction with co-workers. I miss networking and meaningful conversations with colleagues. I miss feeling like what I do every day for work, contributes in some way to the Outer Banks community. I feel like I am without place. Dislocated. Without a work home.

Writer of this piece, Ann Wood’s corner office, complete with Bear, her Great Pyrenees foot warmer and zoom photo bomber. Photo: Ann Wood

Before making any rash judgements on remote vs. local work, I wondered whether any other remote workers on the beach had similar feelings, and if so, how did they overcome them. So, I posted a question to a local group on Facebook asking if anyone would be willing to speak with me about working remotely.

In all, I spoke with a little over a dozen people, from varied career fields and with differing views of the remote lifestyle. I spoke with Kaitlin from Kill Devil Hills, a digital marketer / single mom who is more available for her kids because of her remote position. Then, I had a conversation with Sam who spoke with me from his home in Nags Head, relating that he and his wife both are working remotely: one in digital marketing and the other as a tech recruiter. They were deliberate in their selection of the Outer Banks when they decided to move out of Washington D.C. 3 years ago, drawn to the welcoming nature of the area.

I found that, like Sam and his wife, most of those I spoke with moved here after the pandemic started. Even if they had been working remotely for years, the idea of living here long-term became more realistic with the widespread acceptance of remote work. And even though there are stories of companies requiring remote workers to return to the office in some capacity, those I spoke with had each secured a permanent remote position prior to relocating. And the reason for each moving here is clear. Drawn by friends or family in the area, or the simple desire to live in a beautiful location previously unavailable to them, proximity was no longer a requisite for employment.

As I selected my questions for the group, I wanted to know about the idyllic remote work image of a person working from their laptop in some romantic location, free from the confines of an office. Was anyone living this lifestyle? Over the months of my working remotely, I rarely left my desk.

Of those I spoke with, most had created a dedicated office space in their homes, as I did, and have a dependence on their large or multiple monitors, as I do. Most felt the need to create a separation in their home between work-life and home-life. Still, more than a few revealed that they occasionally escape their desk to travel, sit on the deck, or work from the local coffee shop.

Curious to get the coffee shop perspective, I stopped into one of the local coffee houses on the Outer Banks and spoke with one of the folks who makes the place run. He reflected on the people who frequent their shop to find an inviting place to do their work. He said that some will work the entire day at the shop, ordering breakfast, lunch and even a beer after work. Some frequent the shop and have become regulars, and others will come to spend time working alongside another friend. He summed it up like this, “We like to think of ourselves as the modern Public House where people feel comfortable coming to be social and conduct their business. We feel supported by them, and they feel supported by us.”

Another commonality was that nearly every person I spoke with was appreciative of not having to spend money and time on a commute, and an office wardrobe. Heather Medwid and her husband, who both relocated to Avon, perfectly expressed these benefits in our conversation. She related, “Working in Northern Virginia, I would spend easily 3 hours a day in traffic. The pandemic and working from home allowed me to see how horribly unbalanced that was. Just having the time I would have spent in traffic back, to spend with my family, make a healthy dinner, or pick up some old hobbies; it was a huge difference in my day. I found myself happier, more relaxed, and in turn, more productive at work.” Wow. That is powerful!

Waveriders Coffee, Deli & Market, one of the many inviting coffee shops on the Outer Banks. Our writer Ann Wood snapped this pic while nourishing her creative brain with a smoothie.

Of course, I had to ask others whether they also had feelings of isolation from the community. I found I was not alone. This insight into human interaction emerged from conversation with Anne Henningfield, who moved to Duck during the pandemic, in a neighborhood with mostly non-resident owners. She expressed that it can be quite lonely, saying, “I don’t take interaction for granted – any opportunity is golden. I find that I have more meaningful conversations with people now.”

While many are able to overcome this by going out with friends or attending local events, others have had difficulty establishing friendships due to work-related travel, and the lack of a local work network. From my interviews, I found these folks to have a common solution – volunteerism. They are working with local non-profits and volunteering at events. I heard them refer to VusicOBX, NEST, the SPCA, school PTOs and beach clean-ups. One standout of the group, Audrey from Kill Devil Hills, is a volleyball coach at the YMCA, and has established a coding club for girls at the high school.

Learning of this connection between remote workers and volunteerism, I asked Karen Brown, President and CEO of the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce, if the Chamber had any resources for the remote community. Karen responded that “the Chamber has been considering ways to help the population of remote workers we have on the Outer Banks to find a “home” where they can connect and be involved with the business and non-profit community.” I know the Chamber to be a resourceful organization for business networking, and they could be a great resource for remote workers as well.

In the end, my research showed me that this is no longer a lifestyle on the fringe. And this community of remote workers is finding ways to contribute to the community at large. While this lifestyle might not be an easy transition for everyone, it can supply meaningful value. Ashley Johnson, from Kill Devil Hills, summed up the remote work balance succinctly. She said, “If you [don’t need] the daily socialization that comes from in-person banter with colleagues, and you can maintain productivity, then, work from home – to me – is a great opportunity. Working remotely has allowed me to have flexibility, no commute, reduced expenses, a work-life balance, autonomy, and a healthy state of mind. That said, it takes a lot of trust on both parts (employee and employer!) to make it work. It’s a great path for companies to offer for so many well-researched reasons, but it’s not for all bosses, just like it’s not for all employees.”

Author: CoastalLife