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The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the economy. Millions of workers are now working remotely and millions more have lost their jobs. It is too early to say how many will be hired back, or for what kind of work, once businesses rehiring. It is also too early to say how many people will continue to work from home once the stay-at-home orders are lifted.

In this episode of Work in Progress, I am joined by Jeff Wald, the founder of WorkMarket, an online marketplace and platform used to manage freelancers, contractors, and consultants.

“There are a lot of people who theorize that remote work will be the work of the future, but I would dispute that,” says Wald.

He points out that only about three percent of the American workforce was already working remotely before the COVID-19 pandemic, and now that number is closer to 50 percent.

“It’s not going to be the case that companies all over the world are going to say ‘wow, this worked great’ and ‘everybody just stay where you are’.”

He says that while we’ve been moving toward an on-demand workforce that will be “team-based, fluid, work-from-anywhere job” thanks to technology like Slack, Zoom, or other project management software, the majority still will be needed to work in offices, manufacturing, retail, and in other facilities.

You can listen to the rest of his thoughts on the future of work in the full Work in Progress podcast, which you could get wherever you get your podcasts.

Also check out Amazon. You can pre-order Jeff Wald’s new book, End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Workers and Agile Corporations, which will be released in June.

Episode 125: Jeff Wald, Founder, WorkMarket
Host: Ramona Schindelheim, Editor-in-Chief, WorkingNation
Producer: Larry Buhl
Executive Producers: Joan Lynch, Melissa Panzer, and Ramona Schindelheim
Music: Composed by Lee Rosevere and licensed under CC by 4.0.

You can check out all the other podcasts at this link: Work in Progress podcasts