Holland is going to make remote work the law. It can backfire on you

Employees who worked from home during the pandemic shutdowns seem reluctant to return to the office. At the same time, companies want people to come back. The Pew Research Foundation found that 61% of people working from home did so by choice, not because there was no office to go to.

On the other hand, Microsoft has found that 50% of companies want their employees to return to the office full-time. There is an obvious conflict between what people want and what senior management wants.

At least one government is listening.

On July 5, 2022, the Dutch parliament voted to require companies to "carefully consider" any request for remote work. If the boss denies it, the company will have to explain why under the proposed legislation, which is set to become law after Senate approval.

While what happens in the Netherlands may well stay in the Netherlands, American workers looking at this legislation may wonder if something similar would be a good idea in the United States. Before joining the lobbying effort, consider this counterpoint.

If you claim you can do your job 100% remotely, your boss might believe you. And if your boss starts believing you, your boss may start wondering why you're getting a high Dutch or American salary. If work can indeed be done from anywhere, then why not Malaysia, India or the Philippines?

An HR manager at a multibillion-dollar global company told me that the decline in office work could have direct repercussions. She explained that when people ask to work from home and get paid in Silicon Valley somewhere else, "I always say be careful what you wish for. If I can get you in San Francisco or Iowa , I can hire someone in India."

She could have added or replaced you with a robot.

Does proximity matter?

If you can work from anywhere, does it matter if it's down the street from your boss or sitting by the pool in a resort halfway around the world? As someone living in Switzerland with mostly American customers, I'd say my proximity doesn't matter. But I mostly work freelance, and the occasional video meeting is enough.

But can you be as effective in projects that require close teamwork if the team is scattered across the globe? Or is it better and easier if you can get together -- at least once in a while? Or are you in the same time zone?

If proximity doesn't matter for most jobs, why should employers continue to pay high wages? If anyone really can work anywhere, that's the next logical step.

What if wages go down?

New York, California, and Illinois have seen and continue to see dramatic population declines as people move out of these high-cost-of-living areas. Although Texas and Florida gained the most people from these moves, they weren't the only ones seeing growth.

Before, when people moved, they had to find new jobs with local wages. But many of those people took advantage of Covid-era work-from-home policies, took their high state salaries, and moved to places where they could get more bang for their buck.

It seemed like a great idea, but then