Jan 20, 2021 - Economy

The age of digital nomads

Illustration of a desk on a beach.

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Work-wherever is now mature enough that startups are popping up to serve the digital nomads — those who are hopping around from city to city or country to country as they telework.

What's happening: Leases are getting shorter and countries are experimenting with remote work visas as the pandemic upends the way we live.

In the real estate space, there's "fresh demand for furnished housing on a short-term basis, a fast-growing niche that many property startups and their venture-capital backers are rushing to fill," Konrad Putzier writes for the Wall Street Journal.

  • Landing, which operates a network of furnished apartments available for short-term leases across the U.S., launched in 2019 and expanded to 75 cities last year.
  • Sonder and Airbnb are both reporting an uptick in long-term stays of 14 days or more.

For nomads itching to go even farther, countries like Bermuda and Estonia are offering remote work visas.

What to watch: Our tax laws are based around working from one place. The fact that many workers flitted from city to city in 2020 could make filing a big mess this year.

Go deeper: Work-from-home is turning into work-from-anywhere

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