You know about FIFOs — but next come the FIZOs

New normal: we’re accustomed to working from home now

It could be argued that the coronavirus is the greatest social, economic and geopolitical event to have impacted the Australian people since World War II. It has hastened the digitisation of business, changed trade relationships and supply-chain networks and challenged our federation. And it has revolutionised the way we work.

Next March it will be two years since workers and employers first had to learn how to work remotely. Many workers have become used to, even enamoured with, the new arrangement. In the post-Covid era, these workers will argue for a greater voice in how and from where workplace value might be delivered. In my assessment, perhaps 1.5 million workers will want to work from home in some kind of hybrid arrangement in the post-Covid era (up from 504,000 at the 2016 Census).

First came the VESPAs, the Virus Escapees Seeking Provincial Australia, who scooted out of our larger cities in search of serenity and shelter from the lockdowns and the virus. Many made a beeline for seachange and treechange communities within striking distance of capital cities. What emerged quickly was a Goldilocks zone (up to 150km from the CBD) that delivers just the right balance between an affordable and laidback lifestyle and weekly or fortnightly access to the city.

But perhaps workers will seek to move even further afield. In August, Australian tech company Canva announced that employees were now expected to visit the office no less than eight times a year. (Other employers have announced similar plans.) The lower the visit rate, the more extensive the Goldilocks zone. At once every six weeks or so, Sydney’s Canva workers might well think, why Wollongong, why not Wagga Wagga?

Prior to the pandemic, much of our concept of success and sophistication was associated with the CBD. The city centre accommodated the best jobs, shops, art, culture and sporting venues. Indeed, prior to 2020 the suburbs and the regions (with some exceptions) were almost pejorative terms. The Covid comet has changed this thinking. With more Australians working from home, in the suburbs or vibrant VESPA villages, the home has been transformed. The home office and so-called Zoom Room have commandeered the spare bedroom and/or a corner of the living room, projecting a curated version of the “good room”.

But now another variant of the WFH worker is plotting an escape into the wider community. Not for this variant the rural and regional commitment of the VESPA people but rather the idea of a temporary reprieve, a tropical retreat perhaps, where the worker might work and Zoom from a rented room – perhaps en famille – for a month or two.

During the resources boom, remote mine sites attracted a Fly-In Fly-Out (FIFO) workforce. Maybe in the post-Covid era we will see a Fly-In Zoom-Out (FIZO) workforce flourish. Here is a niche that could well emerge from within a workforce no longer required to endure the drudgery of everyday commuting. This lot, this new worker variant, will surely coalesce to form a flock, a herd, a school, a gaggle in search of escape from a southern winter by choosing to work from a temporary tropical FIZO home.

Australians are great travellers, used to chatting enthusiastically, and neverendingly, about our upcoming and recent holidays. Perhaps the 2020s will be shaped by the new social phenomenon of long-stay work-from-home visitors looking to Zoom out from a range of exotic locales. This new market might help the economies of regions badly hit by the lack of international visitors.