Great Pajama Jobs

Introduction

I love my job. I log in to my computer in the quiet predawn from my comfy couch with a steaming mug of black coffee and get to work tout de suite.

This spring, in what felt like a blink of an eye, remote work suddenly was thrust onto many workers and employers who had never wished for this to be the only work option. And there were millions of workers like me, logging into the office without the commute, not because they wanted to, but because they had no choice.

The coronavirus has radically changed our workplaces. Unprecedented, unprepared, and uncharted, working from home became the norm. Adjust and get on with it. Kids scrambling underfoot, teenagers sitting at the table beside us engaged in their online classrooms, ramping up tech skills to make virtual connections, feeling isolated. Oh boy, all of the above became a stark and somewhat frightening reality for many workers.

Everyone in the world has been impacted by this pandemic. And our workplaces may be changed forever. As I finish this manuscript, there is no way to predict our future. But this I do foresee: An increasing number of employers will become remote-friendly and probably institute a formal remote work policy. During the mandated time with offices shuttered, they'll have recognized the benefits of having remote workers.

“An ongoing, formal shift in the way people can work will happen in stages as it becomes increasingly clear a return to ‘normal’ won't happen overnight,” says Cali Williams Yost, ...