Tech will soon transform the regions
Many of us no longer need to live in a major city to do what we do
When I contrast the way I work in 2019 to the way I worked in 1989, the differences are significant.
In 1989 I was a sales rep, driving a company vehicle, handwriting orders, and communicating urgent messages via a low-tech device known as a ‘pager’.
Today, I commute between Auckland and Wellington every week, performing a range of services for clients, communicate by text or email, and conduct 99 per cent of my communication via my mobile phone or laptop.
But my 2019 work practices could already be described as ‘outdated’. I don’t actually need to travel between Auckland and Wellington as regularly as I do — I could be just as effective conducting meetings via ‘virtual’ meeting platforms.
I will soon be able to do that via AR (augmented reality). I’ll actually appear in a room with other people who could be doing the same thing from some other part of the world.
Equally, I no longer need to type. Speech-to-text applications have reached such accuracy that most of what I say into my phone or laptop will automatically be produced as a written document.
Nor are my business opportunities limited to NZ. My clients could just as easily be based anywhere on the planet, because translation software means I no longer need to be able to speak the language of those I’m communicating with (with the possible exception of a certain Scottish OneRoof editor whose accent defies most translation technology).
These developments will have major implications for the way business is conducted; for the employment of staff; and for how we treat issues around ‘work/life’ balance.
But, more importantly, they will almost certainly lead to a redistribution of our population, with many people choosing to move to the regions over the next
30 years.
Here’s why:
1. Many of us no longer need to live in a major city to do what we do. We could just as easily be running a business from Napier or New Plymouth, or Timaru or Invercargill.
2. Connectivity in some of these places is often as good, or better, than main centres. With the rollout of the ultra-fast broadband initiative, internet connectivity is often now better in smaller towns than in cities. The speed at which you do business is now no longer determined by where you are.
3. Additionally, the lifestyle in many provincial towns and cities is often significantly better than metropolitan centres; the cost of living is usually lower; and employees are often equally well qualified but generally much more stable and cost less to employ.
4. Best of all — the cost of housing is generally much much lower, and you can either buy the equivalent of a major city home for a lot less money, or get much more home for what you’d pay in the bigger cities.
Moving to the regions isn’t for everyone, of course. A big part of our economy is still driven by the necessities of proximity, meaning that many of us still provide a function which requires us to be near our place of work or client base.
But as more of our jobs transition to the digital economy the lure of the regions will become a very real option. It’s a safe bet that New Zealand will be a very different place by 2049.