Europe is different, very different. Jobs and opportunity are unequally distributed across geographies and I fear occupational shifts are further exacerbating differences and social strains. Too many areas in southern and eastern Europe suffers from the effect of an aging population and an heavy talent drain.
Is the forced shift to increased remote work a possibility to rebalance? Instead of moving people to where jobs are, can we bring activities to the people while still providing job and social security?
I’d say yes.
In many cases it is technically feasible and the move could allow companies to expand their perimeter of operations, their penetration and tap into a far larger (& deeper) talent pool.
Would it be an easy move? Absolutely not. Changing the operating model of a company and very probably its culture is very challenging, even more in the current hypercompetitive market, but at the same time it’s a great opportunity you should carefully assess.
Read the McKinsey’s Report on The future of work in Europe for a good analysis of the situation.