Digital nomadism in the post-pandemic world
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
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Authors
Date
2023
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Management and International Business (MIB)
Language
en
Pages
93 + 1
Series
Abstract
As a result of the ongoing blurring between work and leisure, and the catalyzing role of the COVID-19 pandemic for remote work, the world has seen the rise of a new type of remote worker, the digital nomad. Digital nomads are location-independent professionals who leverage the help of mobile devices and the Internet in their knowledge work. The size of the group grew by more than three times over the pandemic, to reach 35 million, globally, by the end of 2022. Digital nomads are beginning to transform the cultures and infrastructures around them, and legislations and policies are starting to follow along. During the pandemic, specific digital nomad visas emerged as a way to facilitate the nomads’ work and life in their destinations. Consequently, these transformations are happening perhaps faster than understood. A level of coherency is yet to be found, as countries are only starting to experiment – the larger-scale implications of digital nomad visas are yet to be seen and studied. In this thesis, I outline the post-pandemic state of digital nomadism. I study the recent demand to answer the digital nomad phenomenon in a legislative sense, connected with the emergence of digital nomad visas. Moreover, I study Estonia’s role for digital nomadism. The country appears to be spearheading the development and to have established unique, promising circumstances for practicing digital nomadism. The research process of this thesis entails reviewing the existing literature and conducting an interview study with five experts on digital nomadism and Estonian digitality. The interviews are processed in a thematic analysis, from which several findings emerge. First, my study concludes that the digital nomad phenomenon has gained a wider grasp in the recent years and can be expected to continue to grow – having diversified noticeably compared to its pre-pandemic state, with regards to types of people and work. The phenomenon seems to be even larger than suggested by the current literature. Secondly, as the number of digital nomads keeps increasing, my study uncovers a heightened need for better schemes and options for living as a digital nomad, and for countries to better facilitate the residence of digital nomads. If carried out appropriately, digital nomad visas could offer economic benefits for the issuing countries as well, meaning that the visas could serve both sides. In their current state, however, the visas need more recognition and exploration, in order to serve the nomads’ needs better. Finally, my research shows that Estonia is currently one of the countries leading the way and making the most progress in remote work and digital nomad developments. It acts as the example for other countries to follow. Digital nomad visas turn out to be part of a larger, all-encompassing structure of digitality in Estonia, with deep-rooted foundations in the country’s essence. Ultimately, Estonia demonstrates that other countries, too, should see digital nomad visas as part of a larger offering of ways to facilitate digital work.Description
Thesis advisor
Piekkari, RebeccaKeywords
digital nomads, digital nomad visas, remote work, e-residency