Outsite Survey 2020: The State of Remote Work
Discover the average age of digital nomads, their professions, and their travel preferences.
Every year, we survey the Outsite Community to check the state of remote work, and attitudes towards travel. COVID-19 has shaped attitudes around travel unlike any other year, but the digital nomad boom is just beginning - with at least 50% of the U.S workforce working remotely, as of April 2020. Check out the following stats from the Outsite Community on travel intentions post-COVID.
Demographics
How old are Outsite Members?
The average age of an Outsite Member is 35 - an increase of 1 year since 2019.
Are digital nomads generally single, or in relationships?
65% of participants were single and/or divorced. The remaining percent were either in a relationship, and/or married.
What are these people working remotely on?
74% of participants were remote, marking a 24% increase from last year.
Most Members marked themselves as Entrepreneurs (28%) or Freelancers (24%). Both worked remotely the majority of the time.
When it came to their type of profession, many still categorised themselves as Entrepreneur (30%), with the remaining majority in Product & Engineering (28%) and Sales & Marketing (23%). In terms of industry, the vast majority worked in Software, Advertising & Media, with some peculiar outliers in healthcare, music, academia, and agriculture.
Changes in Travel Intentions Post-COVID-19
How will COVID effect digital nomad travel plans?
Pre-COVID, Members travelled more than 6 months of the year, on average.
Post-COVID, 24% have indicated that they tend to stay in places for longer, and closer to home. 9% indicated they will be returning to their normal travel schedules as soon as it's logistically possible.
How soon are people happy to fly, mid or post pandemic?
57% said they were happy to travel within 6 months, with 25% indicating they were intent on travelling past the 6 month mark. Only 8% had responded that they would not be considering air travel.
Where will they be travelling?
85% of the people questioned indicated that European cities were still top of their travel wishlist, followed by 78% prioritising remote locations within Europe.
74% said that they would prioritize travel to remote locations in North America, followed by lifestyle cities (68%). North American urban locations were lowest on the travel wishlist, with 35% of respondents prioritising travel to these destinations.
Check out our previous survey here, or find out more about the Outsite Community.
