As leaders and thinkers continue to grapple with combating poverty in our region through economic development efforts such as securing companies to relocate to our region that often rely on brick and mortar and pre-pandemic workplace infrastructure , I wonder if we should be placing some of our economic development efforts on understanding the potential positive impact Zoom Towns and the rise of a remote worker economy are having all around us.
First, yes we must continue to recruit global companies to our region, especially in the manufacturing, healthcare, and technology industries. With near-shoring getting “nearer” in 2024, it is imperative that we continue to prepare our people through education and training to take advantage of the opportunities near-shoring will bring in the physical work space. Let’s, however, consider a few reasons why our region might be prime to build up a remote workforce that welcomes virtual opportunities not limited by our physical bounds.
According to Indeed.com, the world’s largest job site, there are well over 150,000 remote jobs active right now on their site alone! Many of those positions include medical billing specialists, virtual assistants, bilingual customer service specialists, virtual nurses, graphic designers, coders, accounting specialists, underwriters, transcriptionists, and, well you get the idea.
Or maybe our region’s people are simply looking to supplement income with a part-time or flex job online that will bring more income into the family home- remote jobs offer that too!
Any job that can be done online is listed and many of the opportunities expect some college, a certification, or an associates degree (and many of those certificates and degrees can be completed online through STC or TSTI) making the remote economy a necessary point of discussion for those in our region’s economic development space. Plus, many employers are looking for bilingual workers too!
But there’s more reasons why we need to be talking about building a remote economy in tandem with building infrastructure geographically bound to our region: remote jobs offer competitive pay, offer flexibility for many of us who value work-family balance and an important solution to our human capital export: it allows us to keep our skilled and educated workforce here in our region- a win for our local economy and a win for so many people who want to stay close to family but often have to choose between higher wages and leaving their family to pursue those higher wages!
Because yes, Indeed.com, Ziprecruiter.com, and more recently, flexjobs.com , also have thousands of postings for those with a bachelor’s, master’s and even a doctorate.
In short, the benefits of a remote economy are endless and geographically boundless.
But talking about the value of remote economy isn’t limited to those currently residing in our region. With Zoom Towns popping up all across the country, our region is an ideal location for one too! Many people continue to leave large metro areas in search of work-life balance, high cost of living relief, access to nature, strong community values and a safe place to raise a family- that sums up The Rio Grande Valley!
Pew Research reports 51% of Americans say they would prefer to live in a small town or rural area. This is up from 43% in 2019. The discussions on LinkedIn showed this exodus was because of the rise of a remote economy.
So what does our region need to do in order to support a remote economy? First, continue aggressively connecting all citizens with access to broadband infrastructure and other technology poised to support the remote work economy. Next, let’s commit to learning more about remote economies so we can create more opportunities for our people, and for now, let’s begin by creating a space in our economic development conversation and plans to include the impact remote work can have on the prosperity of our region where we also create a space to connect our community with remote work opportunities.
With technology moving at rapid speeds we will never have all the answers but our people shouldn’t have to wait for companies to relocate to our region when technology has afforded us an opportunity to stay in our beautiful bi-cultural, family-focused region right now.
Editor's Note: The above guest column was penned by Dalinda Gonzalez-Alcantar, a trustee of South Texas College and CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of McAllen. The column appears in The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service with the permission of the author. Gonzalez-Alcantar tells the Guardian that she has held many remote jobs while raising her children in the Rio Grande Valley.
