Arthur C. Clarke predicted that computers would usher in an age of telecommuting more than 50 years ago: https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/arthur-c-clarke-pred

Arthur C. Clarke predicted that computers would usher in an age of telecommuting more than 50 years ago: https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/arthur-c-clarke-predicted-future-of-remote-and-flexible-work-1964/ https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/arthur-c-clarke-predicted... As with most predictions, there's a difference between predicting something existing at all, vs. predicting normalization/ubiquity; so there's a sense in which he was accurate, and a sense in which he missed the mark. There are a million little reasons why physical proximity still makes a difference to company culture and human behavior, so some amount of that will always be with us. But I think it's fair to say that while we'll partially regress to the mean after Coronavirus blows over, the rate of WFH-friendliness will end up being significantly higher. (Depending on how long the scare lasts, the necessity of distributed-first culture changes might even grease the wheels for hiring remote workers, leading to secondary effects on the labor market.)