'Trust and be open – if it works for your employee, then you should find a way to make it work for you'
Born in the late 90s to early 2000s, a large portion of Gen Z entered the workforce at the onset of Covid lockdowns. This left the generation in a unique position; so far in their lives, a lot have never had to work in an office.
The winner of Deel’s “Best Job in the World” competition was one of those people. Twenty-five-year-old Carly Koemptgen is spending six months travelling around Aotearoa, New Zealand and Australia employed as a “social media nomad.”
“My role is to make social media content about how easy it is to work from anywhere,” she said.
Koemptgen told HRD she doesn’t want that situation to change, and it shouldn’t have to.
“I very briefly worked in an office, and I didn’t like it, it wasn’t for me,” she said. “I felt like I shouldn’t be spending this much time in a dark room in front of a computer.”
Gen Z knows technology makes it possible
Koemptgen explained “Gen Zs weren’t born with iPhones in their hands, and most can remember a time when they didn’t have a computer, but they became savvy from a young age, and they evolved with the technology.”
“The younger generation coming through know that we have the technology to sustain remote work,” she said. “We are very open to new technology, communicating virtually, and using the technology to our advantage to live the lives that we want to live.”
Leaders need to support flexible work
Koemptgen believes that “we shouldn’t be living to work” and urged leaders to be “open to the flexibility required in each person’s different lifestyle.”
“When you have employees that are able to live the lives that they want to live, they are more fulfilled, then they come to work more fulfilled and are able to do a better job because they're not so drained every day.”
To the more sceptical leaders, Koemptgen’s message is “Trust and be open. If it works for your employee, then you should find a way to make it work for you.”
Living life as a remote worker
Koemptgen spends her days taking meetings, content requests, and making and creating content, all based out of her office and home for the next six months, a van fully equipped with all the mod cons for living life on the road.
Instagram video of Deel Mobeel
Just like any IRL (in real life) role, Koemptgen’s role comes attached with KPIs to meet, but she says remote work has never gotten in the way of her achieving those.
One month into the six months, she said, “While there are instances of spotty wifi around New Zealand, there’s been no major technology malfunctions.”
When the company launched the competition, Deel’s ANZ Country Leader, Shannon Karaka said, “Previously people had to physically move to access great job opportunities, but that's all changing with global hiring.
"Now talent can live and work anywhere and this is what we would like to highlight with our new role."
