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“Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead. But if the courses are departed from, the ends will change.”
– Ghost of WorkLife Present
When people talk about the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the things they usually discuss is how it changed society’s work setup.
From doing one’s job onsite to enjoying the comfort and flexibility of remote work, individuals saw crucial reasons why some workers nowadays opt to be independent rather than traditional employees.
It cannot be denied that the pandemic made a huge influence in the field of professional work. However, it’s also important to take note that even before the health crisis, various factors have already been supporting the rise of the independent workforce.
The Evolution of Remote Work during the Industrial Revolution and the Rise of the Taylorist Office Layout
Remote working has become a go-to during the pandemic… but have you ever wondered when this setup actually started? Just like the “Christmas Carol” in Dickens’ prophecies:
“Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends.”
This is true when looking at the history of independent work and how it has progressed to the current day.
To what many do not know, independent work had always been remote for as far back a millennium ago. Early humans never really had a specific term for it other than just it being the standard form of work. Laborers like leatherers, blacksmiths, and potters would set up their own startups in their homes.
It was only until the Industrial Revolution when remote work began to evolve as an acknowledged form of laboring.
My own personal roots reflect this in my father’s chosen career as an upholster in North Dakota. He owned his own shop and reupholstered cars, furniture, and more for decades. He loved his job so much he just recently retired at the age of 88.
It’s no wonder that with a father like this who pursued his own entrepreneur life that I also became as passionate as I am about the careers of all independents in America.
Getting back to the history of independents, it was during the 1950s when the popular “rows of desks clasped with each other” setup known as the Taylorist office became famous. This aimed to improve efficiency among non-remote workers, allowing proper communication and quick exchange of activities.
After a few years, this style became prominent in Europe before reaching other nations such as the U.K. and the U.S. The Taylorist office and its subsequent changes has since then become the normal scheme in many traditional workplaces.
With this development, many individuals then worked through the 60-70's to promote remote work even more.
Following the Industrial Revolution, NASA engineer Jack Nilles laid the foundation for modern remote working when he coined the term, “telecommuting” in 1973.
[Telecommuting: The act of working outside an office setting through the use of technologies like phones and the Internet.]
When the Internet was invented in the early 1980s, few workers at the International Business Machines Corporations (IBM) were working from home to test the effectiveness of telecommuting. What started as a team of 5 remote workers rose to 2,000 by 1983.
It was in 2000 when the DOT Appropriations Act was enacted in the U.S. The law legitimized remote work and ordered companies to create policies about working in areas outside the usual office space. Firms that previously saw diminishing performances among their employees began considering the benefits of working remotely.
History of Pensions as Post-Retirement Funds for Full-time Employees
What was one of the core differences between working from home and working at the office?
Pensions. Ever since, more employees from established companies have benefited from pensions than remote workers.
Modern-day pensions intend to dispense income to workers who have retired from work at an older age. This system existed as far back as 63 B.C., and was originally built with the purpose of catering to retired soldiers. As such, in 1908, the Old Age Pensions Act was introduced in the U.K. to provide 5 shillings (a historical coin in the U.K.) per week to people over 70.
It was in 1964 when one of the most groundbreaking legislations in pension history was declared in the U.S.: The Employee Retirement Income Security Act or ERISA. This federal law established the proper procedure to funding, investing, and managing pensions between employers and employees.
Furthermore, pensions have become more standardized for employees who want to engage in life-long loyalty to their respective companies.
This brings us to the next two subjects: Loyalty to one company and the growth of the independent workforce in the modern world.
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