The pandemic has generalized a way of working that could soon become the standard in many industries. Some even claim that working outside the usual office can increase productivity. In any case,“remotework” is becoming more and more fashionable, and apparently Germany is one of the ideal places to practice it.
At least that’s according to travel specialist Momondo, which recently published a study that ranks Germany as the tenth best place in the world to work remotely. It is called the “Travel and Work Index”. Its aim: to serve as a guide for all digital nomads who are looking for the next destination for their “workation“.
The art of choosing the best places to work remotely
Momondo is actually nothing more than a search engine for cheap travel. So the main interest was to find a good place to work in a popular travel destination. To this end, the 111 countries with the most travel queries on this search engine were selected for the study. These were then evaluated based on six different categories: travel costs, cost of living, health and safety, conditions for “remote working”, social life and climate.
Each category consists of several factors – 22 in total – which include things like transportation prices, monthly apartment rents or hotel room rates, average restaurant prices and fuel prices. The quality of co-working spaces and visas for remote work were other factors analyzed.
The authors of the study also used data on general safety and health indicators from the World Health Organization and the OECD, among others. Of course, Covid-19 also had to be taken into account here: The national vaccination rate was also evaluated for the study.
Each of these 22 factors was assigned a weight indicating its importance: For example, internet speed is considered one of the most important factors, so countries with a better internet connection are ranked higher. Finally, the weighted average score of the factors was calculated for each country, which then received a specific score for each category – 100 in total.
The country that performed best was then given an overall score of one hundred points, with the following countries receiving fewer points on average according to the difference. Portugal came first with a total of 100 points and Spain second with 93 points.
Germany, the tenth best country for remote work
As already mentioned, the study ranks Germany as the 10th best place for remote work with 83 points. Most of these points were awarded for security and the healthcare system, but above all for social life. With 100 out of 100 points, our country achieved the highest score in this category. This is due to the high number of English speakers and the exciting cultural and nightlife – measured by the density of theaters, museums, clubs, etc.
However, Germany also has one of the worst results in the weather category – for which no one can really be held responsible.
The top 10
After Spain and Portugal, Romania is the third country that supposedly offers the best conditions for “remote working”. In addition to this purely European top 3, the top 10 also includes Malta in 6th place (89 points), the Czech Republic in 9th place (84 points) and Germany in 10th place. Outside Europe, Mauritius in 4th place (90 points), Japan in 5th place (90 points), Costa Rica in 7th place (86 points) and Panama in 8th place (85 points) make up the rest of this top 10.
Differences between working from home and “remote working”
Even though they are often associated with each other, there are some differences between what is called “remote work” and what is called telecommuting. Here are their most basic definitions:
Home office is when the employee performs the same tasks as if they were at their desk in the company. As a rule, teleworking takes place from a fixed location, e.g. from home. You remain in constant contact with your team, your employees and your employer. The working hours are the same as if you were working on the company’s premises.
Remote work is when you can perform your tasks anywhere in the world. The company has not defined a specific workplace for this.
Adapted from an article written by Max Hailer for Secret Munich.