Workin’ It (Mostly from Home) in 2021

Due to the continuing repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global job market is facing more tumult and turbulence than at any time in modern history. Unlike the relatively familiar roadmaps back to offices and factories that existed following the two World Wars, today’s employers and employees are lurching back toward “normalcy” amid unprecedented uncertainty and ever-changing technology. There are the known-knowns (we worked from home, and it worked!), the perplexing known-unknowns (does anyone want to go back to the office?), and then the downright scary unknown-unknowns (cue: next pandemic, hacking attack, alien invasion).

Though our beautiful mountains and shimmering seas provide welcome distractions, Santa Barbara is not insulated from this reality. Indeed, we may be taking it on the teeth more than most, at least when it comes to hiring.

Our crucial hospitality industry lost a bulk of its frontline workforce when the colleges sent students home, and the repeat closures and layoffs forced other longtime employees to find new careers. Companies that once used our surroundings as a lure for big-city refugees are now competing with every other business on the planet, because everyone’s working from wherever they live, whether that’s next door or 2,000 miles away.