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Does More Freedom at Work Mean More Fulfillment? | Sarah Aviram | TED

The flexibility to work from anywhere won’t necessarily make you love your job, says HR leader Sarah Aviram. Sharing practical wisdom from research conducted while working remotely in 12 different countries, she reveals the real challenges that hybrid work policies can’t fix — and shows how to truly thrive at your job no matter where…

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The flexibility to work from anywhere won’t necessarily make you love your job, says HR leader Sarah Aviram. Sharing practical wisdom from research conducted while working remotely in 12 different countries, she reveals the real challenges that hybrid work policies can’t fix — and shows how to truly thrive at your job no matter where you get it done.

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33 Comments

33 Comments

  1. Lawi Bii

    September 13, 2023 at 4:01 pm

    great

  2. Hector Connor

    September 13, 2023 at 4:02 pm

    It evokes delight and inspiration.💚

  3. sophia isabelle

    September 13, 2023 at 4:02 pm

    I think not necessarily. If you’re a corporate slave, then you’d genuinely know what it’s like to have actual freedom. Also, fulfillment comes within, not in the outward sense.

  4. PragmaticPoet

    September 13, 2023 at 4:11 pm

    When freedom = self responsible, self accountable, self autonomy… working online does not necessarily qualify… in fact, it may end up being quite the opposite 😎

  5. rika

    September 13, 2023 at 4:31 pm

    Remote makes any job better even if I hate it. People who don’t experience 2 hr+ daily commutes don’t understand.

    • Sara Elizabeth

      September 13, 2023 at 5:52 pm

      Hybrid worked best for me. Remote was awful! I thought I would love it but I was miserable after two months.

    • Rhonda Carlson

      September 13, 2023 at 7:45 pm

      Hybrid works best for me as well. I feel isolated working totally remote.

    • 25852Dan

      September 14, 2023 at 3:23 am

      I love being fully remote. I get so much time back to find my own fulfillment outside of the workplace. Not having a commute adds up to a huge amount of time over the course of a career, and I have more energy to get my work done. It’s greatly improved the quality of my life and I’m never going back to the office. The world is changing.

    • James L

      September 16, 2023 at 10:12 pm

      I didn’t like it. I work in computer support and I am a hands on/tactile person. My commute isn’t 2+ hours though.

  6. drummer265

    September 13, 2023 at 5:59 pm

    At least for corporate jobs, people don’t feel “fulfilled” because at the end of the day no perks or flexibility change the fact that you are selling hours of your life (which you have a finite amount of and can never get back the ones that have passed) to a company to do some role which doesn’t actually matter–not really anyway, no one’s gonna die if a financial statement gets released by a certain day or not–in exchange for the least amount of money that company can get away with paying you just so you can have maybe weekends and whatever PTO days you get per year to actually enjoy. And you just do that for 40 or so years until you retire or die.

    • Adam Morra

      September 16, 2023 at 7:01 pm

      The same routine, day after day, for 40 years. I thought about ending it all multiple times but cant hurt my old parents like that. But I agree with you, Corporate is Corporate

  7. Dr. Ricco Lindner

    September 13, 2023 at 6:01 pm

    And for how many other people and their jobs will this be even possible?

    Not all jobs can be that creative for the better part.

    Most that can work outside the company will have to deal with all the advantages and disadvantages of home office.

    Even more cant do that, even bound to ever more shift working models

  8. betusethu

    September 13, 2023 at 6:44 pm

    Sounded more like a ‘retention discussion’ with my HR 😜

  9. Pablo González

    September 13, 2023 at 7:52 pm

    As always, Americans romanticizing digital nomadism and “exotic” locations without even thinking about the negative impact they exert on the communities they choose to reside in.

    The world is not yours for the taking. It’s actually fully inhabited now. And your money is no universal passport.

  10. Home Wall

    September 13, 2023 at 7:54 pm

    I don’t understand. If you can work anywhere, how you can be no more fulfilled. Sure, if the job sucks, then it will still stuck, but it’ll have to suck a bit less. For most people who have a reasonably good job, this freedom definitely enhances things. After all, you could just go to the office (your choice after all). Clearly the job matters most.

    • Adam Morra

      September 16, 2023 at 6:58 pm

      You completely missed the point

  11. MikeFromOz

    September 14, 2023 at 1:15 am

    💯❗️❤

  12. Agata L

    September 14, 2023 at 1:26 am

    this speech is based on a corporate assumption everyone needs a career, and everyone would love *some* job.
    and I just can’t agree it works for everyone. i just love peace, doing my tasks, having my money, and being calm and safe – not challenged on a daily. and i love having space to live my life, energy to dedicate to attention to my friends, time to do my passions… more often than during weekends… isn’t this fulfillment…?

    • Adam Morra

      September 16, 2023 at 6:57 pm

      Indeed this is fulfillment

    • James L

      September 16, 2023 at 10:10 pm

      The amount of folks that find a career that is there identity, that they love it, really do, is less than 20%, I would say even as low as 10%. Most of us work for a paycheck, even if we like what we do and are good at it. The whole idea of following one’s passion vis a vis work and passion this or that really only works for a small subset. If everyone did it, really did it, the workforce would be a mess and unmanageable for the ruling class. Work isn’t everyone’s life. There’s a lot outside of work that’s more important.

  13. Šime

    September 14, 2023 at 1:53 am

    Only 25% or people work jobs that can even be performed remotely. In other words, for the vast majority of people, remote work is not even a possibility. Any yet this woman talks about working remotely like it’s a mainstream thing that all people have access to. She should have at least acknowledged the percentages.

  14. celestialcircledance

    September 14, 2023 at 6:29 am

    For the privileged few who have that opportunity don’t overthink it and just enjoy it !

  15. aya sarsour

    September 14, 2023 at 1:23 pm

    Thank you 😊

  16. kafgen

    September 14, 2023 at 3:31 pm

    Shhhh don’t tell em omg…. now everyone is going to catch on and ruin it.

  17. Vikram Krish

    September 15, 2023 at 5:13 am

    Such a confusing talk! Great presentation, but no takeaway!

  18. Sathya Narayanan

    September 16, 2023 at 6:36 pm

    One alternative to quiting a job is to join as a freelancer and do part of the job with clear agreement on the scope of the work. That way, it will be a win-win situation – shared vested interest, no toxic work politics and more freedom to the increase your salary.

  19. Zoe Keeland

    September 16, 2023 at 6:37 pm

    This is vapid

    • Adam Morra

      September 16, 2023 at 6:56 pm

      No its not, believe me

  20. James L

    September 16, 2023 at 10:24 pm

    After working 44 years in some shape or form, while I agree fulfillment is important, most of us don’t have the situation and/or personality/attributes to make that happen in the way you have. I would say you have a privileged POV and it is different than most folks, where work is a paycheck. Not everyone is entrepreneurial or wants to be. Not everyone has jumped on the passion bandwagon, thankfully. It’s nonsense. The failure is in our experiences from birth to age of majority. We aren’t raised to become what you promote and those that are, it is a small subset of the population. You’d have to change how people are raised and educated and since corporations and our social fabric don’t want that, obviously from the results, good luck. Here’s another thing: Ditch the chief cultural officers. We have one at work where it’s propaganda and almost cult like that really serves at creating in-groups of mini me’s. Good luck.

  21. Data is beautiful - Join Newsletter

    September 17, 2023 at 1:41 am

    Remote work still wins. For a lot of reasons.

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