In 2020, Virginia Martin lived two and a half miles from her office. Today, the distance between her work and home is 156.<\/p>\n
Ms. Martin, 37, used to live in Durham, N.C., and drove about 10 minutes to her job as a librarian at Duke. After the onset of remote work, Ms. Martin got her boss\u2019s blessing to return to her hometown, Richmond, Va., in March 2022, so she could raise her two young children with help from family.<\/p>\n
As an \u201980s-born \u201cchild of AIM,\u201d Ms. Martin said of AOL instant messaging, it hadn\u2019t been hard for her to maintain co-worker friendships online. She drives back to the office several times a year for events, most recently for the December holiday party.<\/p>\n
Ms. Martin is part of today\u2019s growing ZIP code shift: She is one of the millions of Americans who, thanks to remote and hybrid work, no longer lives close to where she works.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n "The economists studied employee and employer address data from nearly 6,000 employers across the country and found that the average distance between people\u2019s homes and workplaces rose to 27 miles in 2023 from 10 miles in 2019." (via @nytimes<\/a>) https:\/\/t.co\/MqgQkbgsij<\/a><\/p>\n — John Gramlich (@johngramlich) March 4, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n