Before the pandemic, the common assumption was that team members needed to be together in the same space for better collaboration.Question: What is the difference between yesterday and today?Answer: Remote workers!We used to call them telecommuters or remote workers.And, in fact, they used to be a very rare species.But today, it is no longer so rare.To tell the truth, almost everyone is doing it!What are remote workers?Remote workers are employees who work at a location other than the one provided by their employers.Remote workers choose their workplace, which could be their own home, a shared space, even their car.If they choose and provide their own workplaces, they are remote workers.Meanwhile, hybrid workers sometimes choose their location and other times report to work at the employer's location.And both remotes and hybrids have specific needs, which I'll get to later.Why so rare?Before the pandemic, the common assumption was that team members needed to be together in the same space for better collaboration.It was also assumed that the only way managers could ensure productivity was by watching employees work in the office.However, the pandemic has largely proven these assumptions wrong.Another reason remote workers used to be such a rare breed was because previous video conferencing systems were so challenging.These systems included a cumbersome and expensive set of hardware-based codecs and cameras, with complicated user interfaces that were only available in dedicated rooms.However, driven by the pandemic, video conferencing technologies like Zoom, GoToMeeting, Skype, etc., and collaboration tools like Slack, Miro, Trello, etc., have greatly improved.These technologies are now easy to use and accessible from mobile devices such as laptops and tablets.All this to say that the pandemic required different strategies, and attitudes ended up changing as well.Today, employers have adapted to a distributed workforce, as have employees.In fact, they have adapted so well to remote work that many now prefer it that way.What types of jobs can be done remotely?Not all fields of the workforce lend themselves to working remotely, but many do.In fact, more than was thought possible before the pandemic.For example, the lives of knowledge workers, health workers, and even frontline staff have been radically changed by remote work.Knowledge field workersNot surprisingly, the knowledge industry was quick to embrace remote work.They say knowledge workers are people who “think for a living” because they typically collect and apply information on the job, rather than perform physical tasks.They collect data, analyze information, and use that information to solve problems, generate ideas, create new products or services, etc.These highly skilled workers can be accountants, architects, lawyers, authors, business analysts, programmers, designers, developers, editors, engineers, programmers, scientists, etc.Also, some of them require little or no experience, for example, in customer support, data entry, digital marketing, recruiting, sales, transcription, etc.Knowledge workers often use a variety of digital devices, such as laptops and desktops, tablets, and smartphones, in the same place every day.And these devices require software and services that enable them to do their jobs efficiently, productively, and securely.The pandemic pushed compliance with these requirements online, and for them, the shift to remote work was rapid.In addition to knowledge workers, the healthcare industry was also quick to embrace remote work where possible.Traditional doctor-patient relationships used to be strictly hands-on, just like the other aspects of health care delivery: examination, diagnosis, treatment, triage, and even training.Examples of healthcare workers include nurses, doctors, dentists, anesthesiologists, occupational health and safety specialists, medical technicians, and more.Healthcare workers make heavy use of devices and apps as they move from patient to patient, and must maintain maximum security, privacy, and confidentiality at the same time.These days, many of these jobs can be done online with telehealth apps and processes.Training for healthcare providers can be done remotely, as can primary care visits, medical rounds, remote patient monitoring, at-home patient documentation and more.Patients can video chat with their healthcare providers and get the advice and prescriptions they need online.Triage can be done over the phone.Even healthcare providers in the military have begun using video as a training and treatment tool to share wound care with remote medics treating wounded soldiers in battle.In fact, some healthcare organizations have already started working remotely before the pandemic, anticipating an increase in extreme weather events like Hurricanes Mitch and Katrina.To make all of this possible, healthcare providers rely on devices and apps that they can log in quickly and use easily during emergencies, while maintaining maximum security, privacy, and confidentiality.frontline workersFrontline workers have experienced a slightly different set of changes compared to knowledge workers and healthcare providers.Frontline workers are shift-based task or service workers, and they make up the majority of the global workforce.Frontline workers include grocery store workers, warehouse managers, delivery drivers, retail associates, and more.Unlike office workers, frontline workers cannot take their work home and must report to a job site or work in the field.While frontline workers have been using handheld digital devices for tasks like mobile computing, scanning and printing for at least a decade, their employers have generally been slower to adapt to new digital innovations.However, even this trend is changing.Employers now face unprecedented turnover, labor shortages, and changing demographics and worker expectations.In response, many organizations are redefining their digital transformation strategies and are now extending similar flexibility to their frontline employees, allowing them to do things like remotely clock in and out, access non-work content confidential and more.And just like knowledge workers and healthcare providers, frontline workers need devices, software and services that can keep their work transactions safe, efficient and productive.How VMware Products Support Remote WorkIt feels like we have entered a new era while at the same time witnessing the evolution of a new breed of worker.Even if things never go back to the way they were before the pandemic, there are now a host of proven IT solutions to support remote and hybrid workers with security, efficiency, and productivity.In fact, many industry leaders are now embracing bring-your-own (BYO) and corporate-owned-personally-enabled (COPE) device options to provide workers with easy-to-use devices and work tools.By extending BYO, COPE, or a combination of both to their remote and hybrid workers, as well as adapting their work culture to attract and retain top talent, organizations can stand out from the crowd and build long-term resiliency.VMware products and services give these industry leaders the tools to create digital workspaces that deliver a seamless digital employee experience (DEX) and improve workplace culture, employee engagement and retention. .Which, of course, translates into increased productivity, efficiency, and business growth for employers, as well as increased security and ease of use for our new species: the remote worker.You can learn more about VMware apps and services at the Digital Workspace Tech Zone.For example, the VMware Workspace ONE, Assist, and Intelligent Hub products provide many levels of support for remote work:Workspace ONE is a cloud platform for modern management whose built-in services address remote service needs, allowing you to support remote workers in real time or by providing self-service tools.Workspace ONE Assist is a remote support solution built for a distributed workforce, enabling remote access and real-time device troubleshooting.Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub is the employee-focused, cross-platform digital workspace app for Workspace ONE, giving end users everything they need to be productive.(*) Technical Marketing Manager End User Computing, VMware