Europe is chasing smart nomads: they’re worth 780 billion euros

It is far from the end of smart work: according to experts, the increasing digitization of the economy will lead to the gradual growth of remote work across Europe. And with that comes an increase in so-called digital nomads, the workers who travel the world in search of the ideal place to live and work remotely. To date, by one estimate, there are 37 million worldwide, of which 10 million are in the United States alone. And they bring with them a combined annual contribution of 780 billion euros to the local economy. Several European countries are already looking at it with interest.

According to Eurofound estimates, in 2023 this phenomenon will increase in the EU after a slight decrease compared to the previous year. The basis of this increase will again be the pandemic, or rather the funds allocated by the EU to respond to the Covid crisis with the Next Generation EU: One of the main axes of this plan is the digitalization of the economy. It’s a transition that should increase work that can be done remotely. And finally, digital nomads.

If the growth rate of this group of workers is evident in Europe, it is even more so in the USA, where it recorded a 20% increase between 2021 and 2022. According to Progeu, there are no more than 10 million digital nomads overseas alone. , but one in five Americans is considering taking this path. Among the countries that benefit most from the activities of these young workers, we see Poland, where speed of connection plays an important role, together with the low costs of collaboration. It is an attraction for this category and above all, Albania plays in favor of low costs, as well as the possibility of its citizens staying within its borders for at least a year without the need for any visa.

In an attempt to divert this flow to the south of the continent, following the example of Albania, many countries have enacted laws allowing highly skilled workers to live within them with a residence permit, which can be obtained through a simplified procedure. Among them is Italy:
Euracti reported that there is no exact data on the number of digital nomads in our country, but the Italian association of digital nomads was at least 2,200 in March 2022.

Source: Today IT

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