There are over 35 million worldwide, according to the latest unofficial estimates, and on the rise: the phenomenon of digital nomads is increasingly widespread and increasingly desired, it does not mean (just) young people with backpacks on their shoulders but much more, it concerns an autonomous working mentality compared to the past and is mostly an opportunity that didn't exist before, so much so that 93% of Italian professionals would give a chance to remote working experience for a foreign company.
ANSA LIFESTYLE asked
Alberto Mattei
, President of the Italian Association of Digital Nomads, to delve deeper into this trend which is also the common thread of a ten-part series "It's easy to say Digital Nomads", created by the Audio Factory Dr Podcast and available on all audio streaming platforms.
What are the distinctive features of the Digital Nomad profile?
In reality there is no standard profile of the digital nomad, although this is often communicated and associated with that of young single people with backpacks on their shoulders, who continually move from one country to another eager to experience exotic adventures around the world, working online as a freelancer or content creator.
The truth is that the digital nomad movement is much broader and more diverse than it is perceived.
What most digital nomads certainly have in common is the need for greater flexibility, the ability to manage their time independently, and the freedom to choose from time to time where to live and work.
The more we can say that in general what all digital nomads have in common is the search for greater personal and professional well-being and a better balance between private life and work.
In general, this phenomenon is related to the search for Worklife Balance
.
It is not only a life change, but also a generational issue, which leads to the search for greater satisfaction in the "here and now", without postponing choices for one's well-being and personal fulfillment.
For example?
In truth, the new generations are those who, more than others, today feel a growing desire to travel to get to know new countries and new cultures, to meet new personal and professional opportunities wherever they are, while at the same time living significant and enriching experiences with people who “think alike” and share the same interests.
But in reality there are more and more people of all ages with different personal, professional and cultural backgrounds who today feel the need for change, embracing a more balanced and fulfilling lifestyle and work style, which encourages professional flexibility and the pursuit of well-being, embodying the true spirit of the digital age.
The word "nomad" denotes the itinerant nature of the work.
But is it really like this in practice or does it just mean changing location and scope of work?
In reality, "digital nomad" is not synonymous with "nomad", although these terms are often used incorrectly as synonyms.
Digital Nomad is actually a neologism that first appeared in the nineties as the title of a far-sighted and intriguing academic work conducted by computer scientist Dr. Tsugio Makimoto together with professional writer David Manners.
The central thesis of the study is that the human and anthropological need to move and the inevitable changes brought about by the development of new digital technologies would soon lead to the birth of new communities of itinerant remote workers, which Makimoto and Manners define for the first time as "nomadic digital".
The choice to change the scope of work is subjective and always falls within the concept of seeking greater personal and professional well-being.
Many digital nomads choose to change jobs precisely because they no longer find satisfaction in what they do.
Others continue to do their work but in a different way than in the past.
How is the geography of work changing and how much does remote working have an economic impact?
The geography of work has already changed profoundly with the advent of digital technologies.
We have moved from a manufacturing-based industrial economy to a knowledge-based digital economy.
This process will be further accelerated by the advent of Artificial Intelligence, a transformative force that will reshape the workplace and redefine the meaning of work itself.
In this context, remote working will allow companies to recruit the best talent in the world on a global scale, without the need to source them locally.
Remote work (which in Italy we continue to improperly call smart-work) will produce a revolution not only within organizations and in the way people define work in their lives, but will produce important and significant economic impacts. social issues on the territories and the communities that inhabit them.
As the Italian Association of Digital Nomads, we published the "Third Report on Digital Nomadism in Italy" on 28 December, which addresses these issues in detail, explaining how and why this phenomenon can contribute to reducing the economic and social gap in Italy, attracting professionals and talents in small towns and in the internal areas of our country.
How many profiles of Digital Nomads are there?
Pros and Cons, also in relation to family life.... Are they mostly singles and returning singles?
It is not possible to outline standard profiles of the digital nomad.
This global movement is evolving rapidly and becoming more and more inclusive.
This lifestyle and work style, in fact, no longer only affects young single people eager to travel the world, but increasingly affects people of all ages with very different professional and personal skills and backgrounds.
The business magazine “Forbes” states that contrary to popular belief, the digital nomad lifestyle is not only suitable for young singles.
The article reports the results of a survey commissioned in the USA which reveal interesting emerging trends.
The majority of digital nomads who responded to the survey (58.8%) are married or in a cohabiting relationship, and nearly half (48.3%) have children under 18.
What's even more interesting is that 70.4% of digital nomads with children who have already had remote working experiences around the world plan to continue doing so.
Personally I believe that in order to truly understand this phenomenon, we must first of all get away from the logic that "digital nomad" is synonymous with "nomad", that is, people who do not have a home, a family life and choose to live as a globetrotter by bouncing around from one part of the world to the other.
This is a stereotypical and now outdated image.
In fact, today there are a thousand different ways of working remotely and living as a digital nomad, without necessarily living constantly on the road.
How many Digital Nomads are there in Italy?
And in Europe and in the world?
I know that we really like numbers, but unfortunately no matter how hard we try it is impossible to give an exact numerical quantification of how many Digital Nomads there are in Italy, in Europe or in the world, the reason is simple to understand and lies in the fact that the term “digital nomad” is susceptible to different interpretations and definitions.
Furthermore, digital nomads do not belong to a specific professional category, nor to a well-defined target of people nor to their precise "modus operandi".
As a result, the essential elements for correct classification (i.e. the bringing together of the detected cases of a phenomenon into homogeneous categories or classes) are missing, which in this case are not yet defined.
Furthermore, the digital nomad phenomenon is constantly evolving and becoming more and more inclusive.
The numbers you read are always estimates and not official data.
That is, statistical projections based on sample surveys and specific survey segments.
Nomad List, the reference portal for many digital nomads in the world, claims that around 800,000 Italians have chosen this lifestyle, but I recommend taking these numbers with the benefit of the doubt.
However, it is not known how many foreign digital nomads are present in Italy as Italy does not yet have its own specific visa for this category of workers.
Has there been an acceleration and increase in Nomads in recent years?
Absolutely yes, the pandemic has accelerated some important economic and social changes that were already underway.
Certainly one of the most relevant has been the adoption of remote working on a large scale, both by professionals and companies, who have appreciated its advantages and institutionalized it in their organizations.
All this has contributed to a notable and exponential growth in digital nomadism on a global scale.
H
ow was the Italian Digital Nomads Association born and what is its objective?
The Italian Digital Nomads Association was born in 2021 by me and a group of professionals who share the same vision and the need to spread the culture of remote work and digital nomadism in our country, with the aim of actively acting to make Italy is also a country suitable for remote workers and digital nomads.
In fact, we believe that this is a great opportunity for social, economic and territorial development also for our country which currently, unfortunately, and for various reasons, is excluded from the international circuits most attractive for digital nomads.
The need for a regulatory framework for "Digital Nomads": where we are
For digital nomads, however, they are not just lights: 3 out of 10, in fact, express the need for agreements with professionals, organizations or institutions that help them orient themselves in the fiscal, legal, administrative and insurance maze.
“The idea of working remotely excites many professionals, who however almost immediately come up against the complexities involved in managing a situation that is not yet fully regulated from a regulatory point of view - explains Gianluca Tirri, Managing Director of the Italian start-up Quickfisco , which helps both Italian professionals who work abroad in VAT number, and the increasingly numerous foreign professionals who choose Italy as a base to work with international companies.
For both, disorientation is the dominant condition in approaching remote work."
The need for a regulatory framework for "Digital Nomads": where we are
"The regulatory framework for Digital Nomads is still undefined, both at an Italian and European level, especially from a fiscal point of view - comments Antonino Rindone, CEO of Quickfisco - In Italy the legal figure of the "digital nomad" has been included in the Sostegni-ter Decree, which however mainly regulates the cases of foreign workers who choose Italy to work with foreign companies, facilitating bureaucratic formalities such as residence permit and work permit.
There is still a lot to do, however, for Italian citizens who choose to spend all or a good part of their time abroad, working with Italian or foreign companies: here mainly social security and tax problems arise, relating to double taxation (therefore , where to pay taxes and where to pay contributions).
From this point of view, there can be many situations and, in the absence of a defined regulatory framework, the support of a consultant is essential".
Here are 5 tips for professionals interested in having greater flexibility in choosing their workplace, also considering regulatory and tax aspects.
#1 Flexibility for employees too: from agile working to international mobility
Becoming digital nomads is certainly easier for freelancers, who, not being tied to places and times, but mainly to projects and objectives, can choose life as a remote worker more freely.
As regards employees of public and private companies, although the pandemic has accelerated the development of smart working regulations and also the habit of companies granting greater flexibility, there are some constraints that do not make it so easy to freely choose the location in which to work.
In particular, many companies require staying in Italy even if in smart working to guarantee the insurance coverage that companies are required by law to have.
If the definitive remote transfer is agreed with the employer, it is necessary to communicate the new residence address to the company, in order to be able to make the correct payments of the additional regional and municipal IRPEF.
In addition to this, the most cutting-edge companies are also integrating opportunities for work and career flexibility such as the possibility of international mobility which can allow employees to move between company offices, which in some cases are distributed throughout the world by also taking advantage of the opportunities of coworking spaces.
#2 Collaboration with foreign or Italian companies: all the differences
Collaboration between Italian workers and foreign companies, although on the one hand it offers many possibilities to broaden job prospects or one's market, on the other hand must consider some tax, insurance and social security implications which vary depending on the nature of the professional.
In the case of an employee who works remotely from Italy for a foreign company that is not based in Italy, the company can delegate social security and insurance obligations, i.e. INAIL and INPS, to the same worker, while it does not have specific tax requirements different from hiring in an Italian company.
A freelancer does not have this type of requirement, but must manage the specifics of invoicing to and from abroad, made more complex by the specificity of Italian VAT: in particular when receiving an invoice for example from a digital platform such as Meta or Google, integrate VAT via the reverse charge mechanism.
#3 Italians returning from abroad: the "returning brains" pay less taxes
Starting from 2015, the Italian government has strengthened measures to encourage the return to Italy of professionals and researchers with Italian citizenship who had moved abroad for work reasons.
In recent years, "teachers and researchers" and "impatriated workers" who decided to return to Italy have enjoyed tax relief which has led to a tax relief on their income of 70% and in some cases 90%. In the recent tax reform, for example today being approved, however a proposal has been introduced which provides for a substantial reduction in this benefit starting from January 2024.
#4 Where do you go and for how long? The place where you go to live makes a (very) difference
The aspects to consider when choosing the place to move to there are many: from the climate, to the internet connection up to the duration of the visa, but also the timing for obtaining it. By consulting a platform like Global Nomad Guide it is possible to consider all these variables and discover that, for example, if you want to move to a new country with greater continuity, it is better to choose nations such as Portugal and Antigua, where the visa lasts up to 2 years; if instead the priority is connection speed, in addition to Antigua you can choose Barbados, who have a much faster internet connection (on average 60-80 Mbps).
#5 “Digital Nomad Visa”: what it is and what it is for
The Digital Nomad Visa is an opportunity introduced by many nations to facilitate the stay of foreign residents who work for a company in another nation, granting the possibility of staying in that country, normally for 12 months.
Italy has also introduced legislation dedicated to attracting talent from abroad, in particular from non-EU nations: with the Digital Nomad Visa it is possible to obtain a simplified residence permit in Italy for up to one year.
Life as a digital nomad, the Travel Destination in Ilaria Cazziol's book
Changing your life and leaving for a one-way trip: a dream for many, to which it is easy to apply the label "Impossible".
What if it wasn't?
What if there was a route, a guide, a map?
Ilaria Cazziol, founder of the blog Viaggiosoloandata.it and digital nomad
, guides you to discover the transformative power of "long-term" travel.
Starting from her personal experience, she explores the challenges and opportunities of traveling life, she addresses the fears that hold us back from setting off, she explains how to prepare for departure, how to manage finances and how to work as a digital nomad.
A journey that is both physical and internal, which celebrates minimalism, freedom and discovery of oneself and the world.
Since 2017 she has left a normal office existence to seek a freer way of life, traveling extensively around the world.
Her experience is now in a book coming out from Mondadori on January 25th:
Destinazione Viaggio.
To change your life and find yourself.
Working in workation mode, what does it mean?
In the phenomenon of Digital Nomads there is also space for
working in work mode
from holiday destinations or from one's cities of origin, alternating working hours with moments of relaxation to spend with loved ones.
Although the term has only recently been introduced within companies, this trend has actually already been adopted for several years, especially by freelancers and, in particular, by increasingly growing digital nomads thanks to the greater flexibility given by purely digital professions.
But what does "workation" specifically mean, how and why should it be implemented in companies and, above all, what benefits does it bring to staff and to the companies themselves?
Workation combines two different and even traditionally incompatible situations.
On the one hand, work or work and on the other vacation or holidays.
It therefore represents the combination of both: it allows you to work while you are on holiday and, at the same time, to be on holiday while carrying out relatively light tasks, approaching remote work in an even more conscious way thanks to an intelligent use of technology .
“Implementing a workation system means being able to carry out certain tasks outside the office, even from abroad if desired, with the awareness of having a minimum workload such as to allow us to combine free time and obligations within a pre-established time period” explains Arianna Lamera , Talent Acquisition & People Business Partner of Factorial, the automated Human Resources management platform that supports companies and SMEs in HR processes.
This is a smart-working method that will grow more and more in the near future and which, as Factorial explains, is characterized by a series of concrete and evident benefits already in the short term both for the employees and for the company itself.
· Maximizes the worker's motivation without decreasing the company's performance:
many companies, depending on the time of year, undergo important fluctuations in terms of business, for example during the summer breaks or during the Christmas holidays, where inevitably a slowdown in activity.
In this case, allowing your employees a period of workation can help increase their motivation without necessarily impacting negatively on the performance of the company itself.
· Allows employees to extend rest periods, with consequent positive results also on performance:
temporarily distancing yourself from the frenetic pace of the city and from your own, sometimes stressful, routine, inevitably has a very positive impact on our physical and mental well-being.
Thanks to workation, it is possible for the employee to extend his stay in the holiday resorts because, even if he has started working again, he will continue to feel the positive effects of being away from home.
A mental state, but not only, whose beneficial effects also impact the quality of his work.
· Encourages the creativity of the individual for the community:
changing the surrounding air and environment for a period certainly helps to see things from a different perspective, stimulating the creation and implementation of new potential initiatives useful for also improving one's work performance .
Furthermore, periods of workation can favor a greater balance in personal and professional life in a different environment, capable of also providing new food for thought.
· Workplacement as a talent retention and attraction factor:
a topic of discussion within the HR sector is precisely the importance of attracting or retaining talent within the company, thus remaining competitive on the job market.
In this sense, there are many initiatives that can be implemented, such as guaranteeing training courses, recognition and compensation that are fair and meritocratic.
In this scenario, workation can play a decisive role, as the possibility of allowing employees to work for a more or less limited period in holiday locations and away from the office can significantly influence a person's decision to join or remain in the company.
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