1Q1 Quincy Coworking hosts remote working-themed event for Empower Hour speaker series

HANCOCK, Mich. (WLUC) - On Thursday, 1Q1 Quincy Coworking held the first event of its Empower Hour Speaker series.

The event covered working remotely, a workforce trend that grew with the onset of the pandemic.

One of the presenters at the event was Izaak Lauer, a software engineer who has worked for a fully remote company, HashiCorp, since 2020.

He said using the right tools is critical for working effectively together with other remote workers.

“When you’re all working together at the same table all day long, you have a very effective kind of relationship,” said Lauer. “And that’s hard to replicate when you’re working remotely, so having a certain set of tools and a culture around how to use those tools and how you interact with people helps.”

Savanna Rivest, another presenter at the event, is also a long-time remote worker.

She works as a College Programs Manager for Be the Match, a national marrow donor program.

Her experience began before the pandemic, working seven years remotely before being laid off.

Since her social life was intertwined with work, she now wants to encourage other remote workers to find diverse ways to socialize.

“I really enjoy the work that I do, but because I work remotely, it doesn’t really have much of an impact on my local community,” said Rivest. “So I was looking for ways of like, ‘How can I use this skillset that I have and this thing I really enjoy doing but apply it locally?’”

As restrictions for the pandemic wind down, more employers are encouraging people to return to the workplace.

However, Lauer said that the future may tell a different story.

“I think that the long-term trend probably is going to be towards more remote work,” added Lauer. “Just because as technology gets better and it becomes more possible to have the kind of flexibility that remote work gives you, it’s going to be irresistible.”

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