There are criticisms of labour as being in a less powerful position than capital in relations of factors of production, for instance, the ease of capital movement vs. restrictions placed on labour often based on racial and cultural biases. Remote working, aided by technology, to curb the spread of COVID-19 offers an opportunity to work around labour‚’s restrictions.
Moving the recruitment of labour beyond national borders could present some (positive) effects:
‚- Providing an incentive for bigger investments to accelerate the improvement of the power infrastructure and digitization in the ‚’Global South‚’.
‚- Inducing greater earnings in the ‚’Global South‚’, particularly from foreign exchange. Billions of dollars in remittances are sent by immigrants yearly. Remote working could offer the same value without the need to migrate, as well as have more people easier access to earn in foreign currency for use in their home countries.
A growing wealthy class, which is taxed, may demand greater accountability in governance affairs within countries. And as salaries flow across national borders, this may also facilitate regimes that curb global illicit flows of wealth and tax evasion.
‚- More income in these countries provides an opportunity for new trading partners, including the UK just out of Brexit, as more people are able to afford goods and services that were otherwise too expensive.
As the aim of reducing restrictions on labour through remote working is to improve human wellbeing, however, greater wealth is often associated with greater production and consumption leading to further environmental degradation and climate change thus erasing any gains, it is necessary that a low ‚’ preferably zero ‚’ carbon development be an integral component of all government policies.
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