In and of itself, the fact millions of Americans moved this year is nothing surprising, given more than 30 million people pick up and move on an annual basis. But the COVID-19 pandemic meant an increased flexibility was indirectly awarded to millions of professionals, who in turn realized their jobs no longer required them to be in a physical office space.

Remote work used to be an exception to the rule, allowed only under very rare circumstances. The pandemic has changed that, however. Work-where-you-want is the new norm for millions of professionals around the country. Companies such as Twitter, Facebook, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., and others have altered their work-model standards to allow remote working to be indefinite for at least some of their employees. Countless others are granting employees months to continue to work from home to comply with lockdown measures.

This has altered the perspectives of many white-collar workers who, for possibly the first tim