Taxonomy of Digital Nomads. New Subjectivities of the Delocalisation of Work.

In recent decades, new forms of work have gained attention in both public opinion and academic research. The proliferation of information and communication technologies, together with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, has diversified the ways of working away from the physical workplace. Although the literature has delved into teleworking and freelance or self-employed forms, there is a modality that, while retaining a direct employment relationship with an employer and a defined schedule, dispenses with physical dependence on the workplace. These workers, after a period of conventional teleworking, expanded their work routines from home to different parts of the world, becoming digital nomads.
On the one hand, the motivation of these nomads is driven by short-term migratory tendencies, characterised by interests associated with utopian migration. These workers have personal configurations that allow them to work remotely, combining their working day with recreational or tourism activities. This modality of work presents personal configurations and consequences that are different from other forms of employment.
This research is based on in-depth interviews with digital nomads who enjoy job stability, high qualifications and economic sufficiency, which allows them to delocalise their work, but at the same time maintain a lifestyle detached from family, personal and economic relationships associated with traditional models of modern life. The results of the study reveal personality traits that facilitate the mobility of these workers, but also show emotional consequences, derived from the absence of conventional life patterns, exposure to risk, lack of support networks, the need to adapt to different lifestyles and social norms, which in some cases generates negative effects on their experience.