Imagine Teleworking in Barbados Until COVID-19 Is Brought Under Control

• Author: Monica Jackson
• Posted: 2024-07-24

Many people have been told by their jobs that they should plan on working remotely for the extended future. Some companies may reevaluate the need for office space as employees have proven that they could successfully work from home. With that in mind, employees can pretty much live anywhere since they do not need to be in the office. Barbados is trying to fill some of the vacuum left by declining tourism as it is considering offering one-year visas that would allow people to telework from Barbados. If it passes the legislature, it would allow people to work in comfort from a tropical paradise.

Barbados is reopening for tourism in the coming days. However, the country has lost much of its income as tourism is indirectly responsible for 40% of its economic activity. Ordinarily, those on a tourist visa are not allowed to work while they are in the country. The conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic create a special set of circumstances. Barbados is trying to use this to the country's advantage to get people to travel and spend money there for a year.

Not only will this program be open to people from the U.S., but Latin Americans and Europeans can take advantage of it too. During that time, visitors could return home for a period of time and then come back to Barbados.

You Do Not Have to Work at Home But Can Be on the Beach

For Americans who feel constrained by working on their couch or in their home office every day, this proposed visa provides the perfect chance to combine great weather with their telework. Many companies are forecasting that they will be extended remote working well into 2021. Thus, the traditional office may be dead in the short-term. It may never return for some companies. For workers, getting away will help them with both their physical and mental health. It may even increase their productivity as they are happier working from an island paradise.

Barbados is still putting the finishing touches on this program but expects to finalize it in the near future. Not to be outdone, its Caribbean competitors for tourist dollars may be introducing programs of their own to lure international tourists and stimulate economic activity. For those who can afford it, this may be a perfect opportunity to combine work with relaxation during a stressful time. While workers have been managing to stay productive during COVID-19, being stuck in the same four walls for a year straight can be grating on the psyche.

The exact details of the program have yet to be worked out such as how much the visa would cost. As of now, there is also no starting date. Once the program does start, the tourists would need to bring a negative COVID-19 test with them on arrival in the country. They may be asked to remain in quarantine for 14 days upon arrival to the island.

Barbados Has Had Very Few Cases of COVID-19

Barbados has been relatively unscathed by cases of COVID-19, so it may be a safe place to telework and wait out the pandemic while cases continue to surge in the U.S. To date, the island has had less than 100 cases of the virus.

Nonetheless, the Centers for Disease Control, apparently preferring U.S. citizens to remain in a country with over 70,000 new cases of COVID-19 each day, advises against all nonessential international travel. However, working abroad for the coming year may be the best way to keep safe as the U.S. is in the grip of the pandemic.

If you are teleworking, now is the time to consider where your dream destination is. You do not have to remain at home so long as you have a destination that is open for tourists and will allow you to stay for an extended period of time. All you need is a negative COVID test and a strong and reliable internet connection in your destination that would allow you to connect for your work. In fact, the barriers to remote work were being broken down before COVID-19, and now the world is reevaluating the way that it works. Barbados' program may be the first of its kind, but if it is successful, many other countries will soon emulate it to give you more options about where you want to ride out the rest of the pandemic.