Embracing remote work: How the Adirondacks are attracting a new workforce

Meet some of the people drawn to the region and taking their jobs with them

By Tim Rowland

According to the American Community Survey, a nationwide ongoing survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, an estimated 12,455 people worked remotely in seven Adirondack counties, averaged over 2018-2023. The share of remote workers was highest in the two counties entirely within the Blue Line, with remote workers representing 16% and 10% of the workforce in Hamilton and Essex counties respectively.

This is also consistent with an Adirondack trend toward labor decentralization — away from large private employers and state prisons — and toward individual remote work and entrepreneurialism.

After 9/11, long-time Realtors reported a rush of Adirondack home buyers seeking refuge from the chaos. That boom didn’t last, and before long these migrants returned to the cities. The COVID migration, by contrast, seems to be more sticky: the more time remote workers spend here, the more determined they are to stay — some to the point they give up their remote work altogether in order to devote more time to their new communities.

Have job, will travel (and stay)

Alexis and Dempsey Conners came of working age during COVID and worked remotely almost from the start. Alexis arranged photo shoots for a line of children’s clothing in New Jersey, and Dempsey designed homes for a company in Baltimore. 

Then Alexis found a cabin in Schroon Lake. Dempsey winced, but “I was able to look past the fact that it didn’t have a foundation,” Alexis said.

At 27, Alexis has found a working philosophy for life: Do what you’d like to do, and if no one tells you no, keep doing it. So when her company announced its workers could come back into the office, Alexis announced she wouldn’t be among them. No one objected.

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Multiple workers contacted for this story reported much the same thing: They had been sent home to work remotely during COVID, and if there was no obvious reason to return to the office, they didn’t.

With few contractors to be found during the pandemic, Dempsey, 28, had no trouble founding Homestead Carpentry Co. and finding plenty to do. For Alexis, her remote work still reminded her too much of the city she was trying to escape, so she quit and parlayed her interest in natural wholesome food into the Schroon Farmers Market. “I asked the town board if I could, and they didn’t say no,” she said.

When it comes to remote work, one size doesn’t fit all

While the exact extent of remote workers is unknown, Schroon Lake Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sue Palisano pointed out that in the sparsely populated Adirondack Park, it doesn’t take many to move the needle. “In a town of 1,880 people, if you get 20 people, that’s a percent,” she said.

Remote workers also bring with them things that the Adirondacks are in need of, namely youth, energy and disposable income. Their environmental impact is minimal and their commitment to their new communities appears to be genuine. “I don’t see a downside,” Palisano said.

Yet they do not fit into one neat demographic — some are getting a jump on retirement, some are young couples looking to put down roots. Some are full remote, while some split the week between the Adirondacks and other locales.

Joe Vacco, 53, a Connecticut financier, described a typical long weekend before heading back to the office for a couple of weeks: On Thursday he climbed a couple of High Peaks, on Friday he put in a long day over his computer and on Saturday he explored Saranac Lake, visiting art galleries and shopping at an outdoors store.

Four years after COVID forced those who could do so to work remotely, a hybrid office/remote model predominately seems to be the end result. “I enjoy the dichotomy, then different energy” between urban and rural, Vacco said. A few days in Jay, where he has a second home, and then a few days at his Connecticut apartment separated by a four hour drive seems a reasonable compromise.

The Adirondacks “is good for the soul, and where I want to spend my free time,” he said. “And I like to work here because I can really focus.”

Putting down Adirondack roots

Unlike past trends, those who have come to the park to work remotely seem inclined to spend more and more time here as they develop roots in the community.

Michael and Tammy Rose watched the housing market tighten in real time, as their dream of an Adirondacky log chalet in the woods was unattainable, leaving them with a split-level in a small subdivision in Jay. 

It scarcely mattered. Michael was able to continue working for a global pharmaceutical company while enjoying things he couldn’t do in Boston — mountain climbing, long rural bike rides and gardening. Tammy, never comfortable with the big-city pace, found work at the Au Sable Forks Library and Tahawus Cultural center.

Michael, 60, said the fit was seamless, since most of his customers are in Europe and accustomed to long-distance communication. He also suspects remote work depends on what an employee values, corporate promotions — which will probably go to in-person workers — or a greater  affinity for nature and a slower pace.

“Certainly there would be a cost if you’re younger because it would be harder to climb the corporate ladder,” he said. “You have to be self-disciplined, but yes, you can do it because I’ve done it.” 

Tammy said time spent commuting is now spent listening to the birds. “He used to commute an hour-plus each way,” she said. “Now he just finishes work and heads out to the garden.”