For the past year I've had a flexible Upwork contract, enjoying the convenience of working remotely, by the hour, for good money. But my hourly rate (based in part on the cheap cost of living here in the rural US) most likely underbid developers in more expensive places like NYC & SV.
I guess we will just need to admit to ourselves that remote work like software development, graphic design, translation, etc. has become an internationally-traded commodity, and that in order to compete we will need to physically move to cheaper places in order to survive.