Earlier in the pandemic many news and magazine organizations would proudly write about how working from home always actually can lead to over working and being too “productive”. I am yet to collect some evidence on it but I think we remember a good amount about this.
Now after a bunch of companies want their remote workers back at the office, every one of those companies are being almost propaganda machines which do not cite sound scientific studies but cite each other and interviews with higher ups in top companies that “remote workers are less productive”. This is further cementing the general public’s opinion on this matter.
And research that shows the opposite is buried deep within any search results.
Have you noticed this? Please share what you have observed. I’m going paranoid about this.
My manager wanted me to come to the office daily because the laptop I had couldn’t handle the company VPN (which we need to access some systems, the alternative is of course being physically in the office and connecting to the office WIFI).
He gave me some crap about it and reminded me of the ‘office first’ policy at my workplace.
I looked him dead in the face and said, “You can’t force anyone back to the office. You know that it’s not going to fly with the employees. You can try but it won’t work”.
He didn’t look too happy about that, but he knows it’s reality.
Ended up finally getting an new old laptop for the VPN issue, which some other employee left behind, because the budget was “too tight” even though I couldn’t do my work efficiently. And a few days ago I was told I’d be laid off. Also because of the budget.
So hooray!
I prefer work from office. Its better for me having kids & dogs and tons of duties at home. Work from home more than once a week is just a waste of time for me which translates to double workload or sorse when at the office.
Said that, i love WFH because i get things (real things, life things, not work things) done properly and timely… But just doping more than 1 day per week is twice as stressful for me than not.
My commute is 35km each way, so not even a short one.
Landlords trying to charge rent again. All of the real studies happening show employees are happier, more productive, and consider not going through a hellish commute to sit in a building with a bunch of people they don’t know or like to be a benefit. It’s only executives and commercial real estate owners desperate to get people into offices so they can feel useful again.
I changed jobs during the pandemic. I asked if I could work remotely permanently, they said yes. It’s in my contract I work from home, not the office. I’ve been watching the “sea change” as working remotely has been removed from various companies and wondering why? If all the research points to it being better, then - again - why? The speculation about it being related to real estate is depressing!
Commercial real estate owners strike back.