Earlier quoted context omitted.
Depends on the country.
The article is about the US. Did you read it?
So what? The issues it raises are pretty universal.
Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office
61–70 of 178 posts
Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office
#62The whole pushback against remote work is absolutely nuts. When the companies were staring at shutdowns and loss of revenue, everyone gladly accepted the idea that people can work from home. And contrary to the popular belief, productivity increased (our own CEO admitted at one point in an all hands). But the minute there was a sign things are opening up, there's a complete opposite viewpoint being pushed from the sa…
Just want to provide a counter-story to your anecdote. Many of my colleagues are excited to go back to the office to increase collaboration and work satisfaction. Personally, wfh is really difficult for me and I can't wait to get back in the office. Working from home feels like grinding away at an endless list of tasks and waiting for the day to be over. Working at an office feels like playing a sport with a team - every day is significantly more enjoyable and satisfying.
Granted: I am a young, single person working in design/product and my job requires a ton of collaboration. I don't really consider myself an extrovert FWIW
Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office
#63The whole pushback against remote work is absolutely nuts. When the companies were staring at shutdowns and loss of revenue, everyone gladly accepted the idea that people can work from home. And contrary to the popular belief, productivity increased (our own CEO admitted at one point in an all hands). But the minute there was a sign things are opening up, there's a complete opposite viewpoint being pushed from the sa…
>> productivity increased
Did it, though? GDP has just reached pre-pandemic levels.
Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office
#64Office is a space where complete strangers can become a collective, sharing common goals and establishing bonds that can help achieve great things. This is possible with remote work, but much harder. In my experience, remote workers are generally rather detached from their colleagues and projects. YMMV, but I vastly prefer working from office.
This has only been my experience in very small startups with all the people in the same room or at least the same building.
In all my other jobs, including the startups that have grown into more traditional businesses, I have been pretty much a heads-down worker. I come in, do my work, and go home. There's not really much bonding or common culture going on that remote/on-site would really change anything.
Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office
#65Is it possible that this pushback against working from home might (at least in part) be motivated by a desire of keeping real-estate prices up? After all, if offices aren't needed anymore, prices would probably plummet, and real estate is a very popular asset among a certain group of people.
Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office
#66"One worker’s company “had everyone come into the office for an outdoor luncheon a week ago,” according to a post" Some of the stuff companies do truly baffles me. It's only the beginning of June, you can't really assume your whole team is fully vaccinated. Why would you bring everyone in for lunch and then send them home? All downside and near-zero upside. It'd be another matter if it was a full day event where you…
I'm finding there are a certain group of people who are really struggling socially, and to them this is a good thing, even with the risks. Some people lost their whole social network when the office went home, and they long for it to come back. As a person who can only handle so much social interaction, it is baffling, but to others, it is baffling to stay home all the time.
People that have been struggling socially are not the sort of people I would want to be stuck in an office with, if for no other reason that they are going to be wasting my time at work.
Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office
#67The whole pushback against remote work is absolutely nuts. When the companies were staring at shutdowns and loss of revenue, everyone gladly accepted the idea that people can work from home. And contrary to the popular belief, productivity increased (our own CEO admitted at one point in an all hands). But the minute there was a sign things are opening up, there's a complete opposite viewpoint being pushed from the sa…
Yes to all of this. My personal feeling is WFH is a threat to those who actors who need the office as a place to be seen.
Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office
#68The whole pushback against remote work is absolutely nuts. When the companies were staring at shutdowns and loss of revenue, everyone gladly accepted the idea that people can work from home. And contrary to the popular belief, productivity increased (our own CEO admitted at one point in an all hands). But the minute there was a sign things are opening up, there's a complete opposite viewpoint being pushed from the sa…
And your last sentence says it all. Somehow all these people want/require everyone else to come back to the office which is just unfair.
Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office
#69One worker complained that the manager “wanted butts in seats because we couldn’t be trusted to [work from home] even though we’d been doing it since last March,” adding: “I’m giving my notice on Monday.” I've seen this with my current employer. Their message has been that going forward at some point, "Working remotely is not an option." There's really no reason I can't work from home. I've been doing it since March…
I've had this argument pre-covid too. WFH has some trade offs but it works fine at scale. I worked at a place that was occasionally hostile to WFH (depended on the team) even when we had teams split across offices around the world. Like why would I need to sit at a desk in New York to talk to people over video in Chicago and London?
Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office
#70I'm firmly in camp "office time sounds wonderful" because I live alone, and as it turns out, not having any humans nearby is downright depressing. I'm also somewhat introverted (weird, right?) and while I was living with other people, I desired quite the opposite; staying at home was much less distracting than being in the chaos of a shared space most days. So which do I prefer? Ehh, it depends. I'm not planning to l…
While I think a hybrid situation is perfectly fine, there are also a bunch of solutions to this that don't require a permanent office. For example, co-working can facilitate some of the desired interaction while at the same time putting the power in your hands.