The share of workers being called back to the office has flatlined, suggesting remote work is an entrenched feature of the U.S. labor market.
Return to office is ‘dead,’ Stanford economist says. Here’s why::The share of workers being called back to the office has flatlined, suggesting remote work is an entrenched feature of the U.S. labor market.
Cons:
*Added stress of fighting traffic for no reason
*Added expense of gasoline for no reason
*More burning of fossil fuels for no reason
*Worse bathrooms that you have to share
*Worse kitchen that you have to share
*Worse dress code
*Less ergonomic office chair
*Worse monitors
*Slower Internet (in my case, at least)
*More annoying disruptions from coworkers
*Less peace and quiet needed for concentration
*Have to sit in traffic yet again after you get off work
Pros:
*Managers get to feel more important when seeing all their little worker bees’ butts in their chairs.
*Promotes shitty “office culture”
*Corporate real estate owners get to keep collecting rent
My wife is a high school teacher. We returned to her classroom one evening after dinner this week so I could help her put together some shelves. After 30 minutes of assembly, I realized I needed to use the bathroom. She gave me her keys and pointed me towards the staff bathrooms. Whilst sitting on the porcelain throne, I realized that I couldn’t remember the last time I did a #2 in a public bathroom. I’ve been WFH since March of 2020 when COVID started, and while I’m sure I’ve crapped in a public restroom in the past 3+ years, it’s so infrequent that I can’t remember.
That’s not really the point though, more that I’ve actually been thinking about it all week and reflecting on what working in an office used to be like - crapping next to your coworkers, packing a lunch, trying to look busy when you just aren’t feeling it that day, the small talk, and everything else that result in me being absolutely drained by the time I got home. Seriously, sometimes I would just sit on the couch and stare at the wall for 30 minutes when I got home.
It took the greatest global event of the 21st century to shift us to WFH. We can’t let companies force us into backsliding into these out-dated work practices when all common sense says otherwise.
Tbh, I still stare at the wall for 30m after a busy day WFH sometimes. A bit of indecision on if I have energy to start this or that, but more just letting my brain cool.
I’m fairly introverted, but more social than many. Watercooler talk doesn’t really bother me unless it’s awkward and unescapable. So I have that going for me.
Edit - or sports or cars. I’ve worked on teams that only talked about those topics and it was like nails on a chalk board to me
So my employer has been pretty cool about the whole return to office thing. We all had collectively agreed that the vast majority of our jobs could be done remotely. Unless the position absolutely required a physical presence in the office, such as running cables or certain leadership positions, we all were given the option to be permanent work from home.
The company I work for and the company I used to work for are doing return to office right now. Thankfully I’m not impacted because I live halfway across the country.
Some companies have taken this as an opportunity to lower wages for remote workers, but honestly, I kind of don’t mind too much. Between being able to cook my own food and not having to commute, not having to pay for car repairs, etc, working from home honestly saves thousands per year. Plus, you really can’t put a price on the enjoyment of not having to commute like 2+ hours per day. The quality of life benefits are immense. It’s pretty great.
Being forced into an office just to have asses in seats sucks. I’ve done that twice before, and I don’t want to do it again. There was no benefit for it for me. I’m glad I did it twice though, because it made me realize I don’t want to do it.
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I don’t mind the office these days, but that’s because I live 9 minute walking distance from it.
I still work from home some days though, so I guess that says something.
because absolutely no one wants to be forced into it while being denied the incredible quality of life benefits of being able to stay at home?
Cons: *Added stress of fighting traffic for no reason *Added expense of gasoline for no reason *More burning of fossil fuels for no reason *Worse bathrooms that you have to share *Worse kitchen that you have to share *Worse dress code *Less ergonomic office chair *Worse monitors *Slower Internet (in my case, at least) *More annoying disruptions from coworkers *Less peace and quiet needed for concentration *Have to sit in traffic yet again after you get off work
Pros: *Managers get to feel more important when seeing all their little worker bees’ butts in their chairs. *Promotes shitty “office culture” *Corporate real estate owners get to keep collecting rent
deleted by creator
It’s hard to say. Here’s a high res version I found, but it’s a stock image and usually they remove branding in those. https://iongroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/T5502_Blog-Featured-Image_1-2048x1114.png
The stands look very much like a few models of Dell i have at my work.
My wife is a high school teacher. We returned to her classroom one evening after dinner this week so I could help her put together some shelves. After 30 minutes of assembly, I realized I needed to use the bathroom. She gave me her keys and pointed me towards the staff bathrooms. Whilst sitting on the porcelain throne, I realized that I couldn’t remember the last time I did a #2 in a public bathroom. I’ve been WFH since March of 2020 when COVID started, and while I’m sure I’ve crapped in a public restroom in the past 3+ years, it’s so infrequent that I can’t remember.
That’s not really the point though, more that I’ve actually been thinking about it all week and reflecting on what working in an office used to be like - crapping next to your coworkers, packing a lunch, trying to look busy when you just aren’t feeling it that day, the small talk, and everything else that result in me being absolutely drained by the time I got home. Seriously, sometimes I would just sit on the couch and stare at the wall for 30 minutes when I got home.
It took the greatest global event of the 21st century to shift us to WFH. We can’t let companies force us into backsliding into these out-dated work practices when all common sense says otherwise.
Tbh, I still stare at the wall for 30m after a busy day WFH sometimes. A bit of indecision on if I have energy to start this or that, but more just letting my brain cool.
I’m fairly introverted, but more social than many. Watercooler talk doesn’t really bother me unless it’s awkward and unescapable. So I have that going for me.
Edit - or sports or cars. I’ve worked on teams that only talked about those topics and it was like nails on a chalk board to me
So my employer has been pretty cool about the whole return to office thing. We all had collectively agreed that the vast majority of our jobs could be done remotely. Unless the position absolutely required a physical presence in the office, such as running cables or certain leadership positions, we all were given the option to be permanent work from home.
The company I work for and the company I used to work for are doing return to office right now. Thankfully I’m not impacted because I live halfway across the country.
Some companies have taken this as an opportunity to lower wages for remote workers, but honestly, I kind of don’t mind too much. Between being able to cook my own food and not having to commute, not having to pay for car repairs, etc, working from home honestly saves thousands per year. Plus, you really can’t put a price on the enjoyment of not having to commute like 2+ hours per day. The quality of life benefits are immense. It’s pretty great.
Being forced into an office just to have asses in seats sucks. I’ve done that twice before, and I don’t want to do it again. There was no benefit for it for me. I’m glad I did it twice though, because it made me realize I don’t want to do it.