#WorkFromHome #OfficeLife #HybridWork #EmployeeWellness
Are you feeling frustrated with the lack of flexibility in your office job, despite everything being done virtually? 🤔 Many individuals like you are facing similar challenges in their workplace, where the benefits of being in the office seem to be minimal. Let’s address this issue and explore practical solutions that can improve your work experience and overall well-being.
## The Dilemma of Being Tied to the Office 🏢
Restrictive Policies:
- No flexibility for working from home
- Strict guidelines on bad weather conditions
Lack of Employee Benefits:
- No collaboration areas
- Unpredictable access to conference rooms
- Minimal incentives for being in the office
Misalignment with Virtual Workflow:
- Most communication done through teams IM
- Virtual meetings despite being in the office
## Finding Balance in a Hybrid Work Environment 🌐
Advocating for Change:
- Discuss hybrid work options with management
- Promote the benefits of flexibility and employee satisfaction
Creating Collaboration Spaces:
- Establish designated areas for team meetings and brainstorming sessions
- Encourage face-to-face interactions for improved communication
Implementing Remote Work Policies:
- Set clear guidelines for working from home arrangements
- Promote a culture of trust and accountability in virtual settings
Embracing Work-Life Balance:
- Offer flexible work hours to accommodate personal responsibilities
- Prioritize mental health and well-being initiatives for employees
## Finding Your Ideal Work Setup 💼
As you navigate the challenges of a rigid office environment, remember that your well-being and job satisfaction are top priorities. By advocating for a more flexible work arrangement and creating a supportive work culture, you can find a balance that works for you. Embrace the potential of a hybrid work model that combines the benefits of in-office collaboration with the flexibility of remote work. Your voice matters, so speak up and take charge of your work experience!
Don’t settle for a one-size-fits-all approach to work. Explore ways to make your office experience more fulfilling and conducive to your needs. Whether it’s advocating for hybrid work options, creating collaboration spaces, or prioritizing your well-being, there are solutions out there that can transform your work environment for the better. Remember, your job should empower you to thrive both professionally and personally. Let’s work towards a more balanced and fulfilling work experience together! 💪🌟
As far as I know, a big part of the reason for having employees strictly in office is so that companies can justify the expenses for the real estate. I think it also has something to do with investors’ perception of the company, i.e. having employees fully in office makes investors believe that the employees will be more productive and therefore bring better profits.
Because your management sucks ass and thinks that if they can’t physically see your butt in a chair you must be dicking off while getting paid
Being in office definitely benefits junior devs the most. Most have imposter syndrome and are hesitant to ask questions out of feat to be perceived as stupid. That is much worse when everyone is online
Also, for me personally, I am more productive in the office and I like my coworkers, having coffee talk makes me feel better day-to-day between meetings and coding. I would never accept a fully remote position, only hybrid or full office
Here’s the reasons I’ve thought of based of their significance, from most to least
**1. Commercial real estate prices**
A lot of bosses and stakeholders of big companies are also invested in real estate, which is supposed to be a super safe store of value. Everybody going remote would make the prices plummet, as well as tank related fields like gasoline sales, to a lesser extent catering industry etc.
**2. They already paid for long term lease**
Even if going remote could save some operational expenses, they still will have to pay for the building for several years, so might as well use it
**3. Managers want total control**
Some (arguably most) managers just don’t trust their workers to do the job without constant patrolling. How are they gonna know if a remote employee actually works at full capacity instead of slacking off?
There is no point, that’s the point.
They just want to able to monitor you and not lose money on their office real estate, thats it, unfortunately they dont care about productivity
The point is that you can easier get fired if you don’t show up in the office. That’s all.
In my past two assignment as consultant, it was all up to the team, and in both cases the teams decided on three days obligatory in the office. Many enjoy the social aspect of it, and the face to face interaction.
Most here will answer real estate & control, and that is likely true. The latter is not necessarily poorly founded, while anecdotal many that I have worked with going full WFH has delivered significantly worse, started to compromise on how much they work, collaborate less, started to take care of kids at home distracting from work, etc etc. In practice it is harder to keep eachother as teammembers accountable which is imo important and respectful. Sure people can slack at work too but it is allot more noticeable.
I have had many convos with WFH about the matter of pulling ones weight, and many simply honestly don’t give a fuck and I happen to think the intersection with people demanding full WFH and not giving a fuck is larger than the hybrids and not giving a fuck.
Team building / pay commercial real estate
from their point of view, it justifies the rent. from an applicant’s point of view, applying to in office jobs weeds out a lot of competition.
Don’t get me started. Our office had incredible amenities, very nice location in a suburb, near lots of shopping, food… We had excellent perks like gourmet cafeteria, free food every week from other teams that did training… Sleep pods, high tech standing desks… Free Starbucks and soft drinks and even the flavored carbonated water machine (sigh it was so good). Gym, showers, foosball…
And needless to say all the business experts were two states away leaving us devs to spend hours a day on Zoom. For me it was my first experience like that, spent decades as a lab rat working embedded.
We were 3-2 hybrid then and could transition to fully WFH with director approval. Those were hard to come by and the 3-2 ignored till in January 2020 said director issued a fatwa to start tracking office time. That lasted a month till covid LOLZ. They sent everyone home and we’ve been WFH since.
Director saw the light and went AWOL on us and WFH. Only my manager goes to the office to avoid listening to the Husky from Hell (he’s a great dog we all love him but he’s very vocal and opinionated, often joining our calls /s)
I’m convinced the RTO movement is caused by our pets who want quiet time…
So that the CEO and leadership can look at all the peasants under their control and feel good about themselves
Real estate expense. Tax benefits. Control.
After you get another year or so of experience you could start looking for fully remote work – though most remote jobs pay less than their hybrid/in office counterparts.
My office tried to force a return a while back, but we are consultants. Which means we only work with a couple of our in office coworkers at a time, and all our meetings are online. Needless to say, people very quickly stopped showing up. Thankfully they yielded and downsized our office space, since we only use it for events and the teams that actually make sense to be on location.
More people will quit willing and the company wont have to pay severance
I feel the same, if we have to be in office then we should atleast have our daily standup in person. For every meeting we just do zoom calls even though we literally all sit next to each other!
>We also sit in single occupant cubicles and most of my team just collaborates through teams instant messaging anyways.
This is pants on head stupid. There is utility to being in the office together, and that’s to have in person meetings and discussions, which allow for high bandwidth communication.
My last company felt like high school because of this reason. My entire team was remote, but I had to come to the office anyway. I also had to tell them when I left for lunch and when I came back, I had to tell them if I wanted to leave 20 minutes early, etc. It felt like I was a kid, and upper management wanted to make sure I wasn’t getting into any trouble.
I left after a year and moved to a hybrid company that doesn’t care if we miss a day here or there in office. I actually feel somewhat respected, and it’s nice.
MBAs like feeling like they have control
it’s easier to micromanage if the manager is standing over your shoulder
Real estate leases and micromanaging
Real estate and tax benefit
Collaboration is much better when people are in the same room together.
There’s none and I’m never settling for a non-remote job again.
I mean 100% remote. I chose this field because I only needed a laptop to do my job and can do my job from anywhere.
The worst I’ll consider is if your company has work style preference-based: in-office is purely optional. That way you don’t mix two crowds – the people who want to be in an office can, while the people who work remote can as well. Less animosity that way.
Im not anti return to office, but to be strict about having to be in 4-5 days a week is absolutely silly for a vast majority of jobs..
Make it an earnable and revokable privilege
Commercial real estate, the ONLY reason.
Real estate investment money, control, and boomer “WELL I HAD TO SUFFER SO NOW YOU HAVE TO AS WELL” mentalities. That’s why
Commercial leases must be justified
As someone who was self learning for 1.5 years and about to get in the office for my first internship, I can’t wait to go there, I’m sick and tired of just being at home tbh, even tho. I always loved to be at home, just chilling. I hope it gets easier to get things done while in the office where you don’t have too much things distracting you(I have a wife and a cat, and while I can ask my wife to not distract me while I’m learning, my cat won’t understand that, also this damn fridge is always hypnotising me)
Welcome to capitalism. There is no point except asserting dominance over your life. https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/03/job-flexibility-and-security-linked-to-better-mental-health-among-workers/