Do you think working full-time in an office environment is dead? (interview, regular)
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At my company , 50% were remote before the big C. March 2020 we all were sent home. CEO and others said this is working out great, lets close all offices which they did. It took me 1.5 years to get used to it. Today I love it. I dont have to get dressed up, deal with traffic. I can take care of " house things" . I have a full closet of dress clothes for work that I will most likely never wear again.
Now if I had little kids, this would be totally different. I think I would find another job in a office
Hybrid is probably the best option for "office" workers that can get their job done from a computer screen. But this can include design engineers and researchers and many other professions beyond "office" work.
But there are many positions especially in the engineering world where "working from home" is impossible. For example, I was a test engineer required to monitor jet engine development tests. Pretty sure that you can't bring the test stand and a 11 foot diameter jet engine home with you - instead you have to go to the test site.
I don't think the office is dead. Some people do prefer working in an office setting.
I thought working from home would be great, but instead I felt disconnected from my co-workers despite the Zoom meetings and Teams calls. I missed the casual conversations - which often turn into productive business conversations - and general interaction with other people. I'm now working a hybrid schedule, which really is the best of both worlds.
Those of us who can are working either remotely or hybrid mostly because we're short on office space and there's a lot of sharing and doubling up. I share an office with my boss; we are in the office at the same time one day a week, which is perfect (and I love my boss!).
A lot of my coworkers in direct service (I work at a nonprofit in admin) cannot work from home. There is some inequity there, but that's the nature of the beast.
Workers have a lot of leverage right now. I'm curious how long it will last if the unemployment rate starts to tick up & the power relationship skews more toward the employers' side again.
That said, I think flex schedules will be the new norm. There's no point in having people clock in at a particular physical location every day at the same times, unless there is a reason everybody needs to be together every day.
I worked remote for 10 years but I looked forward to going to the office once every 3 months for a half day. It was interesting to know people so well by name, but not even recognize them in person. We would all wear name tags and it was amusing to see a name and think “ohh I email them every day!”
I did office only for a year, then they agreed to let me work home 1 day per week or per 2 weeks depending on their mood, and it was a welcome relief because I get things done quicker than most and so when stuck in an office I stress about how to either work more slowly or try to look busy. Its nerve racking.
My current job moved me back to fully remote and while I embrace the perks, recently I’ve been looking for excuses to go to the office just to feel like I actually have a job and to try and remain actually human to those I work with. I’m spoiled though - I only go in if I can reserve the vip parking spot that is at the front door. I no longer have a parking permit so the alternative is metered parking in a garage where I’ll get robbed.
This is truly a billion dollar question. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out. For me I work in management and because of having lots of offices I have to travel, tons. It sucks. So I'm out of my office, but in another office. I don't know if I want to deal with all of this travel for the long term, I may have to find something else. My employees are face to face customer service so their job will never transition to remote. My wife on the other hand works for a major insurance company and they are 100% remote for customer service, claims, basically all of the normal office jobs that you would typically work in a call center. For them, they have decided to get rid of all of their leased space and stay this way. They feel that using the money they spent on real estate to increase wages and increase the number of call center employees was a better use of the funds. We will all get to see the results as we move forward as the remote companies can be directly compared to the in office companies when it comes to profits.
The greatest advantage that I see in having remote employees is that they take less time off. I'll give a couple of examples, my wife had a fever and felt like crap, she worked. I asked her why, and she said she was bored just sitting in bed and would rather interact with her customers. We order lots of things online, before my wife would have to take off work for deliveries. Now she waits until her break and grabs the items from the door. When it comes to an appointment, most of the time she took off was to commute home, get the kids, go to the appointment, then commute back to work. If it was more than 4 hours she would just take the rest of the day off. Now she's back on the phone after an hour or two. Another benefit is with people with disabilities. A couple of my wife's coworkers are disabled. She has gotten to know the other employees via social media, and two are in wheel chairs. Both commented that public transportation was a nightmare for them but now they no longer have to worry about it.
But there are many positions especially in the engineering world where "working from home" is impossible. For example, I was a test engineer required to monitor jet engine development tests. Pretty sure that you can't bring the test stand and a 11 foot diameter jet engine home with you - instead you have to go to the test site.
That's the key point. Some jobs are strictly paperwork (now computer work). Others involve hardware. That includes most research/development jobs.
One model that I'd love to see, is a split daily schedule. Morning work from home, including Zoom meetings. Head into the office by lunchtime, and go to lunch as a group. Then work together in the afternoon and early evening, finally going home. The advantage is that both the morning and afternoon rush-hours are avoided. If commuting really is the most onerous part of traditional office-presence, then this hybrid model much reduces the impact.
As others have noted, systematic WFH puts pressure on the residential real-estate market. I can live in a tiny hovel if most of my waking-hours are spent in the office, or getting to/from the office. If working from home, not only do I need space for an office, but more space overall, to feel more comfortable in a domicile that's now occupied 24/7. And while in the home-office, I can't have my zoom meetings interrupted by trash-removal trucks, police sirens, barking dogs and the like. All of this pressures the WFH cadre to find larger, more sumptuous and serene quarters.
It is unlikely that the American real estate market is set up for comprehensive WFH of office workers. Present trends strike me as being transitory.
I'm keeping an open mind so I don't fall into the trap of most political issues these days where everyone wants everything their way or nothing gets passed for anyone.
I foresee a hybrid approach, where people and firms do what works for their situation. Different strokes.
The NY Times reports today that: "Cubicles are largely empty in downtown San Francisco and Midtown Manhattan, but workers in America’s midsize and small cities are back to their commutes. ... More than two years into the pandemic, American corporate workplaces have splintered. Some are nearly as full as they were before Covid-19. Others sit abandoned. ... Workers in America’s midsize and small cities have returned to the office in far greater numbers than those in the biggest U.S. cities."
That being said I think the issue boils down to various considerations:
- Commuting is easier in midsize and small cities; parking cheaper. Commuting and parking in SF and NYC are awful.
- Office rents in SF and NYC are probably the highest in the nation, so yes, firms in big cities want to save on rent.
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