Do you think working full-time in an office environment is dead? (interstate, Canada)
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No, there will be a wish to get back to the office. I believe people will suffer from lack of live human interactions and it will eventually cause businesses to suffer too. That doesn't mean some people shouldn't still be able to work from home, but I think a large percent will actually want to, especially if they have a decent commute.
This will end up like online education, sure you can do it but you can't actually replicate the experience over the internet and miss out on a lot of life experiences.
Our workplace is dedicated to a "hybrid" approach and it's working very well for me. I'm about to turn 65 and am able to retire, but the work remains interesting and not having to commute most days is a driver for me to continue working.
Mostly I go into the office to access classified systems, do classified work.
I think I will always have a laptop at home, allows me to check email early and late, just in general improves my usefulness at work. Why give that up?
A note, I do live 40 miles from the office, so driving in takes about an hour. So WFH is a real advantage for me.
We have hired some people who are not going to move to our local area, by preference, who might not have hired on without the remote option. I think increasingly for jobs that involve working on a computer mostly, firms will have to offer a remote option to be competitive in hiring the best people.
There's been continual debate and discussion over working from home versus at the office since the pandemic began. What is your preference if your job would allow an option? Would you rather have a hybrid situation where you do a little of both? Do you think the world will ever go back to working in offices full time the way it used to be?
I've been voluntarily back full time for well over a year already. I prefer to not have my employer using space in my home without paying part of my rent, and also prefer to see people in 3 dimensions rather than 2. Also I want to be available if others have questions.
What I've realized is that mostly I resist change. Once I'm comfortable doing things a particular way, I'd rather not change and do them another way, if I can help it. So in March of 2020, I was one of the last ones in the office to transition to work from home. I was all alone in the cubicle farm for at least a few weeks, because at first the company said that anyone who was concerned about the possibility of getting sick was welcome to take equipment home and work from home at that point... But I had news on in the background and when the Governor of our state issued the mandate that all non-essential workers were to go home, I was the first to know. I was the one who went and told the boss.
I only went to work from home because I had to, and didn't do it until I had to. Now, I'm comfortable with working from home, and again...won't change what I'm doing unless/until I have to. Which might be never, from what I've been told, but we'll see.
There's been continual debate and discussion over working from home versus at the office since the pandemic began. What is your preference if your job would allow an option? Would you rather have a hybrid situation where you do a little of both? Do you think the world will ever go back to working in offices full time the way it used to be?
It depends on the office, the length of the commute needed to get there and back, and other factors. Customer-service-oriented offices, like at school and universities, are of necessity office-bound. Certain admissions office and registration functions can now be done online, but AFAIK, the folks who run the academic department offices, including the academic advisors, need to be on-site for students dropping in. There are probably other similar offices, like libraries, that aren't adaptable to WFH.
Investing site Seeking Alpha is reporting today that it's not the office environment that people hate, it's the commute to the office that makes workers want to keep working from home.
Excerpt: The 'Return to the Office' is here - but it's underwhelming. Despite 80% of employees currently in post-pandemic work arrangements, office utilization rates have remained 40-60% below pre-pandemic levels. Office leasing activity has remained surprisingly resilient at just 10% below pre-pandemic levels - as have office REIT earnings results - but corporations won't pay for half-empty space indefinitely. As projected, commute times have been the key variable explaining significant differences in WFH adoption across regions. Workers don't necessarily dislike the office, but long commutes more than offset any productivity gains.
Office space can be expensive, whether leased or owned. Some firms will stick with WFH, some won't, and workers will move to whichever employment model suits their needs.
It's the commute to the office..........
Totally agree with that 100%. Especially if you live in a high traffic and expensive area like I do in New York. Add to that the cost of gas, lunch out every day and the wear and tear on your car.
I think it may evolve that the office no longer needs it workers. I can't imagine that there's any job that is done remotely that can't be done remotely by someone overseas or in a different less expensive location. I don't see a business located say in San Francisco California continue to pay California wages to an employee who decided to move and work remotely in rural Nevada. I learned a long time ago that anyone is replaceable.
Before I retired, I was an electrician at a major university in my state. The Dean of the College of Business and I would do a walk around his building once a month just to see what had to be done so I got to know him a little. Pre-covid, there was always a lot of hustle and bustle with kids and professors and support staff doing their thing. During the great covid meltdown of 2020/21 of course everything shut down and classes and office work was done remotely (I was considered "essential" so I still showed up). Absolutely no one in this huge building except me and the cleaning crew. The entire campus was similar. Things got back to normal but even a year later professors, office staff and students were still working remotely. I asked the Dean about the dozens and dozens of empty classrooms and offices. He admitted they were finding out that much of the staff (including professors) weren't needed.
The old way of doing things is becoming obsolete. everything can be done remotely now. Even surgery can be done through robots. Files can be downloaded, signed, and scanned. If you need to meet, there's facetime. Google docs for group projects. Saves companies the cost of office space. I think more and more people will start demanding some work from home time as a benefit.
Do you think working full-time in an office environment is dead?
No.
Because the business owners who believe in remote work are greatly outnumbered by the ones who do not. For many owners, it's the only evidence they have of you actually being gainfully employed.
The old way of doing things is becoming obsolete. everything can be done remotely now. Even surgery can be done through robots. Files can be downloaded, signed, and scanned. If you need to meet, there's facetime. Google docs for group projects. Saves companies the cost of office space.
Have we adequately considered, that for all of the myriad benefits of WFH for employees, the real (and subtly sinister) benefit to the employers, is the savings on office-space? It's part of the longstanding trend of outsourcing. Now the very environment where work is being done, is getting outsourced.
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Originally Posted by pete98146
I also think it boils down to being an introvert or an extrovert. I’m introverted so I’m in heaven working at home. Don’t miss the office at all!
I'm somewhat introverted, but do my best work at the office... at night or on weekends, when I'm completely alone in the building. Why? Because the office-environment is mentally associated with "work"... whereas home is mentally associated with leisure, sleeping etc.
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Originally Posted by Phil P
What's interesting is that in 10-20 years this is going to start hopping borders.
I wish that the WFH cheerleaders would realize this. If your job can be done by somebody in Peoria, just as easily as in Manhattan, then maybe it could also be done in Bangalore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil P
Humanity has been working from home until the industrial age of factories. People want connections, but not with coworkers. Gen Z and millenials increasingly ditch work friends for relationships outside the office walls.
The older set nevertheless treats workmates as neighbors, if not outright friends.
In the pre-industrial age of WFH, most people lived in villages... villagers knew everyone in the village. Socializing was in the village. Everything was in the village. Now, we have no more villages. Especially for those without family, socializing is in the workplace.
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Originally Posted by OTownDays
... many people just don't have a home that's set up for that (roommates/housemates, lack of air conditioning, just no space for a desk, no money to get the type of tech required for the job, etc.).
Yup. Especially those of us, who set up a domicile, specifically under the assumption that we'd be at the office, commuting or traveling 60-80 hours a week.
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