I still don't like the polarization of this issue "either everyone has to allow full time WFH or I quit!".
I prefer working at the office given the choice, it allows me to see some of my co-workers and helps me with balance. I get distracted at home. Also things that happen organically at the office like lunch together and happy hours are nice to have.
At the same time, I have a VERY short commute compared to most, I can imagine I would feel differently if I lived 30 minutes+ away from the office.
My company has announced we will do "3 days minimum" in the office once things are "normal", this made a lot of people upset in our company with good reason. I think we should be more flexible, but I still appreciate the option.
I feel like the pandemic has given rise to a winners vs losers mentality with respect to WFH. For the longest time, people who prefer to work in office were the winners, and now it's the people who prefer WFH. In reality everybody is different and wants different things out of the work aspect of their life. I have been in an awful place mentally due to WFH; I can't stand not separating work from life, I'm more social than the average dev so I enjoy being around people, I get easily distracted at home, etc. I don't know why compromise is not more common in online spaces. Reads like 90% of introverts running a victory lap.
How is it polarization? I want to work from home full time, my employer stops allowing it, so I find a new job. Especially in the software industry where there's an unlimited number of remote/wfh jobs there's no point in needlessly compromising for your employer's sake.
1. While some employees legitimately like the office, the push to return there is coming from executives. The motivation is pretty clearly control.
2. For the first time ever, work style is favoring introverts. Their feelings were never taken into consideration, yet through the accident of the pandemic, intovert friendly work is now the norm.
3. Cost of living is through the roof near traditional office space.
Because the stakes are so high, the change so recent and the pushback so authoritarian, people are “fighting” to retain WFH. It also feels like a winnable battle for the first time ever.
I prefer working at the office given the choice, it allows me to see some of my co-workers and helps me with balance. I get distracted at home. Also things that happen organically at the office like lunch together and happy hours are nice to have.
At the same time, I have a VERY short commute compared to most, I can imagine I would feel differently if I lived 30 minutes+ away from the office.
My company has announced we will do "3 days minimum" in the office once things are "normal", this made a lot of people upset in our company with good reason. I think we should be more flexible, but I still appreciate the option.