Interestingly, that trend has suddenly begun to reverse in the early months of 2023. I suspect this is being driven by employers downsizing their office presence as their leases expire and forcing people to work from home whether they like it or not.
Nothing wrong with liking the office. Personally, I think hybrid can work. I’ve heard the argument against it regarding productivity (how do we know they’re actually working), but I’d argue those sluffing off at home would be sluffing it off in the office (I’ve seen a lot of the latter over the years—80/20 rule applies)
Translation: words matter. Using them like scalpels and creating new phrases and definitions is a matter of "nudging" the public discourse. And "nudging" is so often a Lefty game.
As in, Thaler and Sunstein (of the Obama administration's cast of characters).
Consider: https://news.uchicago.edu/story/how-much-can-you-nudge-good-richard-thaler-explores-possibilities-limits
Having retired at the end of 2019 I missed the whole work from home experience, but doing some of the IT stuff I did it was completely necessary to be at the software user’s desk to correct trouble call issues.
As far as liking the office....yes I did......some of the people occupying that office however, is another discussion. đ
My employer reconfigured the workplace. Before COVID, it was all set up with individual offices, usually shared by two people.
All of that has gone away. Now it is configured as slightly larger offices, with 8 desks in each office. Almost no one has an actual assigned desk but there is a website where you can sign-up for a desk for a day at a time.
If you go into work, you are in a rather small room, with 8 people, most of whom are talking on the phone, in a Teams meeting, or having a consultation with 2 or 3 visitors. It’s a cacophony. Almost impossible to get work done. That’s how they are incentivizing people not to work from home.
At lunchtime I go for a walk at the beach now.
I've been telecommuting since 2005. There is no amount of money that any sane person could ever pay me that could make me want to go back to physically commuting.
The company I retired from was hands on work plus the paperwork for the various jobs I did. No work from home.
I used to like the office - when I had a more-reliable car
Nowadays, I’m looking for part-time, afternoon to evening.
But NOT working with the public.
I am one of those that prefers being in the office 100 times more than working from home. I like the psychological aspects of separating the two environments.
To me, working from home all day is not much different than house arrest. I don’t want stressful situations that sometimes arise at work to be blended with the experience of being in my house.
I want my home to be refuge from work, not part of it.
“Why is hybrid work new and necessary??? What if you like the office?”
It’s new because of today’s internet speed and because so many people’s job consists of only using a computer.
I think a lot of people like the office but don’t like the commute.
There are people who waste time and get distracted easily while working from home. There are people who waste time and get distracted easily while working from the office.
Conservatives tend to judge the value of work at home vs. office by results. Liberals tend to judge the value of work at home vs. office by how it makes them feel.
In my case, I found one day a week at work helped me keep connected with colleagues and was worth the two hours of lost work each day driving back and forth. Beyond the one day, I find it dubious.
Sure, the production plant people love it because they can barge into your office anytime and get an immediate answer to a question which could just as easily be answered by an e-mail or phone call, but I do not see the two hours of lost work daily as worth this feeling.
Companies will ultimately favor work in the office because the cost of commuting is 100% borne by the employee. However, if they are in expensive locations and/or share the cost of commuting, the analysis quickly changes.
Ultimately it needs to be sorted out not only by the employee's job content and suitability to work from home but also by paying those employees who commute in at a higher rate than those who work from home doing the same or similar work.
Of course it is, that's like saying the 30 hour work week is becoming increasingly attractive.
Government employees.
“Hybrid” workers won’t get promoted as fast.
You have to be VISIBLE to be appreciated.
You have to BE THERE to make the PERSONAL CONNECTIONS that lead to advancement.
...assuming you CARE about advancement. (Not everybody does.)
COVID was a big, big change to work policies. But still, you have to look at “hybrid” work in the context of the history of changes to the workplace. When the labor market gets hot, companies look for ways to give employees benefits, especially non-salary benefits. 40 years ago, it was “flex time”, some places let you leave early on Friday in the summer. Some places tried a 4 day week. Today, with the advance of technology, its hybrid work. Once the labor market crashes and unemployment goes back up, most of these hybrid work policies will be eliminated or cut back significantly. No question. The only people who will remain hybrid will be people who are more efficient in the field, like technicians and sales people.
I’ve worked remotely since 2017. This past year, for the first time since then, I have worked 3 days at home and 2 in an office. I HATE the hour commute each way. I HATE the open floor plan. I hate everyone hearing my conversations, and hearing everyone else’s conversations.
But, it’s a decent amount of money for Houston, and I’ve got 5 mouths to feed (including mine), a mortgage to pay, and lights to keep on.