Permanent changes to how we work?

[Christine]

For those with employers who are insisting on a return to in-person work when it’s not necessary nor desired by staff, what is their reasoning? Why are they hellbent on making you drive in to an office during a pandemic to do the exact same work you could be doing more comfortably at home?

For our leadership (and I work at a military agency), it's *all* about culture. I never once got a vibe that they think we aren't working or anything. We've proven we do and they know it. But for many people, especially in leadership, they are extroverts. And extroverts tend to need people around them. I think our leadership gets fulfillment of leading people and having those people around them. Probably a bit of a military culture to some extent, but I also think the biggest culprit is that there's just people that really *need* to be around others to work effectively and they tend to be the leaders.

 

[tvguy]

given that some tech companies have been doing the free food benefit for over a decade at this point there are 30 somethings who could fall under this realization. my kid's employer has done it for going on 22 years so there are people in their 40's in this case, a similar phenomenon happened with a couple of extended family members who went from parental homes to college and then into jobs that provided free housing.

See, free food is soooo old school to me. It wasn't uncommon for cafeterias with free food for employees. But the only company that ever offered it that I worked for discontinued it in about 1978.

 

[jrmasm]

For our leadership (and I work at a military agency), it's *all* about culture. I never once got a vibe that they think we aren't working or anything. We've proven we do and they know it. But for many people, especially in leadership, they are extroverts. And extroverts tend to need people around them. I think our leadership gets fulfillment of leading people and having those people around them. Probably a bit of a military culture to some extent, but I also think the biggest culprit is that there's just people that really *need* to be around others to work effectively and they tend to be the leaders.

So it has nothing to do with your group‘s productivit? Ridiculous

 

[Christine]

So it has nothing to do with your group‘s productivit? Ridiculous

No not at all. We all have metrics of how we produced over the years and we're pretty much off the charts over the last 2 years (granted we probably all work longer ours because we aren't running out the door for a 1-2 hour communte...but I digress). We have 3,000 employees in our building and they range from engineers, architects, intelligence, finance, acquisition, etc. I understand that some groups need the collaboration. We just don't need that much, but it's going to be a one-size-fits-all mentality.

 

[notatallmagic]

I've been working from home 95% of the time for almost two years. I've never worked harder, been more productive, or accomplished more.

I remember working downtown in our capital city right out of college. Tons of costs for gas, parking, mileage, lunchs, suits and drycleaning, and even panty hose (blech)...not to mention 2-3 hours a day commuting. I now am the leader of a small company (6 other folks) with our office in a small town. I gave each person the option of what they wanted, as long as we were able to accomplish everthing we needed to do and maintain proper data security. We don't have public transportation, and each have our own small office, so Covid was not a primary influencer. We have one semi-retired team member who loves going into the office - and she does, 1 day every week. We have another who also likes the (now quiet) office, and she goes 3 other days. The other employees all work pretty much remotely, and seem to love it. I'd have a hard time asking, or even justifying asking, a return to the "old normal".

Personally, I save about 2 hours of driving by working from home - time that I've needed to be productive over past two years - we had to complete NINE years worth of volume in less than two years. I work from my beautiful front porch eight months of the year, with a lovely view and a breeze. I can cook my own meals, wear pajamas in the winter and comfy clothes in the summer; I can spend time with my kids and be there for appointments and sports/music; I can take walks in the middle of the day if I'm getting overwhelmed or drowsy. I dont' think I will ever want to return to an office - maybe 2 day/week for training new employees, but not more than that. I think I'd feel like I was in a cage.

I excited for the flexibility this trend may allow - as my kids grow and likely move away, I hope to continue to work, but would enjoy remote work from locales closer to where they may be - or even from Florida . The only downside - I work too much. I struggle to put my work away at a decent hour. I'm working toward "work-ish" hours, and making some progress.

 

[MrsPete]

I don't think we're going to see how this "new normal" really works out until 2-3 years from now

I agree that it'll take us a few years to shift into what will be our permanent "new normal".

I still think a lot of places will save money (and keep employees happy) by remaining partly remote.

Yes, I suspect a part of the "new normal" will be shared offices (I'm in it on Monday and Tuesday, you're in it on Thursday and Friday) and people coming in for big meetings occasionally /working from home a lot of the time.
Speaking only for myself, I loved working from home. I loved sleeping 'til 15 minutes before my classes began. I loved greeting my class, giving them an intro lecture, then making scrambled eggs while they watched a 10-minute YouTube video. I loved putting in a load of laundry between classes. I loved not putting miles on my car and gas in my tank. But my personal feelings do not mean I was an effective teacher during that time -- my students did not rise to the occasion.

Teachers here were remote for over a year. And when they have a covid issue, they immediately go back to remote learning for a week or two. Some schools had to extend the Christmas break due to infections. And parents have the option here of having their children remain on remote learning, but the Sacramento City Unified School District doesn't have enough teachers to supervise all those remote requests.

Yes, I'm a teacher, and we've been hit hard. We do not have a full staff right now -- our admin's trying to hire, but the candidates don't exist. Colleges are shutting down their teacher education programs, so where will we find new teachers? Quite a few teachers are leaving our school at the end of this year, so next year promises to be even worse.
Our morale is awful because we are working harder than ever, yet the people at the county office level are getting big bonuses (like 6% of their total salary), while we're getting $300.
Many of our students "didn't come back from remote". That is, they've developed some awful habits. One of my students told me, "Remote felt like a podcast. Optional." Many of my students want to see their classwork as self-paced; that is, they want to do their math work in my Social Studies classroom, or they want to copy a set of notes for next week rather than doing the (more labor intensive) writing assignment today. Our admin makes rules, rules, rules about allowing extra time -- and, in doing so, they allow procrastination and give kids just enough rope to hang themselves.
In short, high school is a hot mess right now. My prediction: one of the pandemic's legacies will be an overall loss for public education.

 

[nancipants]

With my previous employer, I was full-time remote until October 2020 when I had to start going in for monthly meetings. In August 2021, they started a hybrid schedule with two days in the office. Three days started in October 2021. I was NOT looking forward to it. I am way more productive at home and hated commuting.

Out of the blue, I got the opportunity to take a fully remote job with another company. They are based in another state, so I will never have to be in an office. It has been such a wonderful life change. In addition to working from home, my job itself is way more flexible with time off, which is great since I have a two year old.