| I don't believe making workplace changes based on data from the quarantine era makes any sense. Currently people are mostly stuck at home, so work from home is nothing like it is during normal times: * People are home all the time, so they have plenty of time to do chores and work. I know for many people "WFH day" is "oh look, I have a pile of laundry I'll just take care of really quickly..." day. * People don't have as many social options, so even if you're not as focused as you might be at the office, you also have more time to throw at work "after hours" * People can't cut out at 3 or 4 or whatever to go do fun things or start their weekend early, so you don't get the "WFH today because I'm taking a flight this afternoon" days which essentially are days off This is based on observation about myself and colleagues. I don't think we have evidence that once things return to normal people will be as productive as home (I don't also see evidence that people are being particularly productive right now--it's just too soon to see the long-term effects). This is of course based on small sample sizes of my observations and anecdotal, but it's also not speculation and seems to line up with a lot of other people's observations too. I also agree with a lot of the comments around this being yet another way to push the cost ($ and otherwise) to employees. You now need to furnish your own home office, find ways to get the kids out of the house, etc. Remote work can and does work, but I think it's situational on all sides (people that have the aptitude for it, companies that are invested in making it work, types of companies/roles where it can work) |