I agree. But what about the business that aren’t 100% digital? Is it okay to have half your workforce at home? Is it fair? What about roles that thrive off human interaction, do they get written off?
Is it "fair" for many workers to work in hostile and dangerous environments like oil rigs or policing high-crime streets, while SWEs sit in comfortable climate-controlled offices?
Is it "fair" that thousands of employees of particular companies work endless shifts in unpleasant warehouses, while others enjoy nice downtown offices?
This, so much. Can’t have us flatten the curve if we’re all jammed packed on public transport!
The Victorian government’s messaging here has been along the lines of “if you can work for home, please do it”, and fines can be issued if you force workers into the office when unnecessary... but from what I’m hearing, workers aren’t raising alarm bells
In general, less people using the infrastructure around cities means that traveling is more safer, is generally better for the environment, and also supports small business growth in local communities instead of in a few blocks in the big city.
Even people that don't get to work from home still benefit from work from home. At the very least there's one less person to get annoyed with on the commute.
This is Hacker News, so I was speaking to the crowds here. Sure, most companies can’t have work-from-home as a viable alternative, but I’m specifically talking about purely digital companies - even where devs don’t interact with customers :shrug.gif:
Is it "fair" that thousands of employees of particular companies work endless shifts in unpleasant warehouses, while others enjoy nice downtown offices?