[throwaway1347a]

I think the office/home misses the point when it comes to interaction. It’s more about whether you’re working in the same physical location as your colleagues, and while no one is stopping people heading into the office, if no other colleagues are there you’re not working in the same physical location.

Personally, I live alone, and when I spend a day without in depth conversations with co located people I feel very down. Obviously I can head out in the evening, but during work hours it’s very hard to both do my job, and have conversations with co located people. This is true whether I’m at home, or in an empty office.

Now, rationally, I know it’s not in anyone’s job description to come into the office to look after my personal mental health - and as a manager I push for people being able to work from home where it makes sense, and support those people as best I can. However, I’ve now decided I will likely soon leave my current role and look for a job where I know I will be co located 4-5 days a week, because I know it’s what is best for my mental health. Even if that means a significant career change I’d be happy to do it.

Again, I have no issues with people wanting to work from home, and I’m sure it’s had a great positive impact for those people. For me, it’s had a major negative impact, and it’s now something I’ll be sure is a criteria in future roles.

[JohnFen]

> I spend a day without in depth conversations with co located people I feel very down

I've found that I actually have in depth conversations working remotely, where that almost never happened in the office.

[throwaway2037]

So GP's lived experiences are not real? Your reply reads like "yeah, but for me..." All of the HN discussions about work from office vs home always devolve into the same No True Scotsman arguments. It doesn't matter what anyone says, someone else will inevitably say: "yeah, but for me..." Nothing new is learned. Everyone's mind stays closed to other's peoples lived experiences.

And wait until you have teammates that don't want to pick-up the (video) phone or reply to your chats or emails. Suddenly, you won't be having those "in depth conversations working remotely". Can you empathize with GP's experience?

[JohnFen]

> So GP's lived experiences are not real?

I never even thought, let alone said, anything remotely like that.

> Your reply reads like "yeah, but for me..."

And it was. What's wrong with that? The commenter was expressing their personal reality, and I was expressing mine. Why is it bad when I do it but not when they do it?

Since the whole WFH/RTO debate (and it's silly this debate even exists because the two aren't mutually exclusive) is entirely about everyone's personal preferences, expressing personal preferences seems appropriate.

> Can you empathize with GP's experience?

Yes, of course.

[fennecfoxy]

Chill out, my man. Did the OP ever say that? No, they did not.

All they did was reference someone's opinion as they shared their own.

[reciprocity]

I think you completely misread parent's comment.