Technology

I'm not in tech, but work in the public service sector with offices and all that, and we've been under a similar in-office twice a week mandate for a few months now, after 2.5 years of working from home due to COVID. I do see some value of being in the office occasionally - it's nice to be able to talk to your co-workers face to face, and at least in my line of work, meeting with clients/partners face-to-face is incredibly important.

It's not all sunshine and rainbows, though. The office complex I'm in has been woefully outdated for over a decade and they're only getting around to renovations now, which has led to everyone having to cram on far too few floors during workdays (though it's better than having to work in the old sections filled with asbestos, bed bugs, and bats in the ceiling). Commuting still sucks and will always suck (and costs too much money + pollution!). At times, it feels like coming into the office is just a formality and it's a crappy feeling being at a desk all day when I know for a fact I could be doing all my work from home just fine.

The largest issue I feel I have with it, though, is the fact that it causes centralization in our specific city, and prevents people who don't live within driving distance of the core to reasonably be able to work. During COVID, my department was able to hire a slew of employees from across the country for 100% remote work - people who would have never gotten the chance to have such a job simply because they don't live in one specific city timezones away. Now that we're not only back in the office, but that upper management places such an importance on being in the office for the sake of being in the office instead of using the office space in meaningful ways, I feel like it's a step backwards from being able to expand the talent pool, improve people's work-life balances, cut back on our physical and carbon footprint, and reduce our cost of living.

It doubly makes me roll my eyes due to the fact that a large reason why we're even back in the office now was because the local government feeling that it was the duty of us office workers to support downtown restaurants/businesses. I kid you not, the higher-ups behind this decision were making public statements about how important it is for us to go and spend our money through lunches and other things to stimulate the local economy - but guess what! No pay raises and we haven't had any in 3 years despite record inflation and the rising cost of living! No - instead of these businesses having to adapt and shift their approach to the new post-COVID reality, we all have to lug our sorry asses in to spend money instead.