this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2023
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[–] EatATaco@lemm.ee -3 points 1 year ago (7 children)

I know it won't be popular, but I don't possibly see how remote work is better for work itself.

I was WFH for about 10 years. I had my first child, needed to parental leave (from a very small company), and they gave it to me. But I offered to "WFH" when the baby was napping and stuff so if they needed me for things I could make it work. Even after the time was up, things were still going well, and my commute was long, so they agreed to allowing me to WFH a few days a week. Eventually we moved because of my wife's job and then the pandemic, and I told them they either had to fire me or allow me to WFH 100%. They agreed to the latter.

It was a god send, without a doubt. The flexibility I had while my wife was busying with medical school/residency/fellowship was amazing. Being able to run out the door in the middle of the day for stuff was fantastic. And not having to commute is a thing of beauty.

However, after a couple of years, I realized how damaging it was to my productivity. No more ad hoc meetings where we grabbed a couple of engineers and sat down and quickly brainstormed something. It's much harder to reach out to someone over the internet than it is to just turn around and ask something. My career also started to stagnate.

When we finally settled down, I decided that I would focus on my career and pursue a new job. The new job is hybrid and, also amazingly, is only about a 15 minutes bike from my house. I don't know how I would have been able to start a new job without being in person. It's so much easier to just ask someone a question than it is. The collaboration we have is also much better than the previous 8 or so years I was fully WFH.

And as this article points out, it's the flexibility that I think is the best thing. No one bats an eye if you say you need an extra day at home that week. Or you need to go home because the plumber is coming. Or you're stepping out for a couple of hours for the doctor. This seems to be a permanent fixture at my new job.

Now, as I said, this is purely from a work perspective. Individually speaking, staying home is way better, especially if you have a shitty commute. I get that and would never say anyone should go back into the office. But I think the number of people who are actually way more productive at home are few and far between, the rest just really like the set up so they'll pretend it is way better for work, or even convince themselves it is way better. But the more and more the numbers come in, the more and more it's clear that generally speaking people are less productive with remote work.

It's going to end for most, and it's probably best to think about what best suits the needs to the individual and the business rather than clinging to the idea that it is superior in all ways.

[–] Leg@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Purely anecdotal and subjective experience here, but my long-term productivity was improved by wfh. I have autism and ADHD, and certain accommodations that I need to be productive can only really happen at home. Asking for the lights to be dimmed or even to listen to music to keep from losing my mind during a 12- hour shift on no sleep was basically impossible (deemed unreasonable for the employer to allow), and I personally needed more than just that to keep up. I've had to leave multiple jobs due to cracking under the stress of the environment and being unable to focus long enough to actually work anymore. Since becoming 100% wfh, self-regulating is a no-brainer most days, and I can maintain productivity for longer stretches of time with shorter recovery periods for burnout. The working world is harsh for certain people, and it stops many neurodiverse groups from actually being able to contribute our parts to the ever-hungry capitalist hellscape we cling to for our livelihoods.

[–] EatATaco@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago

Sure, I understand that it's definitely true for some people. Which is why I said they were few and far between.

[–] llama@midwest.social 2 points 1 year ago

The part about remote work that has caused things to stagnate is that most companies still aren't setup to hire out of their own state. So it's not done much to open the gate to opportunities that are a great fit and can be done remotely, because I'm in the wrong state. And there's still an attitude of "what would somebody in that place possibly know about things here". The likelihood I will ever be domiciled in the same place as where my perfect job happens to be is super unlikely. This is 95% employers just discriminating based on location because they don't want to do paperwork or have an open mind and 5% not having the benefit of in-person collaboration.

[–] HouseOfJazz@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Agreed. I'm a supervisor of inspectors and it is a lot easier to have impromptu meeting and assign tasks in person when I can just look around the room. We did WFH during covid for about 2 years and it was definitely harder to monitor work being done and make sure everyone was on the same page.

[–] Solemn@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There's definitely some real benefits to in person collaboration, but even when I'm in the office (a large majority of the time since I need to test on hardware) I mostly just send a slack message for 99% of things. If it's a really pressing need I'll go find them in person, but I could also just call people online.

Whiteboard sessions are better on a physical whiteboard, but I think everything else goes perfectly fine over chat or voice call.

Instead, I find motivation to be my biggest reason to come into the office. Sure, I still waste a lot of time on lemmy in the office, but I'm still more productive more often when I'm at my desk.

[–] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Instead, I find motivation to be my biggest reason to come into the office.

Completing the tasks so you can get your paycheck to pay your rent/mortgage doesn't do it for you?

j/k, kind of.

In all seriousness, lack of motivation can hit a human being anywhere, especially they're doing a task they don't like doing.

[–] Spazz@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago

Ah yes, arguing against all the real evidence because of your feelings, typical

[–] Ozymati@lemmy.nz 0 points 1 year ago

I agree flexible is better than full wfh. On top of everything else you mentioned, going to work gets you outside, at least briefly, and gives you a chance to interact with people you don't already know.

[–] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

But I think the number of people who are actually way more productive at home are few and far between

You're assuming everyone has the same career/job, life experiences, and perspective that you do, as well as the same home office situation.

At the end of the day, they don't have to be more productive, they just have to be productive enough to complete the tasks their boss gives them to do well.

Finally, chatGPT quantity of comment tends to be overlooked. You might want to try to make your point more succinctly.