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An interesting article over at PCMag that is worth the read as this brief summary cannot do the topics justice. It discusses the issues with getting employees back into the office after two years of working remotely.
[...] The 2022 Microsoft Work Trend Index reported that 50% of mid-level managers said their companies are making plans to return to in-person work five days a week in the year ahead, but 52% of employees are considering going hybrid or remote.
[...] While the pandemic has exposed the many challenges of working remotely, it has also made the benefits clear. People are unwilling to lose hours of their day to the things they find most frustrating about work, such as commuting and the drudgery of office life. [...]
[...] While offices are a collective place of work, they're experienced individually. And for some individuals, that experience is not as welcoming as it is for others. This is reflected in women, people of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and those with disabilities being less inclined to want to return to the office than others.
[...] In-office employees have found themselves spending time commuting only to sit in an office and spend the day not interacting with anyone there and having a Zoom meeting or two. Meanwhile, those still working remote can feel ignored when they're logged on to a Zoom meeting and see their colleagues in a conference room having side conversations that they're not a part of.
[...] There have been some unpleasant new realities faced by those returning to the office. Lots of workplace perks have disappeared in the pandemic. Fully stocked kitchens are a lot barer since they have to feed a much smaller fraction of a workforce. Free gym memberships didn't make much sense when gyms were closed and the benefit at some companies didn't return when their doors reopened.
[...] But there are some perks that have evolved into ones more suited to remote work. Companies, particularly at the beginning of the pandemic, set up stipends to outfit home offices. Childcare, which has always been a concern for working parents, became more of one. And benefits have expanded to include longer paid leave for parents, more flexible schedules, backup childcare services, and even tutoring stipends. [...]
[...] Companies would do well to set up an outreach system for employees of all levels to really check in on their individual needs and concerns. Forego formal surveys for a more human touch of a one-on-one chat by phone or Slack. Because no matter how remote we might be from one another in our workplaces at present, we've all lived through a trying time and could benefit from some connection.
Have your working environments changed, and if so, has it been for the better or worse (or neither)?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by DannyB on Tuesday May 10 2022, @04:30PM (11 children)
I prefer to work at office.
I have a nice big office with a door that closes. An outside window and an inside window. Like what a manager would have except I don't manage anyone.
I have a grueling ten minute commute to the office with five traffic lights. Then I have to face that same horror when returning home.
Myself and another coworker in a cubicle (tech support) are the only ones in this office. Everyone else works from home.
The company is not requiring anyone to return to the office yet. It was recently announced that they don't have any plans to in the near future.
Apart from the commute, and the necessity of wearing clothing, I like the office because it is quiet, well lit and has fantastic equipment. I have a big desk an nice large workspace. I can't match that at home. It is a very focused place to work.
I have online meetings every day with my team members who are scattered across the US in various offices or at home. Just like before covid-19. One interesting note is that one of my coworkers who had long worked in this office, moved to Oregon a few years ago. We continued to have meetings every day on line and do the same work until she eventually retired. Nothing really changed. This really drove home the point that our jobs never required any physical interaction, only exchange of information, emails, documents, setting up test servers for QA, documentation, etc.
To address a different point: my company has a few small interesting perks. But they also have substantial real benefits as well. Excellent health insurance and other benefits. The company pays well over half of health insurance, and that is huge. Free life insurance for the employee worth the most recent W2 year income. I could say that they really do buy my loyalty.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 10 2022, @04:56PM
Sound very nice. Totally unlike what the vast majority of us have to deal with in an office environment.
However, it does sound very much like my setup at home: Big private office looking out over a green space, complete privacy, and a 2-second commute. The only reason I have anything even remotely this nice is because I work from home.
(Score: 2) by Barenflimski on Tuesday May 10 2022, @05:19PM
If that was what my office experience was like, I'd go daily. I'd even water the plants.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday May 10 2022, @05:43PM
I've had those. Actually had a six minute drive with one traffic light for a couple of years. Even still, there's getting dressed, walking about the place, going out to lunch, etc. Lunch was the only way to get actual communication from around the company, I did that three days a week and it made my ankles swell up from the salt.
I have the manager's office now, with no direct (or indirect) reports - they keep threatening to take it away since I haven't set foot in it more than 2 hours in the past 2 years, but so far it's still mine. When I get annoyed with distractions at home, I work from the sailboat at the marina: 10 minute drive with one traffic light and one stop sign - really quiet there especially during weekdays, the office has nothing to offer compared to the boat.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 10 2022, @08:24PM (2 children)
I like having a private bathroom for taking a shit.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Tuesday May 10 2022, @10:10PM
Sir, this is an office.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday May 11 2022, @02:33PM
I've never had a problem with using the restroom at the office. Nor at Walt Disney World.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Tuesday May 10 2022, @10:12PM (1 child)
Well, then I guess you can go to the office, I can work from home and everyone's happy.
Glad we found a solution for that problem. Can we get back to doing some meaningful work now?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Wednesday May 11 2022, @02:24PM
That seems to be the case for both you and I.
Some people may be forced back to the office soon. (Not at my employer, at present.)
So that situation may change.
Another possibility is that employers may close offices and working from home would become the new normal. That would leave a lot of empty commercial office space.
Who knows what will happen. In 2019 I would not have predicted covid, wacky conspiracy theories, an attempt to overthrow US democracy and install an unelected dictator, nor would I have predicted Putin's Folly.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by DavePolaschek on Wednesday May 11 2022, @12:51PM (2 children)
Very much ditto, back when I was working (I retired pre-Covid). But when asked about my proclivity for coming into the office, I replied with, “the single most important thing about going in to the office is that I can leave.”
But I also was fairly rock-solid in making sure I was unreachable once I left work. I didn’t check my work email. I only answered personal calls, etc. When I left the office for the day, I was done working for the day. I had a director call me back to the office once, and I did go in, then explained that if I did any work, it would take months to repair the work that director wanted me to do because I was tired and burned out and I didn’t have any productivity left in me until after I got some sleep. “Fire me if you want. I’m going home to bed now.”
I came in early the next morning and resolved the problem in about ten minutes because I was fresh and rested, emailed off the status, and went home again and got drunk.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday May 11 2022, @02:25PM
Yes, that is it. I keep work at work, and home at home.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday May 11 2022, @02:30PM
I should add, they do buy my loyalty enough that I am willing to pre arrange odd non-business hours times to do production server upgrades. I have this entire process well scripted so it happens in only a few minutes.
Extremely rarely, like once in five years, there might be some problem which is an emergency where I need (and am willing) to go to the office to deal with something.
Other than that, I do not really get bothered with work when I am at home. The company says, and their actions reflect that they really do believe in work-life balance. As an example, I get five paid weeks of vacation (25 business days) plus five "personal" days. I think in ancient times this was called "sick days". The only difference is that you can take personal days any time without advance notice. In practice, I've never had a problem using a vacation day for a sick day even after the fact, so I could keep the personal days in case I unexpectedly needed them.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.