Wapo: A seismic standoff over remote work is building
The pandemic finally seems to be easing its grip on the United States, nudging us back into public life, friendly visits, even travel. But going back to the office full-time?
According to most workers, the answer is simple: I would prefer not to.
Not yet. Not every day, anyway — and maybe not ever. If the pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that the old way of working left little room for living. Between our fragile mental health and a work world desperate to have us slot back in, something has to give. The obvious answer is a new model that allows for in-office, hybrid or fully remote work. But it’s an open question how many workplaces agree.
A poll by the Best Practice Institute and reported in Newsweek found that some 83 percent of CEOs want employees back full-time, while only 10 percent of workers want back in. A seismic standoff is building. “There is a belief in our culture that we’ve proven that most jobs can be done virtually,” Melissa Swift of consulting firm Korn Ferry told Newsweek. “But that’s not the belief within the leadership of organizations, so we’re headed for a real clash.”
...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/21/i-dont-want-go-back-office-im-not-alone/
We ought to stop referring to "working remotely," imo. It's just working. The other kind of working should be called, "working in an expensive building after driving a polluting car for half an hour."
= new reply since forum marked as read
More childcare expenses, several hours a week driving to work and back (not only the time, but the cost of fuel and wear & tear on a vehicle), need to own "presentable" clothes, more meals out. Then there are the psychological costs: being more closely monitored throughout the day, butts in seats on a rigid schedule, forced socialization with people you don't particularly like, risk of sexual harassment, the oppressive grind of a long rush-hour commute, and being miles away from home and family in case of emergency.
During my wage-serf days, I was finally able to work mostly from home in the final years, after decades of dragging my keister into an office five days a week. It made a huge difference in my quality of life, and in my productivity. I frequently worked extra hours, but at times was able to have shorter or interrupted work days without risk to deadlines. It all balanced out, and my boss was totally cool with the arrangement, because I could always be counted on to get the job done.
Of course, none of this mattered to upper management at The Very Big Corporation of America. They wanted us in the office because they didn't trust us to get things done -- until we consistently proved them wrong. They had this ridiculous fantasy that there would be "synergistic" conversations in the hallway or around the water cooler -- which was idiotic since most of us in IT regularly worked with people in remote locations around the country and across the world. Plus, except for the workaholics and shameless climbers, we never talked about work-related matters when chatting casually. The only reason we came in to the office was to have lunch with our chums, who all worked on different projects and teams.
Much better benefits. 
The company my daughter works for was virtually forced to let their employees work from home by a mandate from the governor's office in March 2020. Now that they've been doing it for over a year, they don't seem to be in any hurry at all to bring people back to the office. I find it amusing, after they had to be practically dragged kicking and screaming into allowing remote work at all. 
She likes her job a lot better this way, and has said she will cheerfully work at home full time for as long as they let her! 
