Put another way in an increasingly atomised self selecting world going into work is one of the few areas of life now where you might meet, interact and even bond with people you wouldn't normally (even then of course workplaces have big selection too) and losing that is probably a bad thing.
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Advantages of WFH include saving a LOT of money by not commuting, not getting 4 or 5 colds a year, not listening to co-workers crunching food, not being suffocated by ‘that woman’ spraying perfume, …
Yes, it's good to meet colleagues in person, to chat, to bond, to get an impression of what they're really like.
But it's not necessary to stare at them for 40 hours a week.
We've made rent unaffordable for young people, we've made going out unaffordable, and now we've got some utter tools saying it would be good if we took more out of their pockets by making them commute more often
Plus younger people more likely to live at home and not in a flat\house share cos of housing costs.
It suited my predecessor to WFH but I hated the isolation & failed to set myself "office" hours.
My successor quickly got an office!
If WFH is the norm in a company, HR departments should be advising line managers on mitigation, surely?
What you have just described is what I would describe as "hell".
There is no 'one size fits all' for either productivity, creativity, or happiness.
So much respect for anyone that has similar struggles.🫶
Surely it’s all about brain activity and how we perceive our own fulfilment of life!
We all must have a realistic dream to aim for that satisfies our inner most feelings!
Trashy consumption of goods and food but fail!
Might lose out even more to the political
Networkers than they usually do.
https://bsky.app/profile/foxinsoxuk.bsky.social/post/3lfw7vosvzk2m
You've in effect argued *against* the impacts of forced socialization and for the need to be able to get away from socialization.
They should be working to save for the deposit on a quarter of a million pound bedsit.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/
Social media is the cornflakes of social interaction. Keeps you alive but does nothing for the spirit. If it's your main diet eventually you become ill.
My employer (a state government in Australia) went heavily online during Covid lockdowns. Even more than before, teams/branches recruited from all across the state, so you could have people working closely together from multiple cities/towns.
https://openpsychologyjournal.com/VOLUME/8/PAGE/78/ABSTRACT/
But my 2 eldest who both have jobs in London have employers who have pushed for a return to the office (4 dys)
& I think it's right for them - & said that to them (24 & 27)
For the reasons you have articulated
I like my office days, but I work out of a shared space with people from other teams
Balance needed in orgs
https://bsky.app/profile/ali-jr.bsky.social/post/3lg42ruspek2r
You fail to even mention the health consequences of in-person, indoor work when you are a survivor, so far, of the most damaging airborne pathogen epidemic in a century.
Why?
I happen to agree working with others face to face is useful. But also not needed all the time. So probably in line with your views
The war on woke even
Not implying this is your stance Luke. But we know it is for many vocal politicians and pundits because they don’t shut up about it
So a positive note. Have your focus groups shown up any commonalities or potential routes for uniting people rather than dividing them around this?
Any more is inefficient for work output and has time and financial travel cost, as well as office facilities cost.