Feb 16 2020 was the last day I stepped into an office. The first person to die of COVID in the USA was not far from my office and HR sent everyone home.

At the time, I had a 1 year old son and watched his first steps over a small phone screen. Listen to him say his first word though my headset at work. I fucking hated it.

After COVID, I watched my son grow up and experience everything. From the highs and lows. I love it.

The major downside is that WFH jobs are very few and I had to quit multiple jobs because of RTO policies. Today, I opened a business and just work as a contractor. Even though I don’t make as much, I wouldn’t change it for the world.

From home since epidemic started and I would want to hug covid if it was a person.

My productivity in office was always low. Too many distractions, too many inconveniences. Then there is an issue with getting to the office - it’s an additional hour of my life they are not paying extra for. And of course - at home I can work while doing simple chores. But the most important is that I can be with my daughters, instead of being just another father that spends half a day at work and the other half sleeping.

I am like her, but I hate the commute and that my dogs are lonely. Some workplaces do work-from-home well, and most don’t. So that may be part of her problem. Seems to work best at companies where they started and continue to be remote-only.

Yep - I always disliked having to figure out food for the day before heading into the office. I’m not ready to eat breakfast until closer to noon, but once I start eating, I want to snack every hour or two while working.

I work remotely from a different country so I don’t really have a choice but I’d show up to work 1-2 times per week because they offer free food and see the people I’ve been working with the past 4 years.

That being said, I love the fact I don’t have to commute, chats and calls always have a main agenda but we also chat about games, movies etc. occasionally. I can work uninterrupted most of the day

Yes. I had a hybrid position pre COVID that was 2/3 days a week home at alternating weeks, due to a lack of available desks in our office building. That was always nice when I worked from home. I enjoyed doing laundry during the day and being able to stop work and immediately get to switch off, as opposed to the days in office where I’d deal with driving home and traffic.

I switched to a fully in office job when Covid hit, and our office when fully remote. Other than training and onboarding, I haven’t been required in office since. I love remote work. I won’t go back unless I have absolutely no other choice

WFH is awesome.

Can take breaks from work to drop off/pick up kid from school. Saving like 15% of my paycheque that would go to daycare otherwise.

Car insurance is cheaper, because no matter how much I drive I’m not commuting to work so the insurance company counts me as “occasional driver”.

I can loudly and violently swear at bullshit emails.

I can listen to my own music on speakers while working.

Minor cons though:

I’m getting weirder due to the lack of minor social interactions that otherwise I’d get on the bus, sidewalk, office, cafe, so on.

Some cabin fever from being in the same space all day. I live in an apartment so I don’t have a separate room for my work computer. Turn off work computer, turn on personal computer, and it’s the same screens while I sit in the same chair. On the other hand this does motivate me to get outside after work to exercise or do errands.

Yes. I have worked at both and I feel much more comfortable at home. It gives you a level of flexibility that is hard to describe. I can start my day early, take a break for an hour, and resume it when I feel I can give it the proper level of attention. When I was in office, there was a pressure to look like you’re working all the time. It felt hard to concentrate when the expectation was on dedicating the expected time to work rather than getting something done. With WFH, it’s more about getting your tasks done and generally no one cares when you do it. And I can slouch and prop my feet up and have videos/music/audiobooks playing and whatever else I want without anyone knowing, let alone caring. I don’t need to worry about a commute, and all my food and comforts are available when I want them. I can easily handle things like being at home for a package delivery or a technician repairing something or walking the dog or just doing laundry.

That being said, I will admit it is considerably harder to get help with a task in office. You can’t just have someone pop by to look at something for example. You can still do a call or message, but it’s a bigger barrier to overcome. With WFH, collusion for a group more often needs to be scheduled, and you don’t have an analogue for water cooler talk.

Many places that offer work from home also have an office somewhere, so I would recommend new employees go in while learning the ropes, then switch as they become more independent. And some people like having different locations to help switch between work and relaxation mentalities. And it can be nice to get out of the house too. But overall, WFH is much better for me.

Have done wfh full time for about 6 years now (since the rona), I would never go back to a full time or even hybrid role unless forced. I would sooner quit my job if they forced me into a hybrid position.

The freedom is so much greater and I get so much more done than when I do occasionally have to go into an office for meetups or workshops (maybe 5-6 times a year).

The style of working is different to that of being in office, you have to be self motivating, semi-solo problem solving and you need a reasonably quiet workspace. This can be hard to get in some situations so I feel very lucky to be able to do it.

The company also needs to be setup to promote and support remote working, so having regular check ins with people and making sure people have support in place should they need it. Plus policies that work for remote workers as opposed to in office workers.

13/10 would recommend.

Yes. Im way more efficient at home. Less offfice bullshit.

No commute or shitty weather.

Roll out of bed and online in seconds, just open the laptop lid, leave it in suspend.

My food and can cook a proper meal.

Also can throw on a wash or whatever during the day.

Totally love WFH. I can hang out with my dog while working, get laundry done on breaks, and no commute leaves way more free time in my life. I would never go back to working in an office unless I was in dire straights.

I love it. No commute, optional shower, no pants. I’m not a very big pants guy, and that’s a huge seller.

People who socialize in the office hate wfh

People who socialize outside of the office love wfh

Working from home, no commute, no clothes, no travel time, no car, easy food.

It’s so efficient, it’s crazy.

There is real value to working not-at-home, but working from home outweighs it in 99% of situations.

The reality is, and has been, and should be:

LISTEN TO AND TRUST PEOPLE WHEN THEY TELL YOU THEY LIKE OR DON’T LIKE SOMETHING.

Single father with two school aged kids, mom lives in another state. I’ve turned down a couple higher paying executive roles that have been offered to me the last few years because I don’t know how I could make it work. I get my kids up at 7 and the latest one can’t be to school until 9. I have to start getting them from school at 3:30. I’m sure I could figure it out, plenty of people less fortunate than I am but I guess that I’ve decided that I’m incredibly fortunate that I can always be around and available for my kids and I don’t think I would disrupt that for any amount of money as long as I can provide for them this way. I do miss the social aspects of my colleagues sometimes though which really surprised me.