Work-from-home the new normal? Not the way I see it.
Why are we so eager to pronounce anything as a trend on the basis of thin evidence?
Take work-from-home, or even more ambitiously, work-from-anywhere in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Really? People in my circle work as engineers, doctors, marketers, journalists, college lecturers, pilots, bankers, company executives, software programmers, and so on.
None of them think that work-from-home is anything more than a response to the pandemic. Except maybe the pure software coders, everyone else needs to be out and about to meet customers, students, colleagues, partners, and other stakeholders.
No one finds working at home an unmixed blessing.
The WhatsApp groups in my apartment complex are rife with people politely asking children to shut the $@&* up since the noise is interfering with work and calls.
At least once a week, somebody has a breakdown and you can hear the screaming as stress levels burst.
People exchange notes on how to boost internet speeds as man, wife, and the kids gobble up bandwidth.
While people are happy to save on commute time, they are less thrilled about the constant interruptions due to the maid, cook, family, and chores.
So while some companies will happily give up office space and save costs, I suspect most others will find that work best happens away-from-home. In the office.
Take work-from-home, or even more ambitiously, work-from-anywhere in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Really? People in my circle work as engineers, doctors, marketers, journalists, college lecturers, pilots, bankers, company executives, software programmers, and so on.
None of them think that work-from-home is anything more than a response to the pandemic. Except maybe the pure software coders, everyone else needs to be out and about to meet customers, students, colleagues, partners, and other stakeholders.
No one finds working at home an unmixed blessing.
The WhatsApp groups in my apartment complex are rife with people politely asking children to shut the $@&* up since the noise is interfering with work and calls.
At least once a week, somebody has a breakdown and you can hear the screaming as stress levels burst.
People exchange notes on how to boost internet speeds as man, wife, and the kids gobble up bandwidth.
While people are happy to save on commute time, they are less thrilled about the constant interruptions due to the maid, cook, family, and chores.
So while some companies will happily give up office space and save costs, I suspect most others will find that work best happens away-from-home. In the office.
