Post by minx on Apr 6, 2022 13:01:08 GMT -5
One of my FB friends has been going off on working from home lately. Her main point is that we should all work from home, cause it's better for the environment, people are more productive, it saves money and you don't have to pay for child care.
She's mad because I pointed out that as someone who has been working from home for 15 years, it's not that easy.
- You still need child care. Bosses AND clients aren't in to you dropping out of meetings and shit because the kids are arguing. (Why, I can't possibly imagine...)
- You need a dedicated workspace - the kitchen table doesn't cut it for long, and again, the boss and your clients aren't interested in all the background noise of your household.
- You need to furnish said workspace. In my entire WFH career, I have never been reimbursed for office supplies, including lighting, desks or chairs. My employer does provide my computer and monitors.
- You need access to reliable high-speed internet. Again, not employer-provided. I have always had to pay for mine, even with my old company which required a dedicated business line.
- People aren't automatically more productive. In the beginning you may be, but then things even out as time goes on, and you're pretty much at an office level again.
- Meetings are more difficult. At my old job, I was the only employee in my department to WFH - I was accidentally left off of more meetings than I could count, because people forgot to make arrangements to include me. Also, lots of meetings had me conferenced in on a speakerphone, so it was worthless since I couldn't hear anything over the side conversations.
- Finally, some people just don't want to work from home - they want to be around people, or to escape from their house/apartment for a bit. My former company went full-time remote for one office. Friend is still upset - he LIKED being in an office, and hates working from home. He's the expert on one of their products and told them he was going to retire at the end of the year - he just doesn't like being at home FT.
She's all about this being 'corporate America' not caring about workers. I don't get it. When I think of Corporate America not caring about workers, I think of things like retail stores forcing employees to work on their whim with unstable schedules - you may work 30 hours one week and 10 the next. Or teachers who are expected to put in 12 hour days for 8 hours pay. Or gig workers who bust their asses with no protections whatsoever.
The vast majority of people who work from home are fairly well-paid white collar workers. Yes, I'd like to see companies be more flexible in terms of better work/life balances for them, but as with everything, the solution is not easy. Meanwhile, can we focus on those who are really hurting? And can we focus on some real work issues, like people who are approaching retirement age without enough savings, or employers who don't provide any job stability and are happy to lay off employees who are older? Perhaps we could focus on employers who require college degrees for simple work like answering phone calls in a call center, or employers who don't provide their employees with any meaningful way to advance within the company.
But no, it's all about working from home....Rant off.
She's mad because I pointed out that as someone who has been working from home for 15 years, it's not that easy.
- You still need child care. Bosses AND clients aren't in to you dropping out of meetings and shit because the kids are arguing. (Why, I can't possibly imagine...)
- You need a dedicated workspace - the kitchen table doesn't cut it for long, and again, the boss and your clients aren't interested in all the background noise of your household.
- You need to furnish said workspace. In my entire WFH career, I have never been reimbursed for office supplies, including lighting, desks or chairs. My employer does provide my computer and monitors.
- You need access to reliable high-speed internet. Again, not employer-provided. I have always had to pay for mine, even with my old company which required a dedicated business line.
- People aren't automatically more productive. In the beginning you may be, but then things even out as time goes on, and you're pretty much at an office level again.
- Meetings are more difficult. At my old job, I was the only employee in my department to WFH - I was accidentally left off of more meetings than I could count, because people forgot to make arrangements to include me. Also, lots of meetings had me conferenced in on a speakerphone, so it was worthless since I couldn't hear anything over the side conversations.
- Finally, some people just don't want to work from home - they want to be around people, or to escape from their house/apartment for a bit. My former company went full-time remote for one office. Friend is still upset - he LIKED being in an office, and hates working from home. He's the expert on one of their products and told them he was going to retire at the end of the year - he just doesn't like being at home FT.
She's all about this being 'corporate America' not caring about workers. I don't get it. When I think of Corporate America not caring about workers, I think of things like retail stores forcing employees to work on their whim with unstable schedules - you may work 30 hours one week and 10 the next. Or teachers who are expected to put in 12 hour days for 8 hours pay. Or gig workers who bust their asses with no protections whatsoever.
The vast majority of people who work from home are fairly well-paid white collar workers. Yes, I'd like to see companies be more flexible in terms of better work/life balances for them, but as with everything, the solution is not easy. Meanwhile, can we focus on those who are really hurting? And can we focus on some real work issues, like people who are approaching retirement age without enough savings, or employers who don't provide any job stability and are happy to lay off employees who are older? Perhaps we could focus on employers who require college degrees for simple work like answering phone calls in a call center, or employers who don't provide their employees with any meaningful way to advance within the company.
But no, it's all about working from home....Rant off.