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The office isn't dead [1]. There are plenty of people who didn't like working from home before and still don't. There are also plenty of people who just can't

The office isn't dead [1]. There are plenty of people who didn't like working from home before and still don't. There are also plenty of people who just can't do their job as well from home. What seems likely is that some managers who previously didn't think of work-from-home as a viable option before will probably be more open to the idea going forward. And some individual contributors will decide that working remotely suits them well. And companies will have a better sense of the tools required for effectively working remotely. But the majority of people are going back to the office when this is over. It might be because managers will still be managers, and feel that they can have more control with people there in person. It might be because people like to get out of the home. Maybe they like socializing with coworkers in person. Maybe they don't have enough room at home. Or the proper equipment. I certainly expect to see changes, but the concept of offices isn't going anywhere. [1] and nor does the article claim it is, despite the sensationalist headline

libertine 6y ago
It's one of those things that will have the rubber band effect, just like any other office trend. First will be trendy tech organizations that will go the extreme and set a large window of WFH, then some will move a large chunk of operations to WFH, then a lot of tech companies will follow with bold claims of how good it is, and so on... Then all of a sudden, one study or one article with the unpopular opinion - "working from home is not that good after all", then some people will vent out on how they dislike it in some situations, then one trendy company will make the bold claim: "We're bringing people back in!" I can already see the headlines of Buzzfeed, Wired, and posts on medium: "The gold nugget of productivity! This company boosted their performance by bringing people back into what we used to call offices!", with comments of the CEO that's trying to lure in talent. Just to end back in the middle term: some roles are suitable for work from home, while others make sense to bring in house, some people prefer work from home while others don't. My prediction is this will all occur until 2022. Just to make it clear: I like working from home.
- leetcrew 6y ago
  my guess is most companies that were forced into WFH by coronavirus will try to return to "business as usual" as soon as reasonably possible. if you're already paying for enough square footage and operations people to have everyone on-site, you may as well get your money's worth. my hope is that, after seeing that work still got done during the crisis, employers will be more willing to entertain a certain number of WFH days per week. this would be ideal for me. I love the flexibility and comfort of WFH, but I would like to have at least a small window where I can reliably find people on-site for a face-to-face meeting, without having to plan that interaction far in advance.

libertine 6y ago

It's one of those things that will have the rubber band effect, just like any other office trend. First will be trendy tech organizations that will go the extreme and set a large window of WFH, then some will move a large chunk of operations to WFH, then a lot of tech companies will follow with bold claims of how good it is, and so on... Then all of a sudden, one study or one article with the unpopular opinion - "working from home is not that good after all", then some people will vent out on how they dislike it in some situations, then one trendy company will make the bold claim: "We're bringing people back in!" I can already see the headlines of Buzzfeed, Wired, and posts on medium: "The gold nugget of productivity! This company boosted their performance by bringing people back into what we used to call offices!", with comments of the CEO that's trying to lure in talent. Just to end back in the middle term: some roles are suitable for work from home, while others make sense to bring in house, some people prefer work from home while others don't. My prediction is this will all occur until 2022. Just to make it clear: I like working from home.

leetcrew 6y ago
my guess is most companies that were forced into WFH by coronavirus will try to return to "business as usual" as soon as reasonably possible. if you're already paying for enough square footage and operations people to have everyone on-site, you may as well get your money's worth. my hope is that, after seeing that work still got done during the crisis, employers will be more willing to entertain a certain number of WFH days per week. this would be ideal for me. I love the flexibility and comfort of WFH, but I would like to have at least a small window where I can reliably find people on-site for a face-to-face meeting, without having to plan that interaction far in advance.