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It's very unfortunate that the WFH experiment didn't turn out to be a 100% winner. We had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do all office work from home for t

It's very unfortunate that the WFH experiment didn't turn out to be a 100% winner. We had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do all office work from home for the rest of our lives, and it certainly feels like that most companies didn't love it. There are obviously some exceptions, but what matters is what 90% of them will do - and right now it looks like that they will be asking for on-site presence somewhere in the range of 3-5 days. There's a massive difference between 100% WFH and 20-40% WFH: you cannot live wherever you want. I am really bummed that we as a collective society didn't come out of this thinking that 100% is the way to go.

dkjaudyeqooe 5y ago
I think the cat is out of the bag with WFH, and it will evolve toward what works for workers and what management can tolerate. As usual a lot will depend on how indispensable you are. It's never that simple, as you had hoped.
qaq 5y ago
"once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" that sounds too optimistic I wouldn't bet against a COVID variant emerging that requires us to do this all over again.
quadrifoliate 5y ago
> It's very unfortunate that the WFH experiment didn't turn out to be a 100% winner. This "experiment" wasn't one unless you expect the pandemic to rage forever (in which case, going back into the office is very risky!). As other comments have said, a smart company will allow employees pandemic-like freedoms to work from their home or office as they desire, and let this experiment you mention actually work out.
pnt12 5y ago
In many cases, this is a power imbalance - the one paying you your salary makes the choices, so your choice is accept or leave. Most people will accept it, so it's no problem to let a few rebellious apples out. But in software engineering, where there's a ton of job opportunities, the imbalance is smaller - many people can choose to leave and go work somewhere else. A company can't survive if all its employees leave, so they must make room for negotiations. Therefore I expect that some WFH opportunities will stay - some companies will be happy to poach talented leavers.

dkjaudyeqooe 5y ago

I think the cat is out of the bag with WFH, and it will evolve toward what works for workers and what management can tolerate. As usual a lot will depend on how indispensable you are. It's never that simple, as you had hoped.

qaq 5y ago

"once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" that sounds too optimistic I wouldn't bet against a COVID variant emerging that requires us to do this all over again.

quadrifoliate 5y ago

> It's very unfortunate that the WFH experiment didn't turn out to be a 100% winner. This "experiment" wasn't one unless you expect the pandemic to rage forever (in which case, going back into the office is very risky!). As other comments have said, a smart company will allow employees pandemic-like freedoms to work from their home or office as they desire, and let this experiment you mention actually work out.

pnt12 5y ago

In many cases, this is a power imbalance - the one paying you your salary makes the choices, so your choice is accept or leave. Most people will accept it, so it's no problem to let a few rebellious apples out. But in software engineering, where there's a ton of job opportunities, the imbalance is smaller - many people can choose to leave and go work somewhere else. A company can't survive if all its employees leave, so they must make room for negotiations. Therefore I expect that some WFH opportunities will stay - some companies will be happy to poach talented leavers.