My company is making us go back to the office and I’m not happy about it.

[Jambalaya]

Age has had the opposite effect on me, in terms of wanting company. Now that I'm older both my parents have gone, two of my lifelong best friends have died, and I lost my marriage long ago to my spouse's mental illness. I feel like I need daily company now, at this age, more than ever.

 

[TooPatient]

Age has had the opposite effect on me, in terms of wanting company. Now that I'm older both my parents have gone, two of my lifelong best friends have died, and I lost my marriage long ago to my spouse's mental illness. I feel like I need daily company now, at this age, more than ever.

I think age may be a part of it, but individual situations are huge in what people want and need. A friend's wife passed shortly after all of the lockdowns went in place. He was home all day with their 10 year old daughter. The neighbors were awesome and were there for him, but it was still very isolating. He also had several social groups at the company he was active in that shut down due to covid. For him, he needed to be in person. He did have a home office where he could work, it was just extremely isolating at a time he needed support. He was ready to be back in person as soon as anyone would allow. Since then, he has marred again and moved. He has absolutely no desire to go back in person now. (the commute would be 2+ hours each way on good days) He has his wife, social groups outside of work are in person again, plenty of places open to meet with friends, etc.

For us, we actively included a home office for each of us as a requirement when we sold our house and moved. Being able to comfortably wfh permanently was one of the highest priorities and part of what prompted the move. DH has the third floor of the house as his office. That is where he goes to work. I have one of the rooms on the 2nd floor as my office for now. (long term, we may expand the 3rd floor and close off each end so we both have our offices plus a shared sitting area between) I know we weren't alone in that sort of change. Half a dozen of our friends made similar moves.

Anyway, I do agree with you that some combination of age and what is going on in life in general makes a huge difference. If you are home all day working then home all of your personal time too, that could get very isolating and depressing!

 

[foxinsox]

I changed jobs to not be working alone, whether in office or at home. I do 1 day WFH, the rest a mix of morning calls at home, in office the rest of the time. I have a 10 minute commute and enjoy the conversation and interaction. I couldn’t do all one or the other though

 

[missy]

Most everyone we know would prefer to WFH. This has been a hot topic and I took an informal poll among friends and neighbors and acquaintances. 100% want to WFH (results of my informal poll). Including our neighbors. Who are being forced to go into the office three days a week and they are being allowed to WFH the rest of the week. The thing is for those with long commutes WFH is so efficient and saves so much time and energy and that makes for happier employees IMO.

However, as with everything, not everyone is the same and there is no one size fits all. What matters is it works for you whatever the arrangement. That is critical. So if going into the office works for you best- great. And if WFH works for you best- great. And if doing a combo is best- great. As long as it works for all involved I say viva la difference. It's when there is a disconnect between employee needs and employer demands that there is an issue. Otherwise if everyone is on the same page wonderful. If not then perhaps changes need to be made.

 

[Arcadian]

I've worked from home for a long time, well before the pandemic. When asked who wanted to give up high level clearances (because you have to work in office to have them) I was like Me, Me, Me!!

This also meant I didn't have to take commuter flights to DC anymore (I lived near Boston so y'all know what that meant!). I work fine at home, in fact work better without all the disturbances of having to catch a flight twice a day.

There was some talk to reinstate me to a higher clearance, because so many folks have retired, though they retired at a much higher grade than I am

That would mean I would have to go back to extensive travel again to DC, which is not a commuter flight these days! I asked if that also came with a higher grade too. I heard that was a negative so I said no thanks.

Working from home can be harder for some. Personally I love it because I actually get more real work done.

 

[autumngems]

My hubby has been working from home since the pandemic as well, they just started going back to office 2 days a weeks as they now share office space with others.

 

[MissGotRocks]

The pandemic changed the workplace drastically. Some found they preferred working from home for various reasons. However, I think we all knew it wouldn’t last forever. If your employer wants you to return to life as it was, there really isn’t much you can do about it. I do think some companies have found the value of working from home. There may be positions now that are hired as such and that is a good alternative. However, I understand it is not easy to jump ship from a company or career. I worked all through the pandemic with few of those days from home. I found myself more distracted at home instead of enjoying it. We all differ though and I understand the frustration of time and money spent on commute, etc.

 

[jordyonbass]

My wife has been fortunate that she's been able to continue with WFH, it's made looking after Finn a lot easier.

Unfortunately my construction job cannot be done from home as I am also a Surveyor alongside being an Opal cutter and I've been mildly jealous of those who have WFH. I've had up to 3 hours commute each way for some jobs and it's been wearing down on me a lot lately since I'm also getting down onto the ground and back up again over 100 times a day. Leaving home at 4am and returning at 7pm for 8 hours of pay is not much fun at all. Spare a thought for us construction blokes

Once I open my own Surveying business I'm going to limit the travel to 1 hour or have a travel charge for anything further than that. I've spent way too much of my life behind the wheel.

 

[missy]

My wife has been fortunate that she's been able to continue with WFH, it's made looking after Finn a lot easier.

Unfortunately my construction job cannot be done from home as I am also a Surveyor alongside being an Opal cutter and I've been mildly jealous of those who have WFH. I've had up to 3 hours commute each way for some jobs and it's been wearing down on me a lot lately since I'm also getting down onto the ground and back up again over 100 times a day. Leaving home at 4am and returning at 7pm for 8 hours of pay is not much fun at all. Spare a thought for us construction blokes

Once I open my own Surveying business I'm going to limit the travel to 1 hour or have a travel charge for anything further than that. I've spent way too much of my life behind the wheel.

I hear you jordy. When I was working in my profession I sometimes thought gee wouldn't it be nice if I could WFH. That was not a possibility at that time (I was examining patients). But believe it or not that is now a possibility. It is unreal but you can get examined online. Is it as good as in person? No. I doubt that it will ever be as good as in person. But it is crazy that yes one can now receive an online exam. In any case I am glad I am not working in my profession now because so much has changed and IMO not all for the better