Working from home worth it?

[Moley]

I've worked from home solidly for the last seven years and intermittently for the seven years before that. I love the freedom it gives me and I'm happy to no longer be commuting into London daily - I've moved to South Hampshire in that time and so the commute isn't really feasible anymore anyway. Working for an American west-coast company helps too - my morning is free to do family things and be productive and in the afternoon I do all my conf calls and catch-ups.

I'm happy to travel to the office on occasion - it's good to see colleagues face-to-face sometimes - but I'm glad for my home office routine.

 

[Throrik]

• For sure you get less casual interaction WFH, meetings are very transactional (meet to discuss X, agree actions and disconnect abruptly) compared to physically chatting to people as you leave a meeting room. You don't overhear other people having conversations so you don't pick up on things, you can't just hear others talking about football or TV or whatever and just sidle your way into the conversation (although heavy public use of collaboration tools like Slack can help).

I almost wish our meetings were this transactional, the first half of all of our meetings generally tend to be everyone talking absolute nonsense about non-related stuff which is great for that social interaction, and then the second half talking absolute nonsense about the actual meeting which is less great.

 

[Haggisman]

The thread shows that it varies from person to person, you'll never know until you give it ago.

100% this.

My partner and I both started WFH full time when covid all kicked off in March 2020.

I love it, and would quite happily spend the rest of my working life doing so. I have a better working environment at home, it's more convenient, saves time & money on commuting, saves a fortune in childcare, and I still get to chat **** to my team on Discord if the mood takes. My partner on the other hand absolutely hated it - so much that she changed job about 6 months ago for a role that requires her to go back into the office.

If you're the kind of person who likes hustle and bustle and constant human interaction, then it's probably not for you. If you'd rather just get on with things in peace and quiet, and only interact with others on your own terms then it's great

 

[Worthy]

How much is "almost entirely" based from home? I live alone and I found being permanently WFH had isolated me, without me really realising it had. I changed jobs to go back to a job that had an office in Manchester that I could commute to a day or two a week, purely voluntarily. It's great to get in the office a day or two a week and chat a load of balls with people there.

You have to consider your personality; you know if you need social interaction and if you'll crawl into a shell being permanently WFH. Consider the target audience on here who you're asking, who on a tech forum will be weighted towards the more reclusive types, who permanently WFH would be perfect for.

 

[Freefaller]

100% this.

My partner and I both started WFH full time when covid all kicked off in March 2020.

I love it, and would quite happily spend the rest of my working life doing so. I have a better working environment at home, it's more convenient, saves time & money on commuting, saves a fortune in childcare, and I still get to chat **** to my team on Discord if the mood takes. My partner on the other hand absolutely hated it - so much that she changed job about 6 months ago for a role that requires her to go back into the office.

If you're the kind of person who likes hustle and bustle and constant human interaction, then it's probably not for you. If you'd rather just get on with things in peace and quiet, and only interact with others on your own terms then it's great

Indeed - I'm more aligned with your other half, but quite happy not to be 100% working from the office. 2-3 days a week is for me ideal, enough blend of head space, and hustle and bustle of spending time wtih people.

 

[SideWinder]

I enjoy working from home every now and again (no commute is lovely) but full time would kill me. Its very isolating.

Its why I am moving from my current role..well on the hunt.

Despite chats, their hiring strategy is more geared towards 'remote' (other countries) and the occasional meet up once every 4-5 months.

 

[Rids]

I think it largely depends on the role too, I've been fully remote since the start of the pandemic although have been known to go into the office for the odd social event.

My first role I felt incredibly isolated, I didn't have much of a team, there was massive pressure, I had no support above me and it didn't do my mental health any good at all.

The latest role is completely different, if I'm not deep in a spreadsheet then I'm on a Teams chat, sometimes we phone each other just for a chat, its like being in the office without the need to commute or wear trousers.

Despite being in a relationship for the duration of the first role, and single for the duration of the second, I feel far less lonely and isolated now than I did previously - and the flexibility and other benefits that WFH brings make it a no brainer for me.

 

[D.P.]

i work 4 days a week from home. TBH, the day in the office is not great as it is just less efficient with the chit-chat, more frequent interruptions.

 

[Bassmansam]

Hybrid is best, when i first started my current job in November it was full time wfh for the first few months which felt a bit isolating. Then it was once week until about a month ago where i've started going in twice a week. Perfect balance for me, bit of interaction and then its nice to be at home 3 days a week for the lie ins and home comforts.

 

[Housey]

I've prioritised home office over office for most of the last 20 years and I will never have it any other way. I like the mix, I can go into the office as and when I wish, I can work from where I want and I have a proper home office without disraction.

 

[Infidelus]

Personally, I love working from home and will never go back to a full-time office based job.

I spent a year working entirely from home in 2020/21 when I worked for the NHS, and not having to listen to people talking about what's going on in whatever rubbish soap opera/reality show/other crap program I don't care about was brilliant. If I wanted/needed to speak to someone it was as easy as calling them on Teams (either voice or video). I also got so much more done because I wasn't getting distracted.

I started a new job a few months ago and it's 4 days WFH/1 day in the office and, while I'd rather it was fully WFH, it's not too bad with just one day in the office as I'm only part-time now and don't have to sit in rush hour traffic and only go in on the quiet days where there are only a few people in my office. Again, it's exceptionally easy to speak to people on Teams if I really need to, but other than that it's just nice to be able to get on with the job without distraction.

 

[Noxia]

I have been approved condensed hours so now debating if I'll go in for all my days or 3, or maybe even 2 which is what most do.
It's nice having the choice without having to declare your whereabouts formally.

 

[ICDP]

I have worked from home since the start of the pandemic and once the forced reclusiveness ended, I found I would never want to go back to the old way.

• No more 1.5 hours of each day stuck in traffic wondering why you turn up to work, or home cranky and wound up. Hint it's stop start traffic and the ******** you meet on the road.
• No more fighting for the best parking spots when you get to work and find nowhere handy to park.
• The ability to walk my 9-year-old son to school on the nice days, the simple pleasure of him holding my hand. Knowing that in a few years he will grow out of holding daddy's hand. Even on the bad days when we take the car I can park up and walk him to the gates, no more need for a "jump out here kid, see you later". It's amazing what those 30-45 minutes back in the morning give me.
• A lot less stress because you no longer feel rushed and because of all of the above.

As for socialising I find I do fine, because I meet up with many of my colleagues for breakfast or lunch just to keep in touch. A few times a month and we find we have a lot more to talk about. I also find I have more time to arrange meeting up with family and friends due to no longer feeling burnt out. Or simply having the time to go get a nice coffee with my wife.

So from a perspective of mental health and stress reduction, it really has been a revelation. It is just a pity it took a worldwide pandemic for so many businesses to wake up to the possibilities. Prior to this everyone just accepted the old way as “normal”.

I manage a large team of people in an IT department and our productivity rose 25% because my team are happier and less stressed. I have been asked how I did this with the same resource and I reply remote working and back it up with data. Some more "traditional" managers simply dismiss this as woke nonsense and lament that "people just need to get back to the office and knuckle down".

Thankfully my manager can understand data and does not believe in the 80s/90s style of management where trust is a dirty word.

 

[Quartz]

Any advice would be appreciated, Thanks

Others have listed all the good sides so I won't repeat them, but there are things you need to consider.

Remember that if you are working purely from home you will not only be competing with local colleagues but also people from the rest of the world. If the job can be done from your home in the UK, it can be done from someone else's home in India far more cheaply.

Then there is professional - not personal - interaction. You will have much less of it. You won't have the same opportunity to impress the boss, for instance.

Why hasn't your manager been fired?

Don't do anything rash, like resign, before you've taken the other job.

The best of luck to you.

 

[ICDP]

How stuck in the 80s are you that you think the only way to impress the boss is by being in the same room as them?

The irony is "I am the boss" and can see at the glance of a dashboard or a spreadhseet who are the best workers. I can be just as impressed by someone over Skype/Teams/Zoom as I can by being in an office with them.

Or that becasue you remote work, your job is more at risk from some foreigner? Why even bring up the foreigner angle? it is probably more likely given time differences, that someone from far away Aberdeen might get your job. Because our work offers remote working, we are seeing more applicants from further afield but still in the UK. This is not a bad thing if it means we can widen the net to attract more talent/skills.

 

[Quartz]

Or that becasue you remote work, your job is more at risk from some foreigner? Why even bring up the foreigner angle?

I was repeating the head of a multinational company who said exactly that to me. You may not like it. You may think it's racist (it isn't). But it's true.

 

[OspreyO]

I was repeating the head of a multinational company who said exactly that to me. You may not like it. You may think it's racist (it isn't). But it's true.

Its half true.
You can always be replaced by someone even if you work in a corner shop. Doesn't really matter where you work.
Remote working has been a thing for decades, it didn't start with Covid. Just more people doing it now.
Outsourcing (especially over seas) isn't the panacea people think it is. They often lack the domain knowledge or have cultural difficulties. Especially if you doing it on the cheap.
Germanys regretting its energy outsourcing.

 

[OspreyO]

How stuck in the 80s are you that you think the only way to impress the boss is by being in the same room as them?

The irony is "I am the boss" and can see at the glance of a dashboard or a spreadhseet who are the best workers. I can be just as impressed by someone over Skype/Teams/Zoom as I can by being in an office with them.

Most places know the stats are better with remote working. However most places don't really care about the stats, they are entrenched in the dogma, that someone isn't working unless they can see them.

its not just older managers who think that. See a lot of new management with the same mindset and they usually don't look at productivity metrics. Been there got the T-Shirt.

 

[dave28]

my sister works from home and has done several jobs for the local council.

we live in a rural area so save so much fuel and wear on the car, plus she has only caught covid once and that was from her son who came back from holiday.

 

[Feek]

I've been working at home since May 2017 so a long time before Covid and I don't want to go back to being office based. I'm more productive at home, it saves me money and as far as I can see, the only downside is the lack of exercise I used to get when I was working in an office. I need to get back into the habit of going out for a walk at lunchtime.