Returning to an Office? The Pros and Cons and Why Working From Home is the Safest Bet
There has been a large movement lately, especially in enterprise businesses, to have employees return to the office. Amazon, IBM, and even Google have implemented these programs with the hopes of once again filling their cublicles with happy little ofice bees.
But really, what are the benefits of working in an office compared to working in a co-working space or from home? Are there benefits to anyone but the real estate agent? Let’s take a look.
Pros to Office Work
1. Face-to-face time
It’s tru that any team that can occupy a physical space in order to better get to know each other experiences some benefit. Whether it is simply easier to communicate in a shared physical space or that visual understanding of a person changes IRL, there is value to face-to-face interaction.
That said, this is of course possible with periodic get togethers, team meetups, and neutral offsites. Even if it’s only every six months, brigning the team toegher can resolve this issue and negate the need to demand people function in an office x number of hours per week.
2. Impresses Clients/Customers
When a client comes in and sees all the deligent engineers, product folks, content creators, and other folks working away, it gives them the impression that things are truly getting done. A tour of an office or a meetup that crosses from business hours can often show a prospective client this organization has what it takes to get things done.
Or at least this would be true if this was the 1940’s and we are all in physical manufacturing. Even if a client sees people buzzing around the office, anyone who has worked in an office knows this is about appearing busy, not actually getting things done. Office workers spend more time looking busy than performing. Even in 2015 it was known that remote workers were more productive than in office workers.
3. Free Lunch
Perks such as free lunches, keg-erators, ping-pong, relaxation rooms, and everything across the board (JUST COME INTO THE OFFICE) are always ways to influence people to work in the office. If anything this is an interuption to productivity and in generatl these things are implemented poorly and just distract most people. And, as a wise sci-fi author often said, TANSTAAFL.
Cons to Office Work
1. Remember the Pandemic?
The number of coughs, sneezes, general exhales, and germ-sharing activity that goes on in an office is off the charts. Having just been through a pandemic, many people better understand the dangers of large gatherings of people, but required office work does not account for that.
If a worker gets sick and they work from home, they will probvably endeavor to get things done, even when mildly to moderately ill. Working in an office, you are left with a choice - work sick and potentially infect others or don’t work at all. That will cause productivity to suffer.
2. Happier Employees
With no paying for commute costs, no worrying about who is brining what disease into the office, and sitting in a comfortable, work-dedicated area with the amenities of home mean people who work remote are likely to be happier, not to mention more well-rested, nmore likely to be ready to function and get things done.
Not everyone is lucky enough to have a dedicated office, but gnerally, there are co-working facilities to combat this and everyone should be able to manage having some space to take meetings and work. This allows for better work-life balance and better productivity - which is really what all this is about.
3. Cost Efficiency
I live in the state of New York and also work in Manhattan. I pay about $300 a month to go into the city to work. Additionally, it costs the company for my commute as they are required to provide some funds. So my salary goes up.
I need power and a place to sit in the office in Manhattan. All that costs money. Money I’d rather get paid than see go pointlessly out the window as I see at my desk with headphones, praying the executives who are loudly walking about pretending to be adding value won’t bother me or my team.
What’s the point? Cut out the rent, the company saves money. Let go of the sunk cost fallacy and let people work in ways they see fit. If you prefer work from home, let the people work from home.
Companies will continue to push for the old ways - as things grow they often get rooted and stagnate. The way we work need to change just as the work we do is changing. Long gone are the days of many people sitting on machines performing the same repetitive tasks - why emmulate that simply because you rent a place downtown?
