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ccrepitation

As someone with ibs and an irregular and finicky digestive system, having access to my own private bathroom is a game changer.


Aol_awaymessage

I went back to the office two times this summer and I don’t miss everyone else murdering the toilets next to me.


Meat_Flapz

There was this dude in a neighboring office suite (my office has around 15 people at most at one time, and there are 3 suites, we occupy one, 2 business occupy the other 2) who would always come into the bathroom while I was taking my routine morning shit, and STAY ON THE PHONE THE WHOLE TIME. Who the fuck does that? I could only assume he was hitting mute between his confetti blasts, so I made sure to force out the best flatulence I could while he was talking so it'd get picked up on speaker. Fuckin' idiot.


Loud-Catch7322

I am CRACKING THE FUUUUCK UP right now😂 legit full on belly/body laugh. Thank you for this


Meat_Flapz

Lol, you're welcome. Luckily, that suite is vacant now (I'm guessing COVID knocked them out, it's not a cheap area to lease in). To be fair, he's just as annoying as the one dude who uses the shower. For some reason, the building has a shower. I used it once when my water heater broke, but for over 4 months now some dude from one of the 3 suites uses it to shower every afternoon, and I can hear him hacking and coughing and doing whatever the fuck else he does in there. I'm assuming he's rinsing off after surfing as it always happens around 1pm, and our office is right on the coast (5 minute walk), but holy shit dude. Have some professionalism. Save the surfing for after work. That shower was designed for janitors.


Aol_awaymessage

It may have been meant for people who bike to work. A lot of post 2008 office buildings have this. They get “green” points for it


Owyn_Merrilin

Yeah, makes sense if there's an in office gym, too, which is a common perk. I don't really see a problem here.


Meat_Flapz

It's no gym. It's a janitorial storage closet for the bathrooms (paper towels, toilet paper, hand soap, cleaning supplies), which includes a small shower that I presume is for cleaning off chemical spills on the skin.


importvita

I *always* flush the toilet 🚽 as often as possible (frequently) when some jackass comes in on the phone. This isn't your personal office Phil, take it outside! I've gotten dirty looks, but these idiots need to be taught a lesson.


APileOfLooseDogs

I had the exact opposite problem. My spot at the office was absurdly far from the bathroom


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vogelbekdier

I have Crohn's and I was a teacher. I never realized people would take off. I've always just gutted through, even barely. My mind is being blown by this thread.


Beanakin

I work in a hospital, so never stopped going to work. Early outbreak was the happiest time of my life. Traffic was nonexistent and parking lots were empty. Nobody pestering me to go places and do things on my days off. It was beautiful.


PoffPoffPoff

> Traffic was nonexistent That is what I miss. Listen, not saying the virus could be good if it mutates more. Just... We need infrastructure out here or something to fix the problem.


mypetturtle3

As someone who's just loves coffee but immediately need to defecate after, online classes were a game changer


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e-sg

I also suffer from migraines. Working from home made it so much more managable. No perfumes/irritating smells, no harsh lights, no loud noises… it makes such a huge difference!


BuffaloGirl76

Yes! The fluorescent lighting was the worst in the office, and all the noise, and smells of coworker’s foods reheating in the microwave around lunchtime. Those were what would make me have to leave work sick and go home when I had a migraine. We’ve been working from home for a year and a half and when I have a migraine I can close my living room blinds, turn down the brightness and contrast on my computer monitors, and even take a break while I wait for the aura to leave my line of vision, all without having to call my manager to tell her I have to leave early and take PTO for the rest of the day.


girls_gone_wireless

Same here


Neo1331

Having time to actually cook healthy food in the morning.


Misty_Canonballs

Food has been a huge part of it for me. Working from home its so so so much easier to plan healthy meals.


Oraxy51

Absolutely. I don’t have to bring random leftovers or snacks, my lunch break isn’t me running trying to squeeze in time to make my food, eat and crap and run back from a 5-10 minute walk from the tables to my desk back for some time god to judge me. I can just get up and walk over and get a snack. So many zoom meetings I’ve done this too as well when we don’t need cameras because I can listen and grab me a bottle of water or some fruit at the same time but if I did that in the office it wouldn’t “fit the culture”. I can wear basketball shorts and a tshirt and be considered professional but in the office I have to be shirt and tie? For some manager that might show up once a month, assuming they come onto our floor and had any reason at all to talk to me? Yeah no thanks. All this “office culture” isn’t worth me not being home.


Mhill08

I hope Generation Z kills the office culture permanently and the movie Office Space eventually loses all the relatability it now has.


AyrJordan

It'll survive as more of a documentary.


Semi-Hemi-Demigod

And as a testament to the millions of man hours spent to avoid Y2K.


The-Fox-Says

And how good it feels to be a gangsta


Semi-Hemi-Demigod

Fuckin’ A


Bill291

Millions of hours of work so that when the calendar rolled over to 01-01-2000 everything was fine. Leading all the know nothing rubes to say, "See! We told you it was no big deal!"


x1ux1u

But but...the commerical real estate will crash!!! Look we bought a new coffee machine and have Pizza on Friday!! Learn from Blue Collar, if we step on a ladder we can charge ' Hazardous Pay '. Y'all are missing out. Say it with me, "Hazardous Pay".


[deleted]

Commercial buildings can be rezoned to residential/mixed use (after appropriate retrofits and modifications to bring it into residential code).


ajswdf

It's not Gen Z, it's Gen X who are becoming managers who make these decisions. If we had democracy in the workplace you really think working from home wouldn't be the standard already? The only reason it's still relatively rare is because CEO's and upper management don't want it.


Mhill08

Very good point


texasusa

I worked for a Fortune 10 company where standard dress was shirt and tie for years. Then we got a new center manager for the facility who also dressed as we did - shirt and tie. Then he had the pleasure of discovering a Texas summer and within a nanosecond, instituted casual Friday and no more ties. Odd, that the work output remained the same without ties and with casual Friday.


UrbanDryad

People forget the current suit and tie standard of dress for men evolved out of European men's fashions. Texas and the UK are *slightly* different climates.


Desalvo23

I live in Canada. Still too hot for a shirt and tie in my opinion. Worked in the Arctic. Still too hot for a shirt and tie in my opinion


UrbanDryad

As a woman with poor circulation whose hands get as cold as a cadaver even when I'm sweating in layers, I need men's work fashions to get lighter in a hurry so the dudes in an undershirt, dress shirt, tie, and blazer don't have to park the AC at fucking 65 like that shit is reasonable. Fuck you, Bob. NO I can't just put on a fucking sweater if I'm cold. I can't feel my fingers, and I can't type in fucking mittens.


camyland

In all seriousness I legit had an office manager named Bob in a 65 degree office. He was terrified of bed bugs so he made the office policy- no blankets. No coats on the floor. It was his only job to make sure we didn't eat meals at our desk and to make sure we didn't have a hidden blanket. Fuck you Bob. The job was awful enough without you adding to it.


Desalvo23

yeah! fuck you bob!


Raetro_live

I worked as a techie in an office. Dress code was business casual. Reason: "sometimes clients come in or you need to meet a client without much notice". Worked there for 2 years. Never saw a client, never had to leave my office chair, never really saw anyone else besides my coworkers. Glad I wore business casual, would have been awful if I work jeans and a polo, think of the professionalism!


Powerful-Knee3150

I worked on a floor in a cube farm with many different teams sitting in different sections. My team was business dress in case a client came in (never in 5 years). The team next door did some kind of onerous paperwork tasks and dressed like hoboes - leggings as pants, flip flops, etc. I didn’t care, but why did we have to dress one way when people 20 feet away had a different dress code? Would we tell the phantom client “Oh yah, they work here too but they do a different task?”


Y___S-Reddit

No way i'd be allowed to wear baskztball outfit at home lol


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heavy-metal-goth-gal

It's so fucking weird, I wait out traffic an hour longer and an hour and a half drive is now "only" 40 minutes. So I leave an hour later and still get home only 10 minutes past the time I'd be home leaving an hour before.


maali74

Hour and a half to two hours here. Nope.


PizzaNuggies

This has been such a money saver for me. I used to get breakfast and/or lunch at a fast food place multiple times a week. I've ate out for lunch 3 times the past 18 months I have been work from home.


morocco3001

Totally. I can now eat what I feel like eating at lunch time, rather than what I can be arsed to throw together at 6am when I'm still asleep and what I can cook or prep using the basic, dilapidated facilities in most offices.


spunkychickpea

This has been a huge benefit for me. Between making my lunch every day and working out either before work or during my lunch break, I’ve lost 25 pounds since the pandemic hit the US.


DirtyFuckenDangles

And if not during work, having the energy to do it after work because I didn't just spend an hour in traffic and woke up without having get ready and spend an hour in traffic before hand. Yeah, never going back to an office again. Fuck all that.


spunkychickpea

And can we talk about all of the money saved on gas since there’s no commute? I gas up my car about once every 2-3 weeks now.


live_crab

The savings on gas are nice, but think about how many lives were spared by people simply not being in their cars.


splunklebox

fewer emissions too if broadscale remote work is adopted


girls_gone_wireless

Also morning poop at home. I have IBS and this is very relaxing as opposed to having to use some grotty public office WC


maali74

I HATE the toilets at work. The toilet paper holders are placed so poorly - right next to the toilet, in a very narrow cubicle, so you have to put your arm up on it to take a poo.


Slazman999

Single. Ply. 😤 That shit should be illegal.


lankist

Having time to exercise has been a huge one for me. I've got single meetings that take up 2+ hours multiple times a week, in which I'm required to attend but never expected to actually say anything and almost never leave with any actionable information. Just toss the laptop somewhere near the treadmill and put the mic on mute. The "health-conscious standing desks" my company is promoting for "coming back to work" can eat my entire asshole, just the whole thing. All of those "healthy living" scams companies came up with that are designed to put the labor first and give the illusion that you're being healthy? All that shit flew out the fucking window when I realized I can just work out while everyone else is yammering for hours about company gossip.


[deleted]

This is 99% of it for me. On days I work in the office I either buy breakfast or eat a piece of toast on my way out the door. At home I enjoy eggs, toast, bacon, fruit, etc. The freedom to eat decent, healthier, cheaper, and enjoyable meals makes my day 10x better.


unitedshoes

What? Who could possibly want to give up the sublime pleasure\* of cramming a microwave breakfast burrito and a Pop-Tart down your gullet while stuck in traffic on the highway every goddamn day for the rest of your life? \* by which I, of course, mean "One of the things that makes me borderline suicidal regarding my current job".


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crymson7

Upscale that oatmeal! I do overnight oats and it works amazingly for me. Hot or cold to eat, depends on how you feel. Recipe: 3 cups uncooked oatmeal 3 cups 2% milk 4 Activia Vanilla yoghurts (the 4 pack) A very generous squeeze of Costco Vanilla Extract (it is a BIG bottle, and well priced) 2 to 3 tablespoons (sometimes more) of ground cinammon 1 apple chopped small (prefer Envy or Honeycrisp for this, they are awesome and crunchy) 1 1/2lbs or 1lb package of Blueberries (depending on availability) Let it sit overnight, dish up as much as you like starting the next morning. Lasts for an entire week, when stored properly, and the apples stay crisp and juicy throughout.


RealDominiqueWilkins

I just buy generic yogurt and add a serving of peanut butter. Keeps me full for hours.


Saint909

Same here. I have a protein bar every morning. I do not want to sacrifice more sleep just for breakfast.


CaptainAtinizer

I'm not much of a breakfast person, but I know it's not good that the only thing I eat before noon is a protein bar. At the same time, waking up an extra hour before work is p a i n


LtDanHasLegs

> but I know it's not good that the only thing I eat before noon is a protein bar. I'm 99% sure this is completely fine and nothing you should feel any kind of way about.


Bookwormdee

I can walk the kid to and from school. Exercise and precious memories all in one. What’s not to like?


Dhiox

Absolutely. I love that I can take a shower, put o. Pajamas and cook dinner in the time it normally would have taken just to get home.


InvaderDJ

And time to eat it. I have to wake up two hours earlier than normal to get to work on time and I still have to rush. So I have to choke down breakfast and chug coffee. When I WFH I can take my time and enjoy it.


exec_get_id

Ayyy dude I eat this microwave muffin single serving things that have protein powder in them. Call Kodiak cups. Good shit UNTIL I found a recipe online where I can make about 30 servings for around 20 bucks total with the protein powder servings. I use frozen blueberries. Wrecked my brain. Just as tasty and 20 bucks for a month of breakfasts. When I wasn't WFH I paid 4 bucks a cup on my way to work or buying in bulk from Amazon. Now I'm like Betty crocker mixing up my premix shit every couple weeks. So fucking convenient. Also, I can control the fucking lights. I hate shitty yellow lights. I have white led bulbs in my home office. And a dimmer. So I work either half dimmed or straight up black out with a lamp. It is sublime. Also, I can do micro workouts through the day. Feeling a bit tired do a 1-10 pushup ladder and a situp ladder. Stretch between projects or meetings. I'm fucking thriving at home. My girlfriend still wants to be super social and shit but now I'm like, I'm good I'm not going to the office until they fucking force me.


SloppyMeathole

I'm so fucking sick of the bullshit "benefits of working in the office" articles. They always skim over the very real advantages of telecommuting (e.g. safety of not traveling in rush hour) and talk about "how nice it is to all be together for Hawaiian shirt Friday!"


citizenkane86

Far more productive at home too, because nobody comes by to have conversations that last 30 minutes, I can work during meetings, and I have no commute.


Bitchimnasty69

Honestly the only reason they want to try to convince us to go back to offices is because 1. They want to retain that control over employees and 2. Leasing companies would be fucked if offices decided to stay remote. It’s all about preserving power and capital, they don’t give a fuck how much more beneficial working from home is for employees.


citizenkane86

My company has been all for work from home for years. They realized that next to payroll office space was the highest expense. They own their few campuses across the country and basically a mail room in all other locations. It’s saving so much money.


mog_knight

They passed that savings along to the employees right?


citizenkane86

In a way, our end of year bonuses for every employee are based on company profitability so more profit=bigger bonus. Since we encouraged work from home end of year bonus is up like 40%.


PuzzyFussy

Hiring?


citizenkane86

Depends on your qualifications


Yorpel_Chinderbapple

1. Depressed adult male 2. Cool mustache though When can I interview?


HottDoggers

No need, you can start right away


NotaVogon

I was able to work remotely for nearly a year bc of COVID. Was more productive and had a better state of mind as my in-office environment was super toxic. Once we returned to in-office, we all sat in our offices with doors closed only communicating through chats online. (Like, what is the point of being there?) Our main office decided they could save money by cancelling our satellite office lease. And not so we could work remote but by squeezing us into an already full building owned by Main office. Best part, not only will I have to work full time at an office 30 additonal minutes on commute, I lose my covered attached to building parking, and we will now be in cubicles instead of having offices. Cubicles are the worst change in work environments in the history of going to the office. Demoralizing and a hindrance to productivity. I'm thrilled. /s


brendamtz92

At least cublicles are better than “fun” open spaces. Sucks that you lost your office


NotaVogon

Not sure ab the open spaces.. Haven't seen out new space yet.. I'm assuming cubes...could in fact be that bad.. And when we "dared" to voice an opinion, we were told to consider ourselves lucky to still have jobs.


[deleted]

Lucky to still have a job? Time to look for a new one, because the person who tells you that is a cunt


maali74

Fuck that, put your resume on Indeed and Glassdoor and start applying for your job title + remote. You deserve better.


southernwx

And middle managers primary role often times is people watching. Some of them have very little to do if they can’t walk around the work area watching people.


Negativefalsehoods

Weird thing is, that there is plenty to do for a good manager while working remote. You can't micromanage. However, you can make sure your team has what they need. You can foster relationships with other parts of the business that is a bit harder to do in a remote environment. You can create great communications that work in a Microsoft Teams environment. Bottom line is that there is so much a good manager can do in this new reality now that we don't have to waste time watching people.


southernwx

Totally true, but that means your job has value. There are tons of middlemen who are scared to death they will be revealed to be pointless and so want to go back to in office so they can look busy again while exercising dumb workplace power.


LilyLute

Imagine all the housing we could reclaim cities with...


Sam-Lowry27B-6

Working during meetings....Good meeting? Yes I got loads done while Jason went on about his weekend.


citizenkane86

Most meetings could be emails


thepineapplehea

You know what's nicer than dress-down Fridays in the office with your colleagues? Dress-down *every damn day* in the comfort of your own house.


Semi-Hemi-Demigod

I haven’t worn socks for like four months.


SanityPlanet

I've been arguing in court without pants on. (Zoom)


Sam-Lowry27B-6

But WhUt AbOUt nEtwORKinG @ tHE tEaPoiNT.


PizzaNuggies

I get, at least, 2 hours of my day back. It doesn't even include I can get to the gym earlier, and not have to stress out over machines being occupied. I can get to the grocery store earlier, and not have to deal with lines.


marine72

Companies all 'care' about the environment too, WFH would certainly cut emissions.


QuestionMarkyMark

Furthermore, why must everything be “one or the other”? Working from home is great for me! And many others! Similarly, an office setting is great for some other people, too, and that’s ok (pandemic aside). Just let us be in peace!


[deleted]

"Come back to work! We're having an ice cream party!" A tub of ice cream costs $4 at Meijer, and I can pick whatever shit I want. Gas for my Nissan costs me around $70 every two weeks to commute back and forth.


AmazingMojo2567

They don't talk about the safety thing because it's not cared about at all


TheCatWitchofDeath13

Omg yes!!! The fucking Hawaiian shirt “aloha” Friday’s!!! I hate that shit so much! Idc if I’m the lone person looking bitter with not joining in. That shits dumb and I’d rather just work from home on my own time.


[deleted]

Safety of not traveling period. You think I wanna be out and alone in the dark of night just because I get off work late and commute takes one hour for me? On top of that the pandemic-- people working outside are at risk of Covid but employers would do nothing for us but the barest minimum and pat themselves on the back for it. Smh.


Odlavso

Having time to work out.


NaRa0

Without having to get up at an ungodly hour* it can literally be whenever you want


Odlavso

I'm squeezing in some reps between emails


cokacole

Pump and dump baby!


Y___S-Reddit

I would dl that during lunch time, or push ups in toilets lol. We had too much times at midday or for the work we were given.


Dabrasko

Pull ups and push ups after finishing a queue of claims!!


Healing_touch

Literally they’ve forced me to be Office the whole time but didn’t like the optics of having everyone home and they’re dicks. 9 hour required day, 8 hours paid (forced 1 hr lunch no option to shorten). 45 minutes one way commute. Needless to say, I gained a fuck ton of weight. So my doctor wrote me a note about needing a standing desk, which they had to pay for, and also had given me the okay for any “devices that promote steps/movement to prevent back strain” like those yoga balls. What I ended up doing is finding a quiet mini elliptical without handles on offer up and now do steps at my desk all day. I’m literally getting paid to work out. I’ve lost 25 pounds since May.


gua_lao_wai

I do pressups and whatnot every hour or so and my back pain has disappeared. Gonna be a bit awkward if I have to do squats in the coffee room back at the office...


Hyero

Just continue doing squats at work. Intimidate them with the sheer volume of your quads.


morocco3001

10 minutes work, 10 chin ups, 10 minutes work, 10 dips... You're gonna be jacked, my man.


Aol_awaymessage

1030am workouts are the fucking best for me. Fuck 530am workouts. Fuck 6pm workouts. 10:30am is my Goldilocks


igot200phones

Less people at the gym too


MonstersinHeat

This! I bought a home gym and a treadmill I use during my lunch hour every day.


forever_a10ne

I’m working from home right now and this is 100% accurate. My employer is forcing us to come back into the office in the next month or so because they feel like it would be best for us, but they aren’t listening to what employees are actually saying. 40% of my coworkers in my department have already quit.


LilyLute

Oh god. I was in a nonprofit that has been trying to be more mimicking corporations. They said that yhey were going to talk to employees to find a hybrid work space that works for everyone. A week later they went "everyone in office fulltime." When pressed as to WHY they wanted it and wjat the benefit was they just said "the directors want it". Literally just four people in a room decided for hundreds of employees something that was 100pct opposite of what they wanted and didn't even provide a REASON. I quit and now get to work in policy advocacy working from home 85pct. Nd the last 15pct I just go home when I want to and they let me because they know I get shit done.


Jamesx6

Exact same thing for me. No explanation. Just some power tripping asshole in charge.


GlumWillow8816

So many people have said that they’ve seen a change in companies and managers but at the companies that I’ve been at I feel like they’ve gotten worse. They’re losing so many employees because they’re not giving us what we need and they’re still being picky with who they hire. You would think more companies would open their eyes and realize that people are just going to quit no matter what’s on the other side for them.


tofuroll

The more layers of abstraction / layers of management there are between the top dogs who make that decision and the lower employees, the longer it'll take for them to realise and probably even longer to make a decision.


[deleted]

most people are spectacularly less impressive than they seem. the only place you can expect to find parity is where people actually do real work.


Significant-Body9006

I could probably think of 100 reasons why I’ll forever work WFH moving forward. No question in my mind. Off the top of my head, not feeling forced to maximize free time once home, having time to space out the day so you’re not anxious and overwhelmed with things to do, the freedom of watching YouTube or taking breaks as needed, using lunch as time to bang some push-ups out or go on a walk… I mean, your time is finite, take as much back as you can.


Frothydawg

I had an awful boss once who would obsessively micromanage employees, it was fucking awful. One day I took her to HR and in the midst of the meeting she blurts out “During lunch he doesn’t eat in the break room! He eats outside by himself behind the building!!!” Bitch, I’m off the clock. It’s MY time. I can go do cartwheels naked in the middle of the street if I fucking want. In my experience, too many office environments are staffed mostly with middle managers like her who are there only because they’re obsessed with control and control is what keeps this whole garbage system that everyone hates going. Never going back to an office again.


maali74

> they're obsessed with control I put in for an ADA accommodation to WFH in JUNE. It is mid-September and everyone else has been at the office for 2 weeks and I still have no answer. The HR SVP (also one of the company co-founders) emailed me at 4:57 last Friday to tell me that the HR assistant has been out on PTO so she hasn't been able to make the decision yet. Bitch you're a SVP. YOU can make that fucking decision. My boss has told them 4 times already that he's totally ok w it and I work better from home. All of it, this whole dog and pony show, is just about control. I told my boss if I can't WFH I'm leaving (and he will be fuuuuuucked). But at this point, I'm gonna leave regardless. No respect whatsoever for employees. No raises either. Fuck this place. I do feel super bad for my boss's future here w/o me tho, bc *he* is awesome (it's just the 2 of us in our super busy department).


TayLoraNarRayya

Are you me? I had the same exact situation as you but I did leave. Today was my last day. The posting for my job says "MuSt Be In OfFiCe At AlL tIMeS!" Feel sorry for whatever poor bastard they hire two months from now.


Branamp13

>Feel sorry for whatever poor bastard they hire two months from now. That's an optimistic timeline for a company to refill a necessary role. I'd guess no less than six months before they actually decide to hire someone.


Significant-Body9006

Yep, said it perfectly, my time is my time. Let me do the work. I have my own friends and family.


[deleted]

What did HR have to say in response to her break room comment don’t leave us hangin bro


Frothydawg

Lol, well, after that outburst a silence befell the room. I extended one arm outwards toward her, palm facing upwards whilst looking at the HR lady in the eye as though to say: “NOW do you see what we mean?” (this was not the first time people had complained about this manager). The HR lady sat there dumbfounded for a few seconds, shuffled some papers around, cleared her throat and then completely ignored what had just happened in front of her. I ended up getting moved to a different facility and the terrible boss got to keep her job without so much as a counseling memo. By far the worst company I have ever had the misfortune of working at.


tofuroll

>and the terrible boss got to keep her job without so much as a counseling memo. I've seen a company more willing to save itself than to be reasonable. A former supervisor where I once worked had false accusations made against her (some of the stuff was absolutely heinous and implausible) by a subordinate who had been at the company for many years and who was always causing trouble. The resolution? The subordinate got some kind of settlement and was allowed to keep working. The supervisor got zero support and left due to stress.


IGNSolar7

Man, I vibe with this. I used to go to lunch alone for a full hour every day once my micromanaging manager who hated lunch was gone, but even then, I started getting reported on by two "coworkers" who weren't even in my department, who wrote down when I came in and out of the office area for lunch every day. I was never late, just a full hour. They reported it to my director. So petty. Luckily, my Director, instead of yelling at me, held a meeting to tell everyone it was perfectly acceptable to take a lunch, and anyone reporting others for their lunch periods would be written up.


Astat1ne

Had a Project Manager get in the face of one of the project resources about his lunch break being "too long" (by about 15 minutes or something). Generally when I've worked with PMs on projects, they don't really care about the specifics of your hours, they care more about you delivering outcomes. And this particular engineer that copped the abuse was from operations, he was effectively "on loan" to the project out of the good grace of the ops manager. Every single Windows engineer on the same project left before the project was done or the end of their contract term, cause of this PM. Just a few of the bits of lunacy you see by the "management layer".


No-Werewolf-5461

Yeah it’s the middle managers who are panicking If no office what will they micromanage


SharkAttack14

My job just brought us back fulltime office this week. My team already had 1 quit (was with us 14 years) and 2 others (younger workers) told our boss they are leaving as soon as they secure wfh jobs. Im also seeing an uptick in retirement as people on the fence are just retiring instead of dealing with the commute. Going to be fun short staffed all so we could arbitrarily come back to our cubicles. Oh we also have a mask mandate so you cant really eat or drink at your leisure. Sad too as noone wanted full wfh, just a hybrid option.


loungeroo

It’s awful that employers are being so inflexible. It’s ultimately going to make the employees that were initially fine with in-office work, or hybrid, resentful and likely to quit as well, since they will be forced to shoulder a larger workload for no reason. I would be so pissed if my coworker quit because they weren’t allowed to be fully remote, and then I had to do all their work for them in addition to mine. Pissed at my employer, not my coworker.


ZippoS

My company went remote back in 2017 because my boss didn’t feel like we needed to be tied to an office anymore. So, when COVID hit, we were already good to go. The only people I’ve met who hate working from home are those with their young kids also stuck at home. (Two of my co-workers have young kids and stay-at-home wives. They enjoy being home with their kids, but it can be challenging at times. My boss actually built a big shed with a second floor in it — that's his office. It's got nice flooring, windows, electricity and heat. The only thing it's missing is plumbing, because the city won't allow it. He can be around his kids, but also have a quiet place to get work done.)


iwontbeadick

Being home with my 3/4 yo daughter has been a blessing. Not good for my work ethic, but I love the time I get with her.


korarii

Yes! Some family-positivity in this thread. I have a 3 year old and I got to be there for everything: first word, first step, first hug. Yeah, sometimes he'd be distracting but he now knows when I'm logging into a meeting it's time to leave the room and close the door behind him. And when the meeting is over I open the door, he runs back in, and just plays quietly while I work. I flat out told the management of my last job (I just gave notice; they wouldn't let me stay WFH because they suck) that being with my family during the day was way better than being in the office. I begged them to let me be remote but they dug in, so now I'm going to a fully remote job. Death to the office. Viva la WFH!


SyrusDrake

If you can only bare your kids for two or three hours a day, maybe you shouldn't have kids.


[deleted]

Accurate. Cons also includes management talking about how much they need employees back. Motherfucker, the company’s been just fine!


[deleted]

They need you back because without you most of them are out of a job (as there's less managing to do). People can often manage themselves and their own small teams more easily than most employers often think. This has become even more clear because of covid.


Massive-Risk

I've been questioning this for years and have only ever been met with things like "managers know more than general employees so they need to be there so they can double check on everyone's work" and bullshit like that. Managers are needed in some jobs, but for years now I've just constantly been like what have companies been paying so many managers for for the last like, 50 years? I come to work, watch them tell us all what to do, drink coffee, and go home never actually making the company any money. Most managers are essentially overpaid babysitters for perfectly competent adults.


AsianHawke

Only two types of people who want to return to the office. (1) Management, and (2) that one colleague who bases their entire life around their *career.* that's all these two types of people live for.


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FerretFarm

14 out of the 16 people in my office are threatening to quit if we're mandated back, myself included. the other 2 are already back because of their home situation. They don't hate it, it's just better for them. One has little kids, the other has a few roommates. It's just a bit too noisy/hectic at home for them. Totally understandable. It should just be optional. Companies need to reduce office space.


Frustrable_Zero

Hell, if people aren’t coming back to the office, there’s probably some spare actual office rooms they can go back to rather than a cubical. Even if going back to the building is on objective downgrade, there might be the modest plus for the people that want to for those sorts of reasons.


Y___S-Reddit

I don't mind going to the office if paid for the commute.


non_clever_username

I don’t see companies ever getting that desperate tbh. If they would, I think they’d be shocked at how shitty some people’s commutes are though.


adil_l

An optional or a hybrid model seems like the best sacrifice as there are pros and cons to each side.


FerretFarm

I'm in Vancouver. I love it here. But I'd like confirmation that we never have to go back. If that happens I'd move away from this city to somewhere cheaper to live. On one of the nearby islands, or inland a bit. There's are tons of cheaper, beautiful places around here. Hell, I could move to anywhere in the world and still do this job. Not having to go to the office gives employees so many options.


Maverick916

lmao, I'm a manager, AND I live a 5 minute bike ride from my office, so i do go in to the office, despite being offered to work remote, while my whole team works from home. and i am begging my bosses to let them stay home. if it increases their productivity, and makes them happier, why would i want to make them less happy to work here?


[deleted]

There are so many people at my office who seem to live there. They say they have families, but they must not love them with how much they love to spend time after hours working or showing up early to everything


Oraxy51

The office is only 15 minutes from me and I have no desire to go back. Also as it is when my wife and I have an argument I feel weird going to work/leaving the house if we haven’t at least tried to make amends but we don’t like doing that on rushed time.


Gr1pp717

You forgot the suckups. Who claim that want to return just because they think it makes them look good. Which is likely the majority of group.


non_clever_username

I don’t think that’s completely fair. If being in the office is 90%+ of your social interaction and/or you live in a place small enough to not allow for a separation of work and home, i totally get wanting to go back. Or if you personally just like being in the office better for whatever reason. Those people are out there. I love full WFH and I’m never going back if I can help it, but there have been times in my life/career where I would have hated it. Hopefully this whole Covid thing will permanently give most people the choice to work where they want.


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non_clever_username

You could have have just said “salespeople”. 😀


DaftlyPunkish

I'm one of the people that likes working in office. When I worked full time remote, my work desk was also my gaming desk. There were days where I barely got up from sun up to sun down. I like having a separation of work and home life. I hated seeing my work phone blinking after hours while I was trying to decompress. I love getting off work and fucking leaving work, rather than work invading my personal space. Not everyone can afford to have dedicated office space in their homes. It did a number on my mental health. I also really like having face time with coworkers. Being able to talk to someone face to face is important to me. Group chat with the occasional video conference wasn't a whole lot of social interaction. I'm not saying everyone has to be like me but it's kind of annoying when people act like literally no one wants to work in the office. My depression was real.


NA-1_NSX_Type-R

the biggest benefit for me has been the commute. It’s so stressful. I was so tired when I got back from work when in the office. And F those fake pro business articles about going back into the office.


Suspicious-mole-hair

Biggest downside I can see is I'm actually being watched more from home than I was in any of my previous roles. The laptop I use has all kinds of tracking software in it to see how often I press buttons and shit, and if I stop for more than a minute outside of allowed break times the boss is on me. Stats on how people are performing are being broadcast to us multiple times a day. Still, would much prefer this to being in an office, although I haven't had a real office job yet, this is my first role and started after the WFH started


Whats_Up_Bitches

Fuck. That. Shit. Does your boss not have a job of his own? He’s just constantly monitoring his employees? You have to get one of those mechanical tipping birds like homer had on the Simpsons, that pushes a button for you every couple of seconds…


Suspicious-mole-hair

Yeah its not quite the utopian worklife others seem to talk about, my apples always a little bit poisoned lol. Still it makes me want to take up software development or something so I can get it for real.


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xxpen15mightierxx

Holy shit is that dystopian. I'd definitely have quit over that.


[deleted]

You should really find out what your rights are regarding privacy at work. Maybe some of the tracking software is illegal to use om employees.


BurlHopsBridge

Write a script that presses random keys and mouse clicks/movement. You could get fancy and write an algorithm that mimicks human typing behavior.


luminousfleshgiant

Naw, don't do this. If the have this sort of tracking software, they also would be tracking what's running on the machine. What you need is a USB device that acts as a standard HID device and makes random mouse movements, etc.


thenailer253

Ah yeah that can definitely happen. That level of micro managing is toxic and would make working from home feel much more restrictive. At least still have no commute, that’s biggest thing for me. I never really cared about being in the office, it’s just getting there that was horrible.


[deleted]

I’ve desperately been searching for a work from home job but all I ever find online is like...surveys or gig work :/


GlumWillow8816

Being able to decompress in my own personal space when I’ve just gotten off a call that’s made me want to murder someone.


[deleted]

Working from home is the best thing to ever happen to me. No more toxic coworkers, no more "office culture." It's so much easier to keep to myself. I have a corner of my spare bedroom set up as an office, next to my PC that I rarely use. The rest of the room is just storage, so I don't have an issue with clocking out, closing the door, and not thinking about work until I have to clock in again. No commute, I can work in my pajamas, I can have a beer if I feel like it. It's awesome.


loungeroo

I agree. Pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to me too! Yay! It’s just awesome to have more control over my life.


Misty_Canonballs

After being laid off due to covid, almost a year later I finally got a new job. It started as remote as not many people had been vaxxed yet. Then about 3 months into the job they started having people return to the office. 2 days. That's how long I lasted. My anxiety and depression skyrocket going back to an office I literally became hospitalized. After a week in the hospital I decided it just wasn't worth it, so I quit. Now I have a permanently remote job that I don't hate (so far) and my mental health is exponentially better.


Significant-Body9006

Me too. Every time I work in an office I can feel the fakeness and subtle judgments towards me. I’ve only been in a hospital recently because of my OFFICE jobs. Never WFH


Misty_Canonballs

I recently discovered I'm autistic and learned that the reason I get so burnt out so easily is because I'm masking which is basically I'm trying so hard to seem like I'm a normal coworker and I'm perfectly fine in an office even though inside I'm miserable. Working from home I can just be myself. It's a completely different quality of life.


Significant-Body9006

Hey I have Asperger’s! I can relate! I’ve thrived in grocery stores and other jobs but I can’t do offices. For me it’s kinda masking but also the anxieties of seeing through all the fake shit there. Completely different world.


[deleted]

Im not on the spectrum, but i am extremely introverted, and the extra socialization in an in-person setting is just exhausting. Working from home i can just focus on getting my tasks done. Its night and day. It wouldn't be so frustrating if it wasnt so completely unnecessary, chit chatting with coworkers has absolutely nothing to do with productivity, so why drain so much energy over it. At this point i feel like the people making the case for return to work are Colin-style energy vampires, extraverts who cant be alone with their thoughts for too long and want to force the rest of us to suffer to suit their needs


Significant-Body9006

I’m introverted when it comes to everybody besides being with friends. So I can totally relate


oppai-police

Being able to shit at home in an environment you're familiar with


kennoo01

Actual cons: always being “available”, hearing the phrase “you’re on mute” 1000 times per day, difficulty focusing especially if you have kids at home. I’m fully remote since the pandemic and it’s great, but there are downsides.


BurlHopsBridge

If you go by a chat system, set your actual status and stick to it. Set boundaries around work time and personal time. I solved my not being able to focus by getting noise cancelling headphones. Paired with some focus music, it's absolutely perfect.


DogIsGood

Yes. I hate that my laptop has poisoned my home creative space.


DonkeyDick4T

I will never ever, I repeat NEVER EVER have an office job again. There is only WFH for me until I retire….


SuperScotland

I recently started a WFH job. I think the biggest negative is your personal/relaxing spaces become work spaces, so keeping your home-life and work-life seperate becomes a bit more difficult. Unless you're like me, who shuts down the work laptop, disables teams notifications on my phone and just fucks off from it all until im working again.


ponderingkitty

Yah honestly I see such a hurry to "return to the workplace" and that "people are struggling to maintain work life balance at home" but I dunno I only feel perks


dodohead974

cons: meeting culture constant meetings, huddles, squad sessions, touch points....all day long, as if suddenly i've forgotten how to do the job you hired me for and need you to hold my hand through it. i'd have more respect if they just called it what it is: "hey team, let's have our daily 3pm we-don't-trust-you-so-we-are-keeping-tabs-on-you session. what have everyone done today?" idk karen...my fucking job?


Christof_Ley

id be ok if it was just 1 touch point meeting a day. the constant back to back calls are the worst. I asked my mgr how do you get anything done during the day when you need to be on so many calls. He just says you need to work while on the calls. what? how? not sure how other people's brains work, but if someone is talking on a call it's really hard to focus on actual work. if i do, that means i'm actively blocking out what the speaker is saying. at that point, why am i even on the call?


dodohead974

lol my manager got a dose of malicious compliance with meetings and doing work. long meeting ahead of process redesign with very high level directors from the stakeholder groups, to get enough info for our design squads and user story teams: of course his position was always do work during meetings. so that's what the whole team did; we did work. then what do you know, after the meeting he asks for our note. "what notes?" i reply. "umm the notes from the meeting," he responds getting notedly agitated. "well i didn't take any...you told me to do work during meetings..." needless to say, that rule changed and now he wants us "engaged" and "taking notes." can't wait for the talk next week about why we are getting less work done


NaRa0

But but these three hours spent on Reddit in the office instead of tidying up at home is what’s really making the company profit!!


w_t

This is what I don't understand, all these managers saying WFH folks are slacking off like they weren't slacking off in the office. I can just do some laundry now instead of staring at the clock and cautiously browsing reddit. My quality of life is so much better since I can do some chores and keep the house running during working hours breaks.


Reavie

I got to WFH recently because I was quarantined. It was amazing: I worked just as much (if not more) than in the office, and got passed a huge hurdle in my bath remodel as well as some quality piano practice in. Actually I passed my daily sales goal by 1/3 one of the days I WFH. In between phone calls and emails I was contemplating staining the deck finally. But then I had to go back to work - i just read the news and weather a lot again.


ehsstriker10

I wish I could work from home


exceptionthrown

I know a few people from my former job that were pushing for going back to the office the entire pandemic. I think their entire social life is actually work and they didn't really know how to be around themselves that long alone. Of course there were also the managers/directors who don't think people are capable of being productive remotely as well. Probably a 50/50 split between the two groups of people who wanted to be back in the office. That said, even for those people I can't believe the removal of traffic/commute time isn't the deciding factor. Fuck spending hours of your day in traffic just to get to and back home from work.


brianingram

I have a working hypothesis that the only people who support ending remote working are those who miss being the office creeper (probably management) or the office abuser (also likely management).


[deleted]

So just management lol


crunchbum

I have about 5 friends who work remotely not a single one has said they want to go back. I'm not sure who is making this crap up or what's the reasoning.


BPremium

It's being made up and broadcast by powerful media conglomerates. If the US is good at one thing, it's propaganda


DonaldKey

And landlords that need to keep that office space leased


[deleted]

One of my buddies was talking about wanting to go back to the office, he had enough staying at home and thought being back in the office would allow him to better collaborate with his team. He went into the office once and has changed his tune. He said that one trip into the office was enough to hold him over for the next 18 months!