like all things the truth is somewhere in the middle. Some people a dynamos at WFH, and some folks prob need the supervision to keep on track. But none of those apply here because we know businesses are just sour their super size and therefore super expensive offices are rendered mostly useless by WFH.

I have a couple coworkers who spend the first half of their day walking around the office socializing. Working from home literally saves me hours because I don’t have to stand there pretending to care when they blab about their new boat or child’s baseball practice.

They say that those people work faster but somehow produce less. Without knowing more it just sounds like people are happier, working better, but the company is mad that they aren't asking for more tasks to make up for the completed work rate. They get mad people are "distracted" by their families like their families are a complete afterthought rather than the whole point of their lives. I mean they haven't proven anything. Just more claims from their endless studies of a subjective perspective of what they constitute "productivity".

I heard in a meeting “so the data shows that our work-from-home days are less productive” I cut in and said “I was reading an interesting article that evidenced that although wfh days seem less productive, they are far more productive for the individual, they can put a wash in, do the shopping etc and then the days they are in office, they are fully focused on the job and so productivity overall shoots up. It also means that people don’t have to do life admin tasks on the weekend and they get a true break, leading to less burn out, so productivity remains high throughout the year” They took it very well and said, “oh that is an interesting angle I hadn't thought of. We will have to look into our data more”

I think that WFH is a viable solution for both employers and employees. Can the system be abused from both ends? Absolutely. WFH needs engaged employees who are efficient at their jobs and capable of managing distractions while working in an alternative environment. Not everyone has a quiet home life. Not everyone has a dedicated workspace in a spare bedroom or corner of less traveled area of their dwelling. But many people can get by just fine, with less optimal conditions if they can get what they need done. Employers need to not micromanage their staff. They have to understand that their workers may have more or less downtime between daily tasks. It shouldn’t be surprising if there is radio silence for a few hours. The employees are fine. If they need help, they will reach out. I have a controlling boss that must feel needed at least once every 4-6 hours in a day. If I go without “checking in” or asking one simple question, this boss will start looking into my work. They will do things for me, or correct perceived mistakes without explanation. I’ve been there going on a year now. There is a highly visible divide between WFH and full-time office workers. I’m about a year in and have only met 20 people I work with. Most are chill, but 6 of them have openly stated WFH ruined the office dynamic. I’d rather watch paint dry than spend more than a minute talking to them. I can’t take that shit too seriously.

I am lazy but I'm just as capable of being lazy at the office and I still get my stuff done

Anywhere and everywhere I can I point out that most people go to work so they can pretend to work. Can't pretend to work at home since there's nobody to see you. You ether do your job or you don't. But in the office you can cosplay a working person from the 70's or 80's to convince people you're actually doing something.

Second article today from BI about the same study (no link yo said study, shocker). Its time we call out BI for what it is, a propaganda channel paid for by the capitalist class to proliferate their murderous ideology.

I'd bet that this loss of productivity (if it's even real) has more to do with the inability of managers to properly manage WFH employees

Higher ups at my work tried that. Then the numbers came out. Turned out during the first year working from home, we were able to complete more work than ANY previous year. They changed their tune real quick and made remote permanent. Imagine that, people are able to get more work done when they're well rested, comfortable, and able to focus since they aren't in an open floor plan building with multiple conversations going on around them.