There are a lot of companies that are coming to that same conclusion. I work in the call center software sector, and there are a whole bunch of companies that are in the process of moving at least some of their call center ops to 100% home-based gig work. Pay fluctuates to meet call volume demand, and agents can set their own schedules however they'd like. It's basically Uber, but for service center reps.
You don’t have an expected target number of hours to work and get compensated separately based on that? For example if my target hours is 1500 but I worked 2000 I get a bigger bonus by default.
I would be. My job is entirely virtualized at this point. I'd be coming into the office to do the exact same keystrokes on a computer that I already do at home -- plus the driving, change of schedule, hard time commitments, dress code, etc. I'd still have the same job, same work, same meetings, same everything else. There's no value in me physically being there, it doesn't assist me in doing my job any. It only would cost me more money and time to go there.
Ugh. Don’t get me started. One of the other “benefits” of a small company…no clarity on job responsibilities, hours, due dates, expectations, etc.
That's a top 10 episode in my opinion. So many good jokes. "I'm drought and famine resistant" is one of my all-time favorites.
I don't think you can make blanket statements about which has fewer distractions. I work at home, with no kids, no pets, and have a good work setup in a den where I can close the door and it is effectively an office without coworkers wandering in. Other people work at home in a open area with kids running around, dogs barking, etc. In the office some people have a separate office, some are in cubes, and some are in open work areas.
I was talking about call center agents. Their calls can be listened to and it usually becomes apperant when they have distractions. As a customer, you're more likely to hear other conversations when a call center agent is in the office.
I was reading a thread on Reddit which made me think of this thread. Clearly I'm in the minority here and a ton of people either can't understand my point about community or think it's just more fun to make fun of me about it. Anyway - that Reddit thread was about having friendships with coworkers - some people have a really strong feeling that they do not want to have any kind of friendship or engagement with coworkers and were basically saying don't do it because it can only lead to bad things. Others (AKA the people like me) were saying that feels like a really unfulfilling way to approach a huge chunk of your life. And it kind of made this stuff make sense to me as to why some people feel so differently about this. I always thought I was someone who had a pretty firm boundary between work and my personal life because I don't answer work calls or emails outside working hours but I realized I'm not anywhere near as firm about that as a lot of people.
I think that the key is to allow people to choose how they want to work. I’m friends with some people at work. That said I’d prefer to work from home more than I do. My dad works for Principal and has worked from home since Covid other than some special things. He doesn’t want to go back to the office as they are always changing his team. The remaining people he was friendly with are no longer on his team.I was reading a thread on Reddit which made me think of this thread. Clearly I'm in the minority here and a ton of people either can't understand my point about community or think it's just more fun to make fun of me about it. Anyway - that Reddit thread was about having friendships with coworkers - some people have a really strong feeling that they do not want to have any kind of friendship or engagement with coworkers and were basically saying don't do it because it can only lead to bad things. Others (AKA the people like me) were saying that feels like a really unfulfilling way to approach a huge chunk of your life. And it kind of made this stuff make sense to me as to why some people feel so differently about this. I always thought I was someone who had a pretty firm boundary between work and my personal life because I don't answer work calls or emails outside working hours but I realized I'm not anywhere near as firm about that as a lot of people.
I do personally have several friendships with coworkers and often hang out outside of work with people that I work with. They aren't my only friends, but a lot of my friends are people I've met through work or from when I was in school. I personally think it makes my life better to have a personal relationship with coworkers. It doesn't mean I buy into corporate BS or that I thank my corporate overlords for bringing me together with people, etc. It just means the people I work with are people I have a lot in common with and I enjoy spending time with them. So, I forget that there are a ton of people out there who want to come to work, put on the noise cancelling headphones, and go home ideally without speaking a word to anyone. Or, ideally just work from home and never have to see or talk to anyone else.
And to the point you and BryceC made - In my own frame of reference, it seems hard to believe that a person could come and work in an office environment or probably any environment and not hear offhanded opinionated comments about politics, or company policies that are based on politics or social issues. I know which of my coworkers are liberal or conservative, which ones are moderate or apolitical, which ones believe in conspiracy theories, etc just from listening to what they say in meetings or when having conversations with me. At a minimum, I would think everyone would know who has strong opinions or is hard to work with on strictly work related topics. But not everyone works that way.
Anyway, just thought I'd leave one last comment in this thread for you all to mark as dumb
www.bloomberg.com
I can't read the article but it says "new hires."MIT and UCLA say remote workers 18% less productive
Fully Remote New Hires Show 18% Drop in Productivity, Study Says
The paper adds to a growing body of research that points to productivity costs of working from home full-time.
MIT and UCLA say remote workers 18% less productive
Fully Remote New Hires Show 18% Drop in Productivity, Study Says
The paper adds to a growing body of research that points to productivity costs of working from home full-time.
