To think people are over looking the benefits of going to work

[Poptart4]

I keep hearing about how great working from home is. No commute, saving money, more family time etc.

But I think people are over looking the benefit's of actually going to work.

• Getting out of the house, personally I dont think its healthy to spend all (most) of your time within the same 4 walls.
• The social aspect of working. Alot of people make friends or at least acquaintances through work.
• I know alot of people who met their partner through work. And alot who just had fun casual hook ups with co-workers. Either way there will be less chances at romance because you will have less social interaction.
• As a mother I find going out to work gives me a life outside of being mammy. It gives me a little independence for myself. If I was working from home all of the time I would never be away from the children. Never get a break.
• No after work drinks, office xmas parties etc.
• I've also read some threads on here about couples fighting because one or both of them is working from home and there getting on each others nerves. Couples need time apart.

I really think once the novelty of working from home wears off alot of people are going to miss the hustle and bustle of office life. And alot of people are going to end up depressed. Especially for people who live alone. The lack of social interaction will impact them the most.

I recognise I contribute much more widely in the office, developing and mentoring younger staff, helping out a colleague in crisis etc

What stops you doing that remotely? I have junior colleagues sending me messages most days asking for help and advice. Yes it's easier in the office to pop your head round someone's door (or more likely walk up to their open plan desk) but it's only marginally less easy to send a message or pick up the phone.

Anyway I've said before that my view is coloured by the fact that I have always had reasonably long commutes to work, but it's not up to me to spend thousands a year on a train ticket so that younger workers get mentored. If the government wants us back in London offices, it needs to make season tickets tax deductible.

(and invest in the rail network so it actually works, and we don't spend hours hanging around stations waiting for delayed and cancelled trains).

One of my close friends is actually looking for a new job because he work have decided to make her permanently work from home.
She’s a single parent to a three year old and often work is the main source of adult conversation, she said she can’t handle losing that and I honestly can’t blame her!

Anyway I've said before that my view is coloured by the fact that I have always had reasonably long commutes to work

Did anyone force you to work far away from home?

I love wfh and this thread has been eye-opening to see how many people don't. Yes there are some advantages about being in the office such as having a laugh with colleagues but for me those she vastly outweighed by sleeping late as I don't have a commute, eating nice healthy homemade lunches, having time to exercise, not getting all dressed up, saving money etc.

I agree with you.

I used to WFH one or do days a week, and that was fine. I’ve now been at home since March and honestly I’m getting more and more stressed and upset with it. I just need to be able to be away from home. I’m lucky I work round the corner so it makes very little difference in terms of commute/seeing the kids etc.

It’s not even the social aspect particularly. It’s just never being away from work.

At my current life stage wfh is great but thinking back I tried it 15 years ago and absolutely hated it - that was before I met DH and was living with someone but the relationship wasn't right. I was also younger and less into "pottering about" hobbies like gardening and cooking and more into the hustle and bustle of socialising with lots of different people, lunches out, office gossip etc. I am an introvert through and through but life stage really matters in this as well.

@Givemlala

Anyway I've said before that my view is coloured by the fact that I have always had reasonably long commutes to work

Did anyone force you to work far away from home?

That depends on whether there were any decent jobs closer to home!

The London centric nature of big firms concentrating themselves in huge fancy London offices has meant many people have no choice but to travel long distances on busy routes. How about we get back to where the big firms had local/regional offices meaning that people could live and work all over the UK rather than be crowded into a small corner of it??

Did anyone force you to work far away from home?
Yeah. The job market and London house prices. FFS.

It’s perfectly reasonable to welcome not having to commute any more! Doesn’t mean you’re pro the economy collapsing or young people not having any career progression.