Remote work
Some people want to work remotely.
Some people want to work in an office.
Let’s all let each other live.
I’ve been working remotely on and off for the past 10 years. Mostly remotely. I work best when I can set my own schedule and can work in a non-office environment - at home, in a coffee shop, in a park, wherever.
There are a lot of people I know and respect who work best in an office. They prefer having a distinct physical separation between work and home to help mentally separate them. It puts them in “work mode” when they’re in an office, and they do better work that way.
Some people prefer to have some mix of the two. Some people prefer to work remotely, but like to work synchronously with their team no matter where they are. Other people like having a non-home office but want to control their time and schedule independently of their team.
All of this is fine. All of these methods work for different people.
It’s also fine for a company’s leadership to decide how their company operates. In office, remote, synchronous, asynchronous, and anything in between. It is not okay to knowingly take a job for an in-office company and then be annoyed because you prefer to work remotely. Similarly, it is not okay for a company to hire a bunch of people who prefer to work in one mode and then tell them that the company is changing to a different mode. Setting expectations matters.
Basically, people work differently and have different prefernces and different ways in which they are happy and productive. There isn’t one right way to do things. But we should do our best to find companies and employees that match our preferred methods of operating. Same as any other set of values. Find what works for you and then try to find a company that works that way. Don’t act like it’s some right or wrong stance you can take. You sound ridiculous.
Have a comment or a response to this post? Take it to Bluesky or LinkedIn.