REMOTE WORK VS. WORK IN THE OFFICE ...

Dear Diary,

In the continuing debate as to whether employees should or should not return to the office, I offer my thoughts.

 

Today is Tuesday.

 

Monday was my “remote” day.

 

So, as a dutiful employee I am here, in person, in the office because the Big Cheese says I have to be.  And who am I to question the Big Cheese?  I am no one.  Ergo, I am here.  Though I must add that while I am here, in the office, the four attorneys that I work for are not.  Why you ask?  Because they are working from home.  So, I am basically in the office to work for no one because no one is here.  NO.  ONE.

I could have been “working from home” and doing laundry and dishes at the same time, accomplishing something.  But NO. 

 

There has been a lot of talk about workers returning to the office.  Most of the Big Cheese’s in America want this because they need to control and exert some sort of authority.  They need this because their sense of worth is derived from telling people what to do.  It doesn't matter that we, the workforce, the drones, worked remotely for two solid years during Covid and it worked seamlessly.  

 

However, most workers, especially, those over 50 (yes, I’m a Boomer) already KNOW how to do stuff because we’ve been doing stuff for the last 40 years …. all by ourselves.  So, we really don’t need anyone telling us what to do.  But that, obviously, is neither here nor there.

 

As I said earlier, this is a much-debated topic.  Just go onto any website and read the comments by employers and drones expressing their opinions on the subject.

 

You have your employers who have a gazillion reasons why we should be in the office.  And you can easily recognize their comments because they’re usually coming from the employer's point of view with their own special pearls of punitive and snarky comments like e.g., “work is not supposed to be fun,” etc., and so on.

 

So, just for funsies, I decided to compile a list of PROS with regard to remote work. 

 

1.    The drone is allowed to get more rest.  One should not minimize the need for more rest.  No need to wake up at the crack of dawn, (especially if you're a female)  to put on makeup, do your hair, get dressed, and drive (in my case 60 miles a day, to and from the office) and deal with the stress of traffic.  A stressful drive alone is enough for employers to understand why the drone prefers working remotely.  And if they don’t, they need to grow a heart. 

 

2.    Office space is very expensive.  What corporation does not want to save on their rent in a high-rise made of glass?  You’d be saving tons of money on this alone!

3.    No one calls in sick.  If you’re feeling under the weather, you can still work remotely because you’re in a comfortable environment where you can work in your pajamas with a Kleenex stuffed up your nose and no one cares.

4.    The corporation gets a full eight hours of work product, and the employee saves approximately two hours daily from driving in traffic, which in California is equal to driving in Nascar.  Again, happier drones.

5.    Parking fees.  Since drones are not driving into the office every day the employer saves a fortune on parking fees.  This is a big one.  Do you know how much it is to park in downtown L.A. or Orange County?  Let’s just say if I could invest in one thing it would be a parking lot in Downtown Los Angeles. 

 

These are just a few of the many reasons remote work is beneficial to the corporation AND the employee/drone.  I truly believe that with AI coming down the pike, the reality of work is going to change dramatically, so much so, that corporations need to reevaluate how they are going to address it.  Not to mention Boomers retiring and leaving the workforce and Millennials and G-Zers entering the workforce.   

 

Also, why don’t corporations and government consider allowing workers to retire at 50 or 55?  That would make room for younger talent to come into the workforce and allow those of us who have worked thirty-plus years the ability to actually ENJOY retirement while we still have all of our mental faculties and body parts that still function.  I think this is a brilliant idea.

 

The nature of work is changing rapidly.  We either evolve to keep up or stay stuck in a system that no longer works.  Corporations need to recognize that happy workers make a happy workplace.  And unhappy workers make an unhappy workplace.  It is not fair that the Big Wigs get to always be happy and make six times more than the drones.  Because with all due respect, the corporation can run without the super important execs, but it cannot run without the busy bees, we the drones, that answer the phones, take your messages, type your letters, make the coffee, and all the other incidental tasks that we perform that make the corporate machine go. 

 

So there you have it.  My two cents.  

Also, if you're going to make a comment, please refrain from making comments that employees are lazy, and don’t want to work, etc.  If that were the case the entire workforce would be on unemployment or disability, and we have enough of those losers to last a lifetime.  I am talking about people who have diligently shown up for work for the last 40 years, not the employee who manages to take a medical leave every two years and get six months off on disability.  

 

So!  Whose with me?!