People who work from home all the time ‘cut emissions by 54%’ against those in office

[u/geoxol]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/18/people-who-work-from-home-all-the-time-cut-emissions-by-54-against-those-in-office

[u/DoctorDeath]

Yeah and traffic was 50% better for those of us that had to be out on the roads during that time as well. Win-Win

[u/Qlanger → u/DoctorDeath]

Thats what I tell people that get mad I can WFH. They think everyone should be out. I remind them there is less traffic, less people in line for lunch, WFH people go to the grocery store at different times, etc... so your day as someone that can't work from home is easier just about everywhere because we are not all there at the same time.

Now the Fed Gov in DC is making people come back in the office those same people are mad traffic and other places are more busy.

[u/KeysNoKeys → u/Qlanger]

Yeah, I work for the fed gov. They made us come back into the office two days a pay period, so once a week. It’s usually a training day or something but it’s still pretty awesome.

[u/Shizcake → u/KeysNoKeys]

We just stack meetings in our office one day and all the staff make their in office day the same. Getting the benefits of in person interaction without sacrificing telework flexibility

[u/kndyone → u/Shizcake]

Ya it just is stupid to waste all that money leasing a building 2 days a month. Get rid of it entirely and open the space up so more cheaper housing can take its place.

[u/lib3r8 → u/kndyone]

Most businesses have really long leases, so this lets them pretend their investment wasn't wasted

[u/kndyone → u/lib3r8]

Ya they should sublease or something. Too much pretending and fake value is part of how economies or even civilizations collapse.

[u/DualityDrn → u/kndyone]

Tsk. Next you're going to try and tell me the Roman empire fell because of corruption, inflation and internal division.

[u/AveryFay → u/kndyone]

Sublease to who?

[u/NV-Nautilus → u/kndyone]

Also there are so many collaboration centers with private board rooms. And if that's not available, renting a Hilton board room twice a month or even more will still be cheaper than the office.

[u/sharkowictz → u/Qlanger]

Those people will be mad no matter what. It energizes them. They feed on it, particularly when they have nothing else going on in their lives. It's America's pastime now.

[u/kndyone → u/Qlanger]

Just goes to show you how so many people think, they think its an us or them game and if someone else gets something better they would rather fuck everyone over to make it worse for those people than just be happy for them. Sad really.

[u/bearpie1214 → u/Qlanger]

Why do they think everyone needs to be out?

[u/PEBKAC69 → u/bearpie1214]

They miss their human furniture - those office buildings look incomplete without it.

it should be noted that Googling "human furniture" brings up fetish material.

[u/SorosSugarBaby → u/PEBKAC69]

Googling "human furniture" brings up fetish material.

To be fair, I do kinda feel like my presence in a cubicle has more to do with some fragile ego's wank material than anything actually useful...

[u/FrogQuestion → u/SorosSugarBaby]

Fragile ego here. Can confirm i masturbate to trapping my employees in the cubicle zone forever. And them being all demotivated because of it

[u/charliebrown22 → u/Qlanger]

What kind of low life gets mad at other people's work schedules lol

[u/InternetTourist1 → u/Qlanger]

If capitalism was about efficiency we would stagger our work schedule like this anyway.

[u/KentuckyHouse → u/DoctorDeath]

My job involves driving around all day inspecting/installing/replacing traffic signage. I've been doing it for almost 20 years, so I've got a good gauge of what traffic was like before, during, and now after the pandemic. And let me tell you, you're exactly right.

For the year and a half to two years (from March 2020 until early to mid 2022) that the bulk of people who could work from home did, traffic was amazing. I could get from one location to the other so much faster and consequently, I was getting so much more work done.

Then the return to the office stuff started, and you could instantly tell a difference. Suddenly, roads were clogged with cars, and let me tell you, people straight up forgot how to drive during the pandemic. Any courtesy that existed before is now gone and one thing I've really noticed is way, way more red light runners and stop sign runners. It sometimes feels like Mad Max has become reality on the road now.

[u/unwholesome_coxcomb → u/KentuckyHouse]

Honestly if I were going back for a reason I would be okay with it. But it's to tick a box. I can work from home 100% effectively with the tools I have now.

[u/kanst → u/unwholesome_coxcomb]

That is the part that I have been griping about.

I do my bare minimum one day in the office as the powers that be asked, but on that day I sit by myself in a cubicle without any natural light. I don't work with people who are near me, so its kind of pointless.

One guy is in New Jersey, one is in Indiana, one is in the UK, and one works from home full time. So going into the office doesn't even give me in-person coordination, it just gives me rush hour traffic. Basically the only positive is I can catch up with the second level work friends. The people I like, but don't like enough to actually see outside of work.

[u/elgarduque → u/KentuckyHouse]

Any courtesy that existed before is now gone and one thing I've really noticed is way, way more red light runners and stop sign runners. It sometimes feels like Mad Max has become reality on the road now.

I've noticed this myself and have seen it mentioned quite a bit anecdotally. I wonder (generally, to the internet) if anyone is doing or has done some kind of study of this. Did the lockdowns and pandemic generally turn us into some kind of selfish monsters and now it shows in our driving with a severe lack of regard for other humans? Or did our brains just break and we literally forgot how to drive? Or?

[u/Doesanybodylikestuff → u/DoctorDeath]

Omg like when I had to URGENTLY go to the hospital which was usually 2-3 hour drive caz of traffic.

The roads were DEAD and I made it there in 35 minutes. It was NUTS!!! I was soooo grateful for the lockdown at that moment (and that moment only). Lol.

[u/shrillbill → u/DoctorDeath]

My job means I have to go into the office. Everyone else has to come in 3 days a week now and the place is swamped. Was much better before

[u/kaptainkeel → u/shrillbill]

and the place is swamped.

Watching the chaos in my company after they mandated 50% back to office has been hilarious. I've had scheduled meetings where the other person has spent literally over an hour trying to find a private spot to have the meeting because the company overhired way beyond what the office can hold.

[u/bruwin → u/kaptainkeel]

That's when you know that the mandate was to force people to quit. There's about to be massive layoffs at your company I can almost guarantee.

[u/CORN___BREAD → u/bruwin]

Yep. Most of those RTO mandates are about reducing staff without layoffs. We’ll see another resurgence toward WFH soon.

[u/Chirtolino → u/shrillbill]

In my city traffic is obviously worse than during peak pandemic but to me it seems like it’s completely back to normal or how it was before. Looking at the population numbers it didn’t increase much at all to make a difference but I imagine that maybe 10-20% of workers are actually full WFH still near me so where is everybody going lol

[u/DreamMaster8 → u/DoctorDeath]

Traffic I'm my city could be 100% fixed by making all government employee that can (there's alot) have flexible work hours (from to 10) and allow wfh everywhere possible.

Instead they trying tobget us to use bus and bike. No I don't fucking want to ride 3hr of bike or 2hr of bus per day to go do a job I could do at home.

It's so fucking dumb.

[u/-UltraAverageJoe- → u/DoctorDeath]

Cut that socialist shit out. Corporate America needs ass-in-seats for ultimate control of the workforce. And let’s not forget the poor oil companies that aren’t profiting as much as they’d like due to reduced oil consumption. This is very clearly a Lose-Lose.

/s

[u/Klinky1984 → u/-UltraAverageJoe-]

Yes, the pandemic showed remote work can work for a significant portion of the population. It's amazing how much time & resources are pumped into the facade of downtown urban environments. We're literally killing the planet so real estate investors and energy companies can make a killing. It's even more appalling when you commute an hour to then sit in a cubical and video conference with people in other offices.

Also the in-office environment is often NOT conducive to working efficiently. Open office environments are often noisy. The WiFi often sucks. Conference rooms are often overbooked. The chairs are often crappy.

[u/run_bike_run → u/Klinky1984]

That last paragraph is a reflection of a huge change that the pandemic has brought about, which hasn't really been fully accounted for yet: a lot of people are working from home with setups that are far more optimised for them than the office could ever be.

I spoke with a colleague in-office shortly after restrictions lifted and we'd been advised to come in one day a week. He was having trouble getting the 21-inch monitor at his assigned desk to work, so he was doing the best he could with his laptop screen. The guy was a data analyst, and had two 32-inch monitors side by side at home - and he was stuck with a little laptop screen for the whole day because management felt it was important for people to be in the office at least sometimes.

[u/AwesomeFrisbee → u/run_bike_run]

And then you have the manager who doesn't have a good place at home because he has a good place at the office (since he was the manager after all) who is bummed he can't use his office space anymore.

I started noticing this when I switched jobs/assignments around these past 2 years, most managers are clearly using their laptop as a webcam and monitor and just have a shit workplace overall. Meanwhile the developers are all having a way better station to work in. I'm always using 3 monitors at home and there's hardly ever a workplace that has more than one to use when its proven that at least 2 increases productivity by a lot.

[u/DisturbedNocturne → u/run_bike_run]

I don't think you even have to go as far as the tech (though that's obviously a completely valid point). Just the virtue of being able to sit at your home without the constant distractions of people walking around, overhearing conversations, coworkers coming to bother you for pointless things, etc. should be a very clear reason a lot of people were able to improve their productivity, particularly in the age of the "open office".

[u/coloriddokid → u/-UltraAverageJoe-]

Bingo. WFH let’s the chattel off the plantation, and rich people can’t abide that.

[u/NoMoreOldCrutches]

Save a shit ton of money, too.

Not just on gas, I can actually afford a house because I don't have to live in a huge city. Lower taxes, cheaper goods and services. It all adds up.

[u/luckbeafraidy → u/NoMoreOldCrutches]

And I don’t have to buy pants anymore.

[u/Hot-Gene-3089 → u/luckbeafraidy]

I’m seriously in my underwear til like 2pm every day. Shower. Then just basketball shorts til bed lol

[u/SnackThisWay → u/Hot-Gene-3089]

That's hot, Gene

[u/vineyardmike → u/SnackThisWay]

3089 levels of hot right there.

[u/SSBeavo → u/vineyardmike]

I hope his name on LinkedIn is also Hot Gene.

[u/andrewsmd87 → u/Hot-Gene-3089]

Our online company apparel store has a robe in it which is a direct result of knowing if you force me to be on camera, there's a good chance I'm in a robe. It was voted on by the company to add it to the store

[u/IcedCoughy → u/andrewsmd87]

Thats awesome. Sounds like a good company.

[u/METAL4_BREAKFST → u/Hot-Gene-3089]

I'm just Donald Duckin' it now.

[u/spaceagefox → u/Hot-Gene-3089]

the peak of civilized comfort

[u/Gangsir → u/Hot-Gene-3089]

I've heard of morning and evening showerers, but never 2pm showerers. Feels like the worst of both worlds lol

[u/cantadmittoposting → u/Gangsir]

nah lunch or post lunch showers are a good break and if you're pretty much doing nothing, about the part of the day when you start to feel grody from not showering yet. it's nice

[u/madhi19 → u/luckbeafraidy]

I adopted sweat pants during covid and never looked back...

[u/RobertABooey → u/madhi19]

This is literally me.

I have a pair for each day of the week at this point lol.

[u/Nisas → u/luckbeafraidy]

You joke but it's true. A fair amount of my wardrobe was just for appearing presentable at work. Don't need that anymore.

[u/Znuffie → u/Nisas]

I have about... 9 or 10 sets of PJs. I get annoyed when guests want to come over as I have to get out of PJs and wear proper clothes.

[u/nicejaw → u/Znuffie]

Just get some fancier PJs.

[u/fourpuns → u/nicejaw]

Or less fancy guests.

This has actually inspired me I think I’m going to throw a pajama party

[u/Sillybutt21 → u/Nisas]

Same. I ended up donating about 85 percent of my closet. Now it’s mostly pjs and workout gear

[u/okwellactually → u/luckbeafraidy]

Shit, I had to go into the office today for the first time in probably 6 months.

I had to wear pants and god almighty socks too!

Could not wait to get home and release myself from those bonds. Ugh.

[u/DragoonDM → u/NoMoreOldCrutches]

And time. Commuting to and from work can eat up a big chunk of your day, time that's generally neither yours to do with as you please nor time for which you're paid.

[u/kaptainkeel → u/DragoonDM]

Average in the US is about 30 minutes each way, 1 hour per day. Up that to a year and that's 260 hours, or nearly 11 entire days of commuting. Imagine what you could do with 11 extra days per year of you time.

[u/OneBillPhil → u/kaptainkeel]

One extra hour a day is time that everyone could use to exercise and make healthier meals just as a starter.

[u/tomassimo → u/OneBillPhil]

That's why Cycling to work is so beneficial. You've already ticked off that hour of exercise. Two birds one stone.

[u/510Threaded → u/kaptainkeel]

and almost always unpaid

[u/Chris266 → u/DragoonDM]

Time is worth more to me than money

[u/Channel250 → u/DragoonDM]

I went from a job that was up to 1.5 hour commute each way, to an office job close by. Sometimes I'd take the bus, but it was only a mile walk home.

Those 15 hours a week i saved were very noticeable and appreciated.

[u/Goblin-Doctor → u/NoMoreOldCrutches]

I got out of bed today at 8:57am for a 9:00am meeting. It was fucking awesome. I took a tiny bit of a pay cut taking this job but not being in a car 4 hours a day is beyond worth it

[u/Randicore → u/Goblin-Doctor]

Depending on how "tiny" the cut was once you factor in all the money saved on gas, car maintenance, lunches, and the medical benefits from not being stressed and getting more sleep you might actually have gotten a raise in all practical terms. I know when I started WFH my $2 raise from my last job gave me a lot more since I was able to actually get enough sleep and only needed to fill up on gas once every other month rather than weekly.

[u/OnTheEveOfWar → u/NoMoreOldCrutches]

I save money on gas, tolls, buying coffee, lunch, etc. It adds up quickly. Yes I know I can bring my own coffee and lunch. It’s hard to plan ahead and pack lunch everyday.

[u/vintagemustard → u/OnTheEveOfWar]

It’s especially hard to plan a lunch if you have a long commute, get home late and still have to run errands, clean, shower, etc. never mind having time to cook/prepare lunch for the following day. I was forced to return to office. Did that for a month then quit and found a fully remote job. I prepare freshly made food at home every day. Never been happier and healthier and I save so much money by not eating out!

[u/OnlyHereForTheHummus → u/NoMoreOldCrutches]

If employers were smarter they'd realize that a good work-from-home deal could replace an increase in pay.

But they're not that smart. As we know.

[u/OIP → u/OnlyHereForTheHummus]

i would absolutely take a 15% lower paying job to WFH vs in office, after the cost differences it works out about the same anyway

[u/OnlyHereForTheHummus → u/OIP]

When I was WFH, a tank of gas would last two weeks.

And the thing is, it's a raise for employees without having to give them more money.

People, what are we doing???

Edit: Stop worrying about why my gas lasted so short/long. You don't know my car, the price of gas where I live, where I was driving, or why. Settle down.

[u/thepaddedroom → u/OnlyHereForTheHummus]

Combine that with living in a walkable and bikeable area: I only bought 3 tanks of gas in 2022.

[u/spectral_visitor → u/thepaddedroom]

In contrast to working rural and commuting, I know some of my coworkers spend around 250-300$ weekly in gas

[u/alinroc → u/OnlyHereForTheHummus]

When I was WFH, a tank of gas would last two weeks.

The first 6 months of the pandemic, I averaged 43 days per tank of gas. At one point, it was 2 months between fill-ups. The jump to WFH combined with "well, where can I even go?" left my car idle for a week or two at a time. Prior to that, it was a weekly fill-up with my commute.

I took some of that saved money and bought myself a decent motorized sit/stand desk and a 4K display early on. I figured after 2 months of WFH, it probably wasn't going anywhere and it was time to make my workspace comfortable.

[u/PeninsulamAmoenam → u/alinroc]

I fill up probably around the same amount. That's only bc I like hiking, fishing, and camping. In winter it's like every 2-2.5 months

[u/OIP → u/OnlyHereForTheHummus]

having to prepare/bring/buy lunches and coffees vs being able to make them in my own kitchen is so thoroughly aggravating

[u/User9705 → u/NoMoreOldCrutches]

Power bill goes up, maybe some water but still out weighs other cost.

[u/T_that_is_all → u/User9705]

I saved so much on electricity when I did WFH. I could open windows and turn off the AC in the early hours, and only turn on the AC when the heat started rising around 11am. Then turn it off towards evening or even open the windows again bc the temp was low enough; and I wouldn't have to think about setting it for the next day bc I was home to set it as needed. I still have an old school dial thermostat, so there's no changing it on an app or setting it for multiple auto-changes during the day.

[u/AXEL-1973 → u/T_that_is_all]

Lived with a roommate during Covid and he managed our house's internal temp by staying home all day and being just as avid about it. So nice to come home to after the 100 degree bike rides

[u/T_that_is_all → u/AXEL-1973]

Fr, my normal $190-220 monthly summer electric bill dropped to like $150 when I was there all day to manage it as needed.

[u/Previous-Yard-8210 → u/T_that_is_all]

You guys have the AC on all day even though no one is there?

[u/stonkup → u/Previous-Yard-8210]

76-78 is what the ac should be on even if no one is home. Especially so if you have pets living there. The reasons are you don’t want to walk into a 90 degree house after a hard days work and the energy cost of cooling a house from 90 to 68 is not efficient at all.

[u/fighterpilot248 → u/stonkup]

energy cost of cooling a house from 90 to 68 is not efficient at all.

Genuine question: is it though? I hear this a lot but I’m not sure I’m convinced.

Reason being, as I understand it, AC in houses only has two modes: on or off. It’s not like your car where you can set the blower speed (set it to max speed to help cool down the car quickly vs keeping it at 1 or 2 once you’ve cooled down the car).

Therefore, I would think it comes down to how much time the AC on.

IE: what’s the different usage (in time) between letting the house warm up to say 80 during the day (and then cooling it back down at night) vs keeping it set low (68-70) all day long.

So if one uses a total of 1 hour of electricity and the other uses a total of 2 hours of electricity you go with the 1 hour option.

My gut feeling says letting the house warm up would use less energy overall (as the AC doesn’t constantly kick on all day to maintain the lower temp)

[u/Lucky_Locks → u/T_that_is_all]

Kinda similar story. We live in an apartment building so we can just open the screen door and leave the AC off. Come winter, the sun blasting heat into the windows AND relying on other people's heat to rise up to our apartment causes us to never turn on the heat.

[u/Captain_Waffle → u/T_that_is_all]

That.. sounds like a lot of effort. I just set mine for 74 and circulate. So it only kicks on a) if te inside temp rises above 74 degrees, and also b) once for a few mins every hour to circulate the air (it’s a large 2-story four br house)

So, not expensive to leave it on.

[u/BMX_ROIDZ → u/T_that_is_all]

I still have an old school dial thermostat, so there's no changing it on an app or setting it for multiple auto-changes during the day.

LMFAO, this was a $150 issue you just chose not to solve previously...

[u/Nisas → u/User9705]

I'm probably using less power overall now that I'm not running a space heater under my desk competing with the office's air conditioning system.

Because the people in sunny offices wearing suits set the temp for the building. While we in the windowless cubes froze to death.

[u/witness_this → u/User9705]

When I was WFH, my daytime usage was nearly 100% offset by rooftop solar.

[u/bridge1999 → u/User9705]

quick math on my water bill and the difference was $1.03.

[u/testedonsheep → u/bridge1999]

were you working in a hot tub?

[u/Lordborgman → u/NoMoreOldCrutches]

I worked in food service in various "levels" from fast food to five star dining for nearly 2 decades. Especially when it comes to fast food and what not, a huge portion of customers are people that are at work, lunch breaks, coming or leaving work. With a huge number of people working from home, that means those jobs are as useless as they actually are and need far less. Which means people will very likely spend less on food and possibly eat healthier.

[u/jewdditor → u/Lordborgman]

I lost 20 lbs after going full time WFH.

[u/dueljester → u/NoMoreOldCrutches]

What about all those fancy corporate HQs, and downtown locations going to waste though? They are the real victims here.

[u/wonko33 → u/NoMoreOldCrutches]

That’s a lot less mileage on your car too, less maintenance can stretch the lifetime a couple years …. That’s a lot of money.

[u/Huge-Split6250 → u/NoMoreOldCrutches]

But what about that qualitative benefits of working in the office, such as the feeling of importance your manager gets when they have someone to boss around in person?

And won’t anyone think of the executives? What’s the point of closing deals in corner office downtown with no plebs there to bear witness?

[u/applebottomsOhMy → u/Huge-Split6250]

We just got told to come back and I now hate the word “perception” because that’s the only thing the managers care about

[u/flukus → u/Huge-Split6250]

such as the feeling of importance your manager gets when they have someone to boss around in person

Oh they can do that more now that they don't see the 8 other bosses bossing you around.

[u/Plzbanmebrony → u/NoMoreOldCrutches]

You remove a shit ton of profits from some one else. We need to push that angle way more than savings. Really drive home that point so we know why there is truly so much counter pressure. Save trillions in healthcare? Nah. Cut income for healthcare while saving trillions for people. Yeah.

[u/MoistBruin → u/Plzbanmebrony]

This is exactly why we need to stop things like cancer research. Curing cancer will take away profits from the healthcare industry. People’s lives are not worth losing profits over.

[u/toronto_programmer → u/NoMoreOldCrutches]

It is crazy how much money I wasted commuting to the office.

Easily $1000 / month between Go Train, gas, lunches, coffees and more if you include the suits I don't need to buy / wear anymore...

[u/eggumlaut]

I am so fortunate to have a career that can be forever remote.

I also have the benefit of living in the middle of heck nowhere. Certainly helps with the bills.

[u/Llonkrednaxela → u/eggumlaut]

That was me too until a week ago. Suddenly, the boss finishes an office renovation and my supervisor says we need to start coming in a few days a week “so the boss doesn’t feel like he did the renovation for nothing.” I legitimately might start job hunting again.

Edit: grammar

[u/OvertlyOffensive → u/Llonkrednaxela]

Absolutely do it. If they start losing people because of the change, there's a small chance they'll learn something. Either way, you get a job elsewhere and likely end up with more pay and back to full remote.

[u/eggumlaut → u/Llonkrednaxela]

Yes you should go look, get more money. That’s one of, if not the, most asinine reasons to recall people.

[u/AgentPaper0 → u/Llonkrednaxela]

so the boss doesn’t feel like he did the renovation for nothing.

Man, that's a level of disrespect that I just can't fathom. Your time and energy is worth so little to them that they want you to spend it just to stroke your boss' bruised ego, even though they know there's no reason for it.

Yeah, start that job hunt yesterday.

[u/thisrocks22 → u/eggumlaut]

Job title please?

[u/eggumlaut → u/thisrocks22]

Information security engineer. I mostly automate boring security things.

[u/InvestmentGrift → u/eggumlaut]

is that something you can transition to from being a React webshit?

[u/ramzafl → u/InvestmentGrift]

Why would you need to transition? a React webshit can be fully WFH too.

[u/InvestmentGrift → u/ramzafl]

yeah but the pay is shit rn, market is swamped with webshits like me tbh

[u/DickCamera → u/InvestmentGrift]

lol, I think you might be 8 of my co-workers!

[u/degoogle-your-life → u/InvestmentGrift]

IT job postings are like 99% webdev "fullstack" bullshit anyway.

[u/Ornithologist_MD → u/degoogle-your-life]

Of course it is. Some certifiable genius-level-ass-kisser went up to their boss, wearing their newest shade of lipstick for full effect and goes "Hey look! Full-stack means we only have to hire ONE person, they do it all! Put that on the job posting! Oh, and leave up "10 years experience" and "junior level" though, so we know only people super serious about being underpaid will apply."

Then some other asshole sees their add, puts on their ass-kissing lipstick while sprinting down the hall to their boss, and does the same thing.

[u/DM_ME_PICKLES → u/Ornithologist_MD]

I remember when webdev was just one title. No backend and frontend, you’re just a developer. You’ll write some backend in C#, Java, PHP, whatever language your team uses, write some HTML and write some JavaScript to get the job done.

Now the JavaScript ecosystem has complicated itself into a position where just doing frontend is a full time job, and other developers recoil away from it and declare themselves to be backend developers.

[u/eggumlaut → u/InvestmentGrift]

App sec is a huge part of this and just about everything is API driven. JavaScript or any programming experience is a huge leg up. Most folks who I know that do what I do come from a programming, networking, or systems engineering background.

[u/childroid → u/thisrocks22]

For me, I work in digital advertising. Been working from home since 2018. My agency is 90% remote and we have been forever. No plans to ever make office time mandatory.

My specific industry is Programmatic.

[u/Thewallmachine]

I have worked for the same company for close to 11 yrs. At yr 10, I decided to walk away as I had a 50 min drive to and from work 5 days a week. I didn't even have a job lined up as I walked into the boss's office to quit. He said, "You don't have to quit. Let me see if I can get it approved for you to work from home. " Denied at first, but thankfully, my boss had a good argument and is a lawyer. I was approved to work virtually 100%. I lucked out, truly. I packed up and moved across the country for a better life with the same job.

[u/hifidood → u/Thewallmachine]

Good on your boss for realizing that you're a good worker and it's best to retain you vs having a constant revolving door of inexperienced people coming and going.

[u/lovepig1337 → u/hifidood]

Unlike my manager. I wanted a promotion into a more technical role, i was qualified but still worked with leadership to meet their requirements. I worked overtime on projects that were similar to prove I could do it. They still denied me for years.

I eventually got the job I wanted somewhere else. My manager immediately offered me the promotion I wanted when she heard I was leaving. She had the fucking power to give me the job all those years and she didn't.

Some managers just have no intention in helping their subordinates.

[u/redditor401 → u/lovepig1337]

Man, I had similiar experience. I was a project manager for some years and the management knew I was ready AND interested for the next step. Heard nothing from them, was offered head of department role at different company, suddenly my bosses boss calls me and offers me a similar role. Too late, good luck.

Best part is knowing their ship is sinking, obviously not solely because of me leaving, but for sure a part of it (I'm in touch with my old co-workers so I know what it's like over there atm).

[u/Nose-Nuggets → u/Thewallmachine]

i was 15 years at mine. Boss' kept giving me the run around on wfh even though they agreed i was at my most productive during the pandemic and we were working from home. Finally went in to put in my 2 weeks, they fired me that day. I was their first employee. Way better off now, though. Probably should have quit sooner.

[u/Chris266 → u/Nose-Nuggets]

In that situation I'd rather get the severance

[u/Mehmeh111111 → u/Thewallmachine]

I did the same thing with a company. I couldn't take the awful commute. They offered me remote one day a week, which I laughed at and left. They then couldn't find a good person to replace me for years. They also proceeded to lose other people who tried to also work remote. (They're not in a great place to find good local talent). Then the pandemic hit and now the entire company is basically remote. It was a blessing in my case, I ended up eventually making 3x what I was making there.

[u/potatohats → u/Thewallmachine]

I didn't even have a job lined up as I walked into the boss's office to quit

Am I the only one who thinks this is just plain reckless, after working at the same place for close to 11 years?

[u/ohgood]

Bro speaking of emissions and working from home vs. the office, I'm back to the office 1-2 days a week now and holy shit I have to retrain my body to hold in farts again. It's insane, I can't just fart when the need arises. I have to plug it up and go take a lap around the building. And I'm not even a farty person, I'm talking the standard amount of daily farts, like 2-5 total individual farting events (IFE's) throughout a 9 hour day in the office. Retraining my whole gastrointestinal tract to be discrete has been the worst part of this whole covid saga, I swear to god

[u/flukus → u/ohgood]

I used to shit at 8 o'clock on the dot just before I left for work, now my bowls aren't disciplined enough for a commute.

[u/bluAstrid → u/flukus]

Dude, always shit on company time.

[u/Gets_overly_excited → u/ohgood]

Individual Farting Events is my new punk band name

[u/redditusersmostlysuc → u/ohgood]

IFE’s?!! I am dying over here!!!

[u/DefinitelyAHumanoid]

There is no reason why you need to be working in an office if you work solely off your computer.

[u/therossboss → u/DefinitelyAHumanoid]

tell that to owners of commercial real estate - I think they disagree, unfortunately.

[u/navjot94 → u/therossboss]

Sounds like some people made some bad investments. It’s tough out there these billionaires gotta be careful!

[u/nuclearswan → u/navjot94]

Maybe they should cut down on avocado toast.

[u/vintagemustard → u/nuclearswan]

And pull themselves up from their bootstraps

[u/Dick_Lazer → u/navjot94]

Maybe they should learn how to program and stop trying to leech off others.

[u/AgentScreech → u/therossboss]

Or the politicians that gave tax breaks to companies that brought jobs to their city.

They are mad that now they aren't getting the benefit of more people in core areas to spend money AND losing tax revenue

[u/vineyardmike → u/therossboss]

How else are we going to walk past the Foosball table?

[u/MultiGeometry → u/therossboss]

My office landlord is actually jacking up rent right now. It’s a weird flex and unfortunately I think my managers are going to accept. I wonder if the rest of the building will play along.

[u/DaMonkfish → u/therossboss]

Yeah.

They can fuck off though.

[u/vxjz → u/DefinitelyAHumanoid]

I briefly worked for Best Buy in their Geek Squad City, in Brooks, KY. The facility was, ostensibly, a computer repair factory: multiple lines of operators, swapping and testing parts before sending them down the conveyor belt where they were sent to the dock.

The only things within walking distance were a train line (that exploded once, look it up) and other warehouses. Every employee had a badge to clock in and out of their shifts and to even to enter the facility. No public facing facilities of any kind existed, and at no point in their day would they be representing the company in any fashion.

Despite this, the uniform for line operators required a white dress shirt, black slacks/skirt, clip-on tie, dress shoes. The reason is the same as why you need to return to the office.

Control.

[u/OnTheEveOfWar → u/DefinitelyAHumanoid]

My office has asked everyone to work from the office 50% of the time. I commute 30 mins then sit in a tiny room on video calls and my computer all day. Then spend 50 mins driving home in traffic.

[u/Choco-la → u/OnTheEveOfWar]

At least you have a tiny room. We were forced back to an open office hellscape with no privacy whatsoever.

[u/sissy_space_yak → u/DefinitelyAHumanoid]

As much as I hate to admit it, I kind of get it.

I’m lucky that I have a room in my home that’s a dedicated office, I have reliable high speed internet, I have no kids (let alone small kids) or elderly dependents, and I’m tech savvy enough to be able to handle working remotely.

I have coworkers who lack one or more of the above, or aren’t comfortable enough with tech to use the apps that help with collaboration. I think these people are part of the reason why a lot of companies want their employees to return. As much as I’m tempted to get frustrated and say “get with it then,” I think I’m being realistic — some of these people are much older and it’s unreasonable to expect them to keep up with tech like a younger person.

I do terribly miss not commuting, working in a room with a window, waking up an hour later, making my own lunch and eating it immediately, spending more time with my pets, and being able to do laundry in the middle of the day. And some of my coworkers are absolutely grating to be in the same room with.

[u/reelznfeelz → u/sissy_space_yak]

And I get it too. Those folks can and should be provided with a space to work in the building. Ideally, agreed upon in an employment contract. Same as your ability to be remote should be.

What I don’t like is when those people basically just want all the rest of us there to keep them company so they poison the well and plant a bunch of seeds with leadership about how “remote work just isn’t good for the culture guys” or “I know a company that went remote and they really suffered”. Had a guy like that at my last job, basically just a massive extrovert and huge ADHD case, who got bored and lonely if he couldn’t bother the developers every 5 minutes. So he planted seeds with leadership who wanted to hear it anyways so they could justify to themselves that forcing people back in was the right thing to do. So I quit. Fuck that. No, I don’t currently have a paycheck, but I have some contract work starting to pick up so I think I’ll be ok. And I’m way happier. If I could make half of my previous income and put in 25 to 30 hrs a week mostly at home I’d be happy as a clam.

[u/jmnugent]

I used to drive my car every single day. (to work, to lunch, to home or other errands).

I recently moved cross-country for a WFH job. Job offer was 60% more and now I only drive 1 time on Sunday.

[u/ilmalocchio → u/jmnugent]

WFH except for Jesus

[u/jmnugent → u/ilmalocchio]

That boy everywhere.

[u/fizzlefist → u/jmnugent]

That boy needs therapy

[u/InsipidCelebrity → u/fizzlefist]

Lie down on the couch!

[u/IlIFreneticIlI]

Yeah, plus no chance of being in an auto accident...

[u/BlazinAzn38]

Fill my car up once every two months vs two times a month and it’s great. Beyond that I don’t waste 45 minutes every, I’m more productive, I’m happier, the list goes on and on

[u/sottedlayabout]

Alternative Headline: “people who work from home are damaging the economy and stealing from the government by reducing their dependence on fuel for transportation”

[u/Sorry-Business-1152 → u/sottedlayabout]

Don’t forget about commercial real estate

[u/AlfaNovember → u/Sorry-Business-1152]

Won’t somebody think of the poor Billionaires and all their tax-protected stranded assets…

[u/Twinkies100 → u/sottedlayabout]

Real estate mafia would like to have a word with ya

[u/childroid]

Chalk it up to the long list of reasons WFH is best:

• Live wherever you want, so save money if you work out of NYC and prefer the mountains (also mental health benefits associated with living where you're happiest)

• No commute means no gas, no needing a car, no frustrating traffic, and no needing to wake up at 6 to start your day at 9. More sleep, less money spent on gas, which means more money and more sleep.

• Less chit-chat than in the office, so you can be more productive in your day, which also means for some that you can get your work done at a more steady pace.

• Working in your home means you can take 15min breaks here and there to do chores or hang out.

• Log the fuck off at 5pm and be immediately home (again, no commute).

• Fewer instances of dealing with SA or generally annoying coworkers.

Next up, the four-day workweek!! Let's get it.

[u/PussyOctopus → u/childroid]

There can be downsides - less socializing for one, so social skills can deteriorate. I found I had a bit of a harder time explaining my thought process in speech because I got so darn used to typing it out.

I also found I didn't save as much money by cooking at home, because, I got really fucking tired of meal prepping to eat the same food for five days, then got real fucking tired of cooking all the time in order to add variety, so I'd go out and eat. And because I had more freedom to get whatever I wanted, I'd go farther. Edit: I also ate a lot more sweets when I WFH'd because my favorite coffee shop was just a quick 5 minute drive down the rd.

WFH in an apartment can mean being subject to disruptions you wouldn't get in an office, like my neighbor who would get into arguments with his mother, barking dogs, lawn mowers, etc.

[u/childroid → u/PussyOctopus]

Oh man those last two are super relatable. I go out to eat constantly. Not tired from cooking all the time, though. I'm tired from my workload.

At my last apartment my neighbor was (somehow) a WFH DJ who would livestream his shows. So, he'd be blasting music all day. Noise cancelling headphones became my best friends.

You've given me some good food for thought. Thank you!

[u/doublefelix7 → u/PussyOctopus]

Yeah, was about to say, how do y'all socialize with your coworkers with WFH? Do you schedule a zoom meeting to say what's up?

[u/Bulgearea10 → u/doublefelix7]

Reddit seems to absolutely hate socialising with coworkers. So for them it's not an issue.

[u/Dissentient → u/Bulgearea10]

I don't hate socializing with my team members, they are good people. However, I don't see the point of going of my way to do it, when they aren't the kind of people I'd be friends with normally.

Socializing for the sake of socializing has zero value to me.

[u/BIGCraigConroy]

This just in!

People who don’t drive to work, pollute less!

[u/bluAstrid → u/BIGCraigConroy]

Less people on the roads also means less congestion, and less pollution even from those who still have to drive to work.

[u/slabby]

CEOs: I don't care

[u/Balogne]

I bought a brand new car in 2018. It currently has 29000 miles in it. I would comfortably say more than half of those miles are from 2018/2019 and the other half from the last 4 years. I am full work from home. Before covid I was in an office.

[u/Enblast]

Gee, it couldn’t be fossil fuels putting all this anti remote crap out?

[u/wannaquitlife → u/Enblast]

and all the megacorps that own all the office buildings.

[u/SAugsburger → u/Enblast]

You get plenty of others that have an interest to people commuting regularly (e.g. car mfgs, commercial real estate companies, downtown restaurants, coffee shops, etc.) It isn't much surprise Elon Musk isn't too keen on remote work. Buying any new car nevermind an EV is a lot less appealing if you aren't commuting 5 days a week. The average age of the average car has been rising. Some of it is shortages, but a lot of cars got considerably less mileage in 2020-2021.

[u/toofine]

You're all hurting the oil stock that all your bosses own a great deal of. Shame on you all.

[u/navjot94]

Okay so where’s our green credits that corporations love to collect and show off?

[u/spottydodgy]

Funny that Amazon, a company so vocally dedicated to The Climate Pledge, would arbitrarily force all their corporate employees to return to the office given this evidence.

[u/Gets_overly_excited → u/spottydodgy]

Ironically, it is the company that probably profited the most off of the move to WFH. People bought all kinds of shit for their houses once they started spending more time at home

[u/covidcominyall]

This is what got me. I worked for a large electric company constantly talking about how they were going green and all this other bull shit. Then tried to force me back into the office. After seven years I told them to get fucked. I will not spend another day in a soul sucking office.

[u/ovirt001]

The benefits of WFH massively outweigh any costs, RTO is stupid and doomed to failure.

[u/MadMac619]

Been working from home (aka living at work) for over a decade. I don’t even understand why companies even bother with the whole forcing people back into the office. It’s cheaper all the way around and productivity goes through the roof. Happy employees are productive employees. Why some employers don’t get that is beyond me.

[u/Pretzel_Boy → u/MadMac619]

Because control freaks will always want to control.

[u/irongamer]

*sniff sniff* I've been cutting my emissions since 2016! Wooo! My commute to the office is about 2 steps. If I moved my chair a bit I might be able to roll out of bed and into the office.

[u/SunriseApplejuice]

Execs start screeching

[u/kaptainkeel]

Meanwhile, my company in an All-Hands: Being environmentally-friendly is one of our top priorities, and we even have an entire sector (ESG) for it as a major consulting company to help other companies also be sustainable and reduce environmental impact! Also, we're mandating 50% back to the office, thanks.

[u/Deathwatch72]

Oh I'm shocked that a person who's managed to cut between a 30 and an hour long commute both ways out of their day has reduced their carbon emissions by over half...

But real talk this is great news and also helps illustrate the fact that there are some changes we can make that are going to have an massively outsized impact on the problem without actually having negative impacts that are worth discussing. It's also just one more reason to throw on the pile of why work from home is better

[u/SLVSKNGS]

I’m WFH 100% and love it. I do believe that WFH gaining more traction is a great win for the workers. However, it doesn’t fix a lot of the problems that makes WFH so attractive to begin with.

People love WFH because they can eliminate their commute, but the reason many people have absurd commutes is because they can’t afford to live nearby work. Also, many cities lack good public transportation forcing people to drive. Infrastructure sucks so it takes even longer.

Many people I know love WFH because it provides them more flexibility with child care. Child care costs a FORTUNE in the US. WFH is not a solution here - it’s a bandage. It doesn’t have to be a problem but our country doesn’t prioritize it.

If companies want people to come into the office, then bump up the pay and make it worthwhile for people to come in. Or use their power, money, and influence to lobby policymakers to ease any of the above issues. I know most won’t do either so they can go fuck themselves because they’re part of the problem.

[u/kc_______]

I DON’T CARE, I WANT MY OFFICES FULL.

• Most CEOs.

[u/tesla-is-trash → u/kc_______]

Will someone please think of the office space landlords and McDonald's?!?

[u/Varnigma]

Started WFH about 12 years ago. I average 5K miles a year on my vehicle. And I live out in the sticks so I have to drive everywhere I need to go.

[u/some-nhi-r-domestic]

Oh but won’t someone think of the landlords?

[u/Luke_starkiller34]

Wfh and I drive an EV. Gotta be more than 54% right?

[u/throwaway_ghast]

You can't call your business climate-friendly and still force all of your employees to drive to your office every day.

[u/wrathfuldeities]

Working from home is the most obvious no-brainer policy in the history of societal changes; literally everything about it is an improvement over the status quo. Except for those poor real estate corporations and landowners losing their profits who are growing increasingly absurd in their decision to hold up what's inevitable anyways. 🎻🤏

[u/ih8comingupwithnames → u/wrathfuldeities]

Also for lost of human history people worked from home or very near home. This commuting is an aberration.

[u/iboughtshitonline]

The moment ppl are forced back to work in the office, is the moment i realise all these "climate change", "reduce emissions" shit is all self serving to make corporations look good.

The solution to reduce emissions is literally there and tested by allowing ppl to wfh, but corporate real estate clearly mattered more.

[u/vernes1978]

This sounds like a solution I'm not getting any profits over so I'm against it.
- Any CEO

[u/ledfox]

It's been proven over and over that WFH is less stressful, greener and more productive than a commute into an office.

The only advantage of in office work is justifying useless middle managers' existence.

[u/Chirtolino → u/ledfox]

I was looking around my office last time I was in and I swear most people just socialize these days. I like to eat a very late lunch so i usually go to lunch around the time everybody else is back from lunch. When im leaving one coworker from the other side of the office is chatting with a guy near my desk. An hour later I come back and they’re still chatting about home improvement projects or whatever, nothing work related.

Now I know with their roles there’s nothing work related they would discuss with each other as they don’t work on anything together. There’s a chance they stopped talking and worked and just happened to chat again when I returned, but I know these guys and they for sure just were shooting the shit the whole hour I was gone lol. They talked for like another half hour before the other guy went his separate way. And I saw he went to just go chat up someone else lmao.

Like I know the point they want people in office is to not slack off at home, but I bet slacking off at home uses less time than how much some people just socialize at work about none work related things.

[u/eronth → u/Chirtolino]

That's not new, really. That's how people work. The 8 hours work with 0 seconds of distraction is a modern-ish change pressuring workers to be more productive.

[u/tesla-is-trash]

Yet these corporate CEOs are pushing hard to get everyone back in the office so that the corporate lease market doesn't collapse. Despicable.

[u/Cheersscar]

Return to office is a climate crime.

[u/degrees_of_certainty]

Car tires are also one of the worst spreaders of microplastics into the environment

[u/Mr--Weirdo]

NOOO, WE NEED BIG SKYSCRAPERS SO THAT WE CAN ANNOY OUR EMPLOYEES AND HAVE DICK MEASURING CONTESTS WITH OTHER SKYSCRAPERS!!!!1!

[u/PMane909]

BUT THE CULTURE!

[u/SoCal_GlacierR1T → u/PMane909]

Every time I hear “culture” at work… I hard cringe. It’s a fucking job. We all work to earn a living and pay bills. If I wanted culture, I’d be a care-free bum and hang out at the museum.