In the previous two articles in this series, I covered whether or not companies should enforce dress codes for their remote employees and if remote employees should be allowed to work whenever they want in the day. In this edition of the series, I will discuss whether or not the remote work trend should continue for the foreseeable future.

Whenever I’m reading news and opinions on the remote work trend, this is the number one question I encounter. Why is this even a question? This answer is yes, of course!

If a job can be completed without needing to be physically in the office, why should it have to be?

There are many benefits to working remotely: it helps working parents, it cuts down on commutes which in turn cuts down on emissions, and it reduces costs for companies who will no longer have to pay as much for renting office space.

Many of the reasons that I’ve heard in favor of not continuing remote work are a bunch of garbage. Some people are saying that continuing work from home would hurt young employees the most because they supposedly need work as a social outlet. This is the dumbest thing I’ve heard this week. Young people are aware of what they need socially and don’t need to rely on their bosses forcing them to interact with coworkers. Coworkers were never meant to fulfill all human social needs. It’s great that some people are able to achieve this dynamic with their coworkers, but not everyone does, and this isn’t a bad thing. It’s totally normal to not get along with coworkers, and either way it’s not important enough of a reason to force people to work in office again. People know of many other ways to socialize now.

The only reason for returning back to offices that I think is valid is how it affects the local economies. Businesses not bringing their employees back means that office spaces will remain empty, local coffee shops might experience a decrease in orders, and local restaurants might experience a decrease in lunch visitors. Of course, there are many other ways that continuing remote work will affect the economy. However, while there is definitely an impact being made on the local economy, it is not as big as this makes it seem. People working from home will still order coffees and lunch from their favorite local spots. Local economies might have to take time to adjust to the remote work culture, but they will not completely die.

I understand that some people want to go back to the office for whatever weird reasons, but that shouldn’t mean that the rest of us who don’t want to should be forced to come back. If we can get the job done well from the comfort of our own homes, why should we have to ever come back?

What about you? Would you want to go back to the office or stay at home? If you’re interested in the topic, check out this interesting poll at https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6725376757366706176/ .

Sources:
https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-asking-employees-to-work-from-home-due-to-coronavirus-2020
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/05/24/the-work-from-home-revolution-is-quickly-gaining-momentum/#159e466e1848