Catching up on calls and emails during my commute time? More like focusing on driving and fighting traffic for over an hour. Working remote removes all that stress AND saves money!
And you also dont use diesel or gasoil to produce CO2... By the way i Can now have Time to make sport which is way better to start sit in m'y car for one hour.
@nubiega9016 What's messed up is there are maybe 10 or fewer cities in the US where public transportation is even a realistic option. His view is so myopic, you could tell he was using pretzel logic to make in-office even sound viable anymore.
AGREED!! they just want you there to stare at you and control you. It’s more expensive to commute, worse for your diet, you can sit by your calming dog - NO TIME WASTED - this guy is just a douche - oh parents of school aged kids were more stressed - oh you mean like when the kids DIDNT HAVE SCHOOL!!
@@radicalmama135 software engineer here, i play video games and do other stuff while working remotely, working maybe 2-3h a day so productivity is EXTREMELY LOW and no one seems to care
Liking something has nothing to do with the productivity derived from that thing. Wish labor would grow up and at least admit this. Its empirically true.
My husband's office was one of these cases as well. They were coming up on the renewal and were debating moving the office elsewhere or closing it altogether and go remote when the pandemic made the decision for them. They even allowed the staff to bring home whatever they wanted from the old office.
I've been working fully remote for the last 3 years and my productivity increased and costs decreased. Got promoted since too. Plus all the extea time.
I think the answer is simple. If your job requires you to physically touch things, or manage people who do, you need to be in the office enough to do that in a timely manner. If your job doesn't require you to touch things, it can be done either way. The company should set performance expectations and employees should be allowed to deliver on those expectations from wherever they like.
Nonsense... I run a sales team at amazon. EVERYONE self-reported increased productivity during our wild west work from home if you want policy. Our sales numbers were down 21% for my team (30 people) and down 27% across the entire org (13,000 people). You've lost the argument at that point. Full stop. Google is doing the same thing. So is microsoft. So are countless others, big and small. You think all these companies are dragging people back to the office because management loves paying for insanely expensive office space and commuting themselves? Just....stop.....we get it....labor LIKES remote work. Has nothing to do with productivity. You want to talk about how companies should pay that premium for employee well being, fine. You want to complain about how corporations are just....like.....super lame dude....fine. But stop saying its more productive. It isnt.
Although I think this is true I also think there’s something about going into the office that changes work from normal life I know there’s tons of benefits of WFH (haven’t been in an office since 2020) but I sometimes doubt if WFH can go on forever
Absolutely! Only benefits! Work on site make no sense when you can do the same job remotely. Time and money saved , stress saved , co2 saved less people on traffic jam.. c'mon !
I've done full office, then full remote, then full office again. In my opinion, the hybrid model is a good balance. Work from home with a regular catch-up office time helps balance my energy levels while not feeling entirely isolated
The "commutes are good for transition b/w work and home" argument is so obviously flawed, it's astonishing that it's still their go-to. Hey, if you need an hour to decompress from work, then go outside and go for a walk for an hour. It's better for you (and the environment) than commuting and you can get the same psychological separation benefit.
It's very true that there are a lot of positive pros of work WFH or hybrid policy. 1) Being precise and productive. 2) Diversity inclusion. 3) Equal opportunity. 4) Retaining the productivity talent. 4) Avoidance of most common office politics. 5) Employer have variety of talent. 6) Travel time can be used for effective learning to work & professional growths and certification also. 7) Company's day to day operational cost effective or saving.
I don't need to spend an hour in a car or train "decompressing" before seeing my family. I WANT to see them more. Remote work allows that to happen. These conversations should be employee focused rather than employer focused. If you can perform your function remotely and choose to do that then you should have all the power to make that choice. I don't live to work, I work to live. I love being remote and can't see myself ever desiring the office after these past few years.
I agree that his explanation for commute time is weak. Not everyone relies on public transportation which would enable them to read emails on their way to work and I would question his credibility as an educated and sane person if he is recommending drivers to do the same thing. Commute on it's own is another stress factor placed on employees. I bus it to work and stuff I have to worry about is the schedule of when the bus will arrive and leave at my stop and it's never accurate. It either comes earlier or later than scheduled causing unnecessary stress. For my co-workers who do drive, traffic, aggressive drivers on the road and parking is an added stress for them.
@@jon6309 I agree. There was a study done a while back that shows that the length of a persons commute, to and from work, has a direct correlation with depression.
I have spent years riding trains / busses. Never in my life has the thought crossed my mind: "gee I can't wait to get on the bus and finish my book." What a bizarre argument!
The problem is quality of life. When you commute two hours a day or more, when do you have time to spend with your family, hobbies and me-time? It sucks. I get home at 7pm, my kid is in bed at 8:30pm. Five nights a week, it’s depressing.
@@steftrandoI don't understand your thoughts . Do you/employers expect all of to have a home near the office ? 😊 Remote work offers solution to the growing demand in a city like ours (Bangalore ) Due to the complete inflexible mindset in our team many of us helplessly take leave on Wednesday after being in office for Monday and Tuesday , the 1hr 20 mins commute extended to 3 hrs (irrespective of the distance )
@@steftrando people develop connections and attachments to the community they live in. Not everyone are office bugs to move homes near the office every time they change jobs
Working in an openoffice space is the worst experience a person can have - abysmal productivity, because of constant noise and random interruptions make working from an office a big NO for me alongside with long commutes, because offices here are usually on the other side of the city and it would take me at least 2 hours a day of commuting. What I do with the 2 extra hours, that are not used for commute anymore - I go in the park near me and take a walk and spend some time reading. Commuting is abysmal before/after work hours with overcrowded uncomfortable public transport or driving to the usual traffic jam. The point for after meeting relationship build/rebuild is also a total BS for me - after meetings(especially long ones) I don't want to communicate with anybody I have just been in a meeting with. The whole idea, that within a company we are "one big family" and that you MUST build personal relationships during work is another BS - I am there to do a job, not make friends and if I find someone interesting I would befriend them outside of office hours.
There are two questions, and only two. • Can I meet my deliverables working remotely? • Do I want to work remotely, hybrid, or in an office? That's all. 3:48 I don't care about nap pods, ball pits, or any of that other bullshit. 4:30 None of your business what I did during my commute. I'm glad I don't have to fight terrible drivers or sit next to someone on the bus who didn't shower for a month. 6:00 I'm not trying to sell you anything; I'm looking to do my job without having to go to an office.
Better for you, the worker, your life is better and happier but how does your happiness enrich the owners?! This video is focused on productivity, how much you can make for them.
@@lordbeniel The truth is that the majority of people can focus better at home, coming back to the office once a week now is dedicated to networking, tightening bonds, and making people feel part of the group. In the case of actual work, people get much more distracted at the office because they are now used to the quiet of their homes and productivity is falling down.
focus better from home without all the office type distractions and commute prep, waiting plus the actual commute time. Realistically, concentration times are typically 8-10 hours per day at home, as opposed to 2-3 in office. If office managers were really concerned with bonds and making people feel relaxed and part of a group they would give job guarantees for a year at a clip; but it is really about bosses power trips of seeing workers at desks for them. 😂
@@vceisdead We have work social online chat rooms that notify with a bubble, somehow wherever you are looking on the screen. Annoying, notification whenever anyone in the chat has a comment like 'agreed' or 'thank you'. There was a particular 45 minute chat I recall about favorite pizza toppings - WFH doesn't hurt productivity (quite the opposite) but social non work chats that include everyone does.
That talk eloquently stated the obvious while at the same time giving mental space to managers to call for in person work. Essentially: 'remote work is great over a couple years as facts show, but long term its bad because reasons that are so complicated only a manager could truly make the judgement call because only they know their business.' I posit there is a huge number of people in white collar jobs whose actual only skill is being good looking, looking busy, or being bossy. Its hard to do any of these things in remote work situations. Also there is real estate factor- people forced to commute are forced to live close to office and drive up real estate prices in that area which benefit those invested. Imagine if you owned apartments in the city where your corp is located and you're a VP.
I'm working hybrid 2 days on and 3 days at home. At this point any future job would have to pay an absolute premium for me to go into the office at all times. Also, to answer his questionI spend the extra time cleaning, getting stuff done around the house, and sleeping this in turn leads me to having more time with my daughter and the things I enjoy.
And I find when you get those things done during what would have been commute time, your weekends are much more relaxing and enjoyable because you're not spending those 48 hrs doing chores, only to prepare for the new week to start all over again. HUGE improvement in quality of life!!
I hear you but as an employer I just heard you admit that you are doing things during the day that aren’t what I am paying you to do. I don’t pay you to clean up your home or do laundry. I want you working on xyz and focused.
If we want our countries to stop roasting in 110°F+ heat, then working from home and reducing needless commutes is far more essential than saving the rich from bad real estate investments.
I’m a remote worker and work collaboratively with my team through Teams. We team-build and bond together working through issues that arise. Through remote hires, we are able to hire the best in their respective fields without the cost and stress of relocation. No disruptions to families, communities or children’s stability. It’s a win-win. Does it work for all industries, of course not. But many are viable using this model. Change is afoot and companies need to adapt.
Short answer, yes. Travel, Travel Costs, Office Politics, Companies even save money by not wasting it on unneeded office space, need I say more. Can depend on the industry, I work in marketing, all I need is a laptop and an internet connection, so just makes logical sense. As for isolation, I enjoy my own company and have social hobbies I do outside of work so I am all good. Did not even need to watch the video lol.
Plenty of Corporate propaganda trying to convince us otherwise so they can justify their leases, but it's unquestionable, and not complicated at all. Plus, it's far better for the environment.
@@lucasignis true: i dont have room for a dedicated office at home. so my regular gaming desk would have to double as my office place which to me is an invasion into my free time area. it brings all the troubles of work to the place i dedicate to my free time. and on the other hand my free time activities will always be there tempting me when i am supposed to be productive. also i am not the most commucative person. almost to the point of being introverted. but i still enjoy some conversation with people in a controlled environment like the office where i can chat about work related stuff from different projects. i need that common ground of the office topics to open up and talk to people. when i am at home (homeoffice or vacation) i end up going weeks without leaving my home or talking to another person face to face. an all that comes before considering that i am an electrical engineer and software developer working on (sometimes several) machines that dont even fit on my desk at work... so good luck bringing these into a home office! some of them even need compressed air....
@@vceisdead i draw the line to being introverted at getting exhausted from interacting with other people, which i dont. as long as i find a topic that i am interested in i am quite happy to talk to people and i even got myself to be able to do something that maybe passes as smalltalk. but i dont "need" human interaction or traveling when going on vacation. i know some people who almost lost it when everything was shut down due to covid.... i was happy as i finally had a somewhat accepted excuse for not going outside if i didnt have to. also i have a couple of online friends that i still talk to while at home. just not "face to face"
@@TheScarvig this is the main problem I am having, trying to get a job, but alot of what I find in my field is remote work, that i just don't feel comfortable doing.
It is only complicated to commercial real state moguls and investors. For the rest of us remote work or hybrid work gives us more freedom to do what we like and spend time with our loved ones
Nice to know that some people can chill or read or whatever on their commutes. I have to drive and not hit animals, stupid drivers or construction workers..... for 2 hours every single day. That's 8 hours a week (we have a longer day to compensate hours and always have) I would rather go the gym, or read a book, or be outside. I don't disagree that hotel stations at smaller meeting style centers would be good to have for hybrid so that there is still a social aspect to the job if you want it. But nobody should be forced to go into work if it's not required for their job. And no building should charge $1,000/person/month for office space.
i used to commute to college about 1h per trip. most of that time was spent in a single train and i had my fixed spot because both start and end were major stops so i almost always got to pick where to sit. with 45min of train ride i got into the habit of napping or reading in the train. the naps were especially useful as they were essentially 2 additional hours of sleep to counteract my lack of sleep due to gaming deep into the night. BUT if i had to drive i wouldnt commute more than 30-45 min of driving per trip... though to be fair in my new job i had to drive about that time before i found my current flat and i gotta say as NOT a morning person this half hour of mandatory attention was giving me a bit of a jumpstart in the morning and had me less sluggish in the first hours on the clock
Use the commute to decompress? Really? Squeezed in a hot sweaty tube train for 45min if I'm lucky and it runs on time? Everyday? For 'culture'? Nope. Hybrid and then on case to case basis. Travelling to the office EVERY day when you can do the same job from home is extremely frustrating and that is why we are asking what is your company's flexibility at an interview. Sometimes, we just want to get on with our job at peace.
I'm not sure I appreciate your perspective. Where's the one from they guy commuting, picking up his dry cleaners, grabbing the kids from achool and dropping them of at dance. The one trying to navigate school traffic and then work traffic. The guy whose wife has to work a 9-5 too because the jobs don't pay much and the cost of living/ average pay is worse than the great depression. We are not all CEO's Sir. To work from home ALMOST fills the gap, but that still leaves many working paycheck to paycheck.
I can't work from home all the time as a scientist and when I had the option (while analyzing samples for example) I liked the focus, accountability, and separation from home that came with going into the office. As a customer I hate calling a customer service line and hearing their TV or children crying in the background or having to wait even longer while texting them because they're obviously doing something else. Multitasking isn't for everyone and it's even more apparent in these situations and can be very frustrating.
4:21 What does it matter to you how someone uses that reclaimed commute time? It's their time to use for whatever they want, and it's really none of your business. So you gave one benefit of a commute: decompression. What about the benefits of not having a commute, like the money saved, the greenhouse gases prevented, the car maintenance prevented, the money saved on insurance, the scary situations on the road avoided? Your decompression benefit looks laughably trivial compared to those and really says more about how crummy it is to work nowadays than anything, where you might need an hour just to decompress before walking upstairs to your family. Maybe the answer is simply working less and making our lives less about work.
Honestly a real nothing burger of a talk. Seems like it’s mostly aimed at employers looking for some doublespeak to try and sell coming back to the office to gullible prospects. You can tell right from the start from the “three problems” to solve. Delivering to stakeholders. Staffing. Maintaining company culture. You notice what is conspicuously absent? Literally ANY consideration for the needs of the employees. The only time it even gets a passing nod is in staffing, but from the perspective of what you *have* to offer to get them to sign the contract, not on what’s actually good for them, with some good tips on how to delude them into thinking wasting time sitting in traffic every day is a benefit. “Escalation of perks”? I believe the term you are looking for is “a labor market”. You make it sound like employers actually having to compete on working conditions in order to fill headcount is some bout of temporary insanity to be recovered from. That is how it SHOULD be. ALL THE TIME. And I can only assume with “ball pits” and “slides”, you are either being deliberately condescending, or actually think those are the kinds of perks people were asking for. Either way you come off as extremely out of touch with actual employees. And the commute argument really kills any claim that you are attempting a good faith conversion. The “what are you doing on your commute” argument falls apart at even the most cursory of inspection. What most people are doing on their commute is sitting in traffic feeling stressed. There are mountains of peer reviewed scientific studies linking commutes to everything from worse cardiovascular health to depression to high blood pressure, and lower life satisfaction. Second, there is the simple fact that even if you assume sitting in your car for an hour after work is great for you despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, working from home doesn’t actually rob you of that option. The great part of not having a commute is it can do *whatever you want* with that time. If at the end of the day, you want to leave your house and go find some traffic to sit in, you can still do that. It just that commuting is such an objectively and obviously TERRIBLE use of your time, that the idea somebody would do it if they didn’t *have* to is so outlandish that it’s easy to miss. Are there arguments for working in the office? Sure. But given the content of this talk, it’s hard to imagine a scenario other than you either deliberately arguing in bad faith or you just are too out of touch to really be qualified to give a talk on the subject.
It’s fascinating how many people are commenting on here as absolutes - WFH works, end of discussion, or vice versa. I think it’s going to depend on many factors. The type of work you do, the company culture you work in, how far you would have to commute, your own personality…and probably more. I am lucky to work in an organisation that fully supports working from home. Before the pandemic our office was 150-200 staff, with a small handful working from home. Now, the office generally has less than 10 people in it, and the work is still getting done. I choose to go into the office as my home is too small to have an effective workspace, I live alone so like seeing other people, and my commute is short. As is obvious, the majority of people are choosing to work from home and many have said it never appealed before, but now they love it. On the counter side, many are also working longer hours as that prompt to stop the day of the cleaners / security start nudging them go home is no longer there. A number have said that’s a downside. Also, as I’m in the office every week day I see the reaction from people when they come in for the occasional day. “OMG, it’s great to be here and see everyone face to face again”, “I’ve had loads of conversations with people that I just wouldn’t over a teams call” (referring to those water cooler type chats - “Hadn’t you heard, they’re phasing that out”), and tellingly “I’d love to come to the office more often…but I probably won’t, I like it at home. Does working in the office suit me? Yes. Do I think there are advantages of being in the office and being able to have those 2 minute chats that just don’t quite warrant a call? Yes. Is there a different and often better dynamic between people face to face, rather than a video call. Personally, I think there is…subtle, but it’s there. Do I think everyone should be made to return to the office. Totally not. I just find watching how things have changed fascinating.
Boss, the one who did job over 10 years in office would prefer WFH. But, the one who is a college passout would love to go office because they want to explore socialize in their early part of the life.
I think most would prefer to socialize with friends they have something in common with than spend a set number of hours with people they are required to be with. Anyway, there are lots of networking meetups that have no 40 hour a week requirement.
@@rachelk4805 ok, but do new hires have the opportunity to learn on the job from those friends? and remember we are talking new hires right out of college, they don't live alone, and are stuck having to deal with whatever problem of the week their family has.
Right on time. I've been having this conversation with everyone I know lately. My dad says I would be losing communication and soft skills when I work from home. But going to work every day and commuting is too much, as well as having to deal with all the office politics. Hybrid would be ideal, I think.
Working from home does not mean isolating from people. We exchanged commuting time to physical drawing and painting classes in an art school as well as to learning Italian with a human teacher. I know people who work together in one another's house and having conversation the whole day. They work for different businesses yet they work together in a relaxing and comfy way. Its not your employer's business from where you are working from, even if they firmly believe it is.
@vceisdead EXACTLYYY!! This is my point too! But my dad says you have to be able to adapt to people you don't like as well and face conflicts. But it's too damn much tbh.
I'm a civil engineer. I waste 2 hours whenever I go into the office, and all for very little benefit, as the office is practically empty. Right now I'm in a deadline crunch, and I do not have time to waste going to the office. To be frank I only go when I have to print out plans. Furthermore, the people I am working with on my current project work in other cities or in other firms, so I do not even meet my work team when I go to the office. One of the major advantages to working remote, is I can sort my emails every weekend. This takes a few hours, and I usually do it Sunday evening. It helps me plan my week, see what is falling between the cracks, and of course, I end up with sorted emails. I used to have 1000s of unsorted emails.
These counter point to wfh are seriously weak. The guy just said he LIKED wasting an hour a day decompressing from a work interaction he probably would not have even had if he wasn’t forced into the office.
I like both. I work 2 days TWH in the office and 3 at home. Sometimes 3 days in the office depending on meetings. I'm more motivated /productive with my work knowing I have that flexibility.
I bet 90% of people would agree with you. There might be some people who want to be in the office all the time and perhaps some none of the time. Some meetings in person are good. All of them is a waste of time.
Same with studying, not only working. I think the best is a mix of both. I miss going to some type of office or building cause I can't really concentrate at home and miss human connection. Even if I study/edit I usually go to a bar or the library cause I can't stand the isolation even though I love being alone. I just need a balance. Cause driving or public transport can be very stressful.
Yep, pathetic how much they're pushing us to go back. In reality they're desperate for the money, returns on their investment, boomers in useless middle management roles panicking that their useless job will finally be noticed as useless and get let go like they should have been during the pandemic. It's laughable how desperate these companies are.
I’ve been working from home Since 2020 and been loving it due to the flexibility but I’m now starting to think it may not be the best long term as I get older and have a family. Hard to separate work and life when WFH at times
There are many studies to show that working from is actually more productive in many sectors of the economy. However, higher-ups in companies now have a 10-year lease on an office that is costing them expenses each year, thus making them look bad to investors by having their resources tied up useless real estate. This is all just corporate propoganda to pad their own pockets and resumes, while making the working class suffer with low wages and depressing jobs in offices they don't want to be in, when they could be doing the job more productively from home. It has nothing to do with company culture. The whole "quiet quitting" movement really caused some problems for these greedy higher-ups in both big and small corporations. Instead of all of this propoganda, why not just pay employees more for the work that they do for your company? Many employees would stay in a job they hate, if they feel that the pay is worth the job. This Ted Talk is clearly geared towards company owners with no perspective from the employees that they are trying to hire. The real problem has to do with the rise of inflation, and the stagnance of employee wages.
Thanks to remote working I have more time to meet the people I love and like: family and friends. Why should I sacrifice this precious time for commuting just to work with people I might like (but can't choose or even don't like?). Do they really want to tell us that meeting our coworkers makes us human ? Sounds like 19th century imho.
During this talk he was very clearly talking to business owners and managers, stating 'You're current or potential employees' or 'You need to reclaim that narrative' when talking about the perception of both sides. This entire talk is to give managers and bosses ways to talk to employees that will convince them to agree with working from the office. He hasn't actually provided any real benefits to working in office. The answer to the question the video poses is very simple but dependent on the industry and the work itself. If it is possible to work from home, then it is overwhelmingly shown to be beneficial to work from home. If there is any aspect of your profession that requires in person interaction, then you need to be at an office or similar location in order to have that interaction. Simple. Break it down to each industry and the answer presents itself with the data already available.
My commute was the worst part about working in the office. An hour each way trying not to die. Perhaps all the other drivers around me are reading books and going through emails. I have reclaimed two hours of my life, I eat healthier with my kitchen here, I exercise over my lunch, I don’t have to wake up at dark thirty, and most importantly, I get to spend more time with my family. The idea of having to lose all that just to be present in a cube with a group of people that do not care about my existence does not give any weight to your argument.
My wife and I have 3 kids and we both worked remote 100% from 2020 till now. We both love it and it has made life easier for us all. I think companies putting a blanket choice makes for employees not being happy. This in turn causes two of the three issues you mentioned. I also dont care about not being around people I am a natural introvert and I get plenty of interaction with friends and family. I dont need friends at work.
I think the best choice is being hybrid. My company implement the hybrid system, and its work. The positive side from wfo is we can interact with our co-work and discuss about things more clearly, but sometimes we need to relax ourself like not being pathetic when we have to prepare go to office in the morning, get all of the trafic, and etc.
We also have to recognize that real estate and office space rentals are suffering as an effect of companies downsizing their office space giving employees to work remotely. That’s the main problem isn’t it. And that is why I see so many tactics of discouragement of media’s trying to persuade people off from wanting to work remotely.
I've been working for a fully remote company for a year now and I absolutely love the level of flexibility and the extra time. I'm in the process of moving outside of a busy city centre area to a small town surrounded by nature. Then there are the little things. I get to spend my Friday lunches with a refugee girl. We discuss various topics while practising the local language. There's a big chance that I wouldn't be able to do this after evening commutes from the office
I work together with 1 person most of the time and we do that remotely with screen sharing. We’re used to it and it’s actually more efficient for us this way. For multi-person meetings that don’t center around all staring at the same screen the office is still the best option though. That being said I wouldn’t give up my work from home work-life balance for any job.
This guy's commute was an hour one way!? Kudos to him for being able to decompress, but I have experienced increased blood pressure more than anything else from commuting.
Let your team achieve the goal togather with team-inspired solutions, the rest is all about individual time management. Remote or At-offiice work should be based on the nature of the job and individual preference. Having new social/community activities as a team is more benificial to strengthen the relationship, rather than pushing people to get back to the office.
I will insist from now on: any argument against remote work will be immediately denied if it comes from a CEO or any executive, they love micromanagement and remote work destroys that. I will only hear good arguments from common workers.
Reason to go back to office is very simple. Most people are lazy and tracking their progress is difficult, productivity is way down, as people take care of personal stuff on company time. Some do well from home, but those are the minority. Most folks need to be at the office to be at least somewhat productive.
videos like this are why exec teams never get anything done, and then pat each other on the back. ive been remote for 3 years now, our department has put up our best numbers since our department was created. You missed out on technology and communication via software's like teams. i dont need to see joes face and to talk with joe about a problem or challenge. In office only is a very 1950's way of thinking
I think office work is fine if the office is 10-15 minute drive from our homes. The huge issue nowadays is that most offices are in downtown and most of us are being priced out of the cities. As someone early in his career I do agree that WFH certainly hindered my professional growth, but at the same time even if i wanted to drive to the office (located DT) factoring gas prices it would make it very difficult to make ends meet.
it's nice to have the "option" to WFH, not totally removed it and make it a monitoring issue just because Top Management doesn't "trust" or doesn't respect the SLA of a project, or just isn't wanting to change the way it was done "before" transfering to the new role and rather adopt, not adapt. WFH to me is way to recharge my energy and diffuse some of the stress from having to commute or to see the big boss face. I have to drive to commute coz public transport is very bad. So not much I can do while commuting, so it's nice to not travel everyday.
it's all a matter of finding balance. Commuting 2 times a day, every day, it's painful in particular if there is no reason for it. - the idea of not having a proper work/life balance is ALWAYS going to be present during in-presence jobs: if you're productive, you're going to be overload with work to counterbalance unproductive collegues. - if you are good, there will ALWAYS people that abuse your kindness and skills, to do less work. It's more difficult to do that when you're not available. - If your problem is decompressing from work, get a bike, get our of the house for a quick run, return refreshed. - better yet, get a place where you can isolate from family, like a coworking space or a cafè. If you need isolation, get some construction headphones. - if your work need tight working in team, negotiate some days of work in office and some days or remote work. - the companies should face the truth: the management is often incompetent and cannot properly manage projects.
remote work improved the quality of living for me, especially beeing in a country where the cost of living is low and the weather is good. I would never change this again, I would even quit my job in order to keep this lifestyle. company`s in the past fired their employees, now the employees fire their company as soon they bring nothing to the table, I am flexible so should be the company! or you loose good stuff if you are too slow, my life is more important then any job, good people will find always something as long as they bring something to the table :)
Honestly, none of these arguments seem to outweigh the benefits of working from home and sounds like bullshit made up to justify going back to the office when it's completely unnecessary.
Bosses can force me to abandon remote work, but won't be able to persuade me it is better. Since working remotely, I no longer waste up to three hours per day moving to the office, I have more flexibility on managing my time as I see fit, I save money from moving costs, have less risks on being falling victim of accidents or criminals and all summed up, makes me live a less stressful life with chance of spending more time with family or investing it on my personal development/leisure. Only drawback I can think related to remote working is having less opportunities to socialize with colleages, but that wasn't something I did very often when used to go to the office anyway.
To me , I don’t have an office at all … I own a company with over 200 Staff ( Call Center Outsourcing ) … and I only works either from home , at coffee shop or at the meeting room in the locations . On the other side , 30% of my staff are working from home , but they are some catches to make it successful . I only hire house wife’s and max of 5 hours / Day . This is what I get from the past 3 years of experience after the pandemic
I'm a big proponent of face to face interactions and believe they are super important in creating "culture". That's why I'm a huge supporter of remote work. It allwos me to maximize face to face interactions with my family and establish a good family "culture" with my kids.
Propaganda TEDx talk trying to spin remote work as negative for the wealthy real estate owners... lol... Losing those billions in leases and incentives is really bothering them.
Is it true that at the end of 2023 , that MOST people still mostly work from home? When do most people ever leave their home nowadays? Is this not a massive social change that deserves more discussion on the mainstream news media? Why does it seem that not enough focus is given to this major social change and the repercussions that it might have in the commercial real estate market? What are they going to do with ALL of the buildings that people use to go to work?
Great thinking experiment, but I didn't like comparing new employee requests for hybrid work to having the "perfect coffee barista by the tech companies". The value of hybrid changes from person to person. Having two young kids/toddlers at home I can say that working from home allowed mw to be more involved in their lives far more than any pre-covid work allowed. So don't try to over simplify
Why do we have to pick one only? Why not both? I want to spend more time at home and I also want to meet some people in the office. Hybrid is the answer imo.
It's enormously difficult, and frankly out of reach for most, to find affordable housing near a metro area and deal with the pressures of commuting while parenting. I work on a computer, and doing this from home has transformed my life in so many healthy ways and increased my company loyalty in the process. Unfortunately, executives and other people removed from the work are listening to people like this speaker and now I have to find another job. I will look for remote positions as much as I can.
The world had evolved, gone are the 'completely off weekends'. If that is good depends on who you ask: a how many days of vacation person or someone who is really invested in their job, meaning if they can't sleep do they look at the ceiling or do some remote work? I really enjoy remote work too but just saying it cuts both ways.
@@MatthewCampbell74 Like I said, it cuts both ways. Commute time saved is probably (if not rightly so already) expected to be work time too. I love remote working too but look at it from the employers point of view.
Commute time is completely wasted for me with dealing stressful traffic and public. Also I am very distracted if I have to work at office as it is hard for me to avoid meaningless office small talk. So I prefer to work from all time from home. Personally I see no advantages for myself to work at an office in my job.
Distractions are the crux of work from home. The desire for it in the absolute is the crux of the conversation for hiring. The social fabric of it was dominated by negative bias before and is now a mixed bag, where it should be, that shows it can work and can not work based on several variables. Assuming it does or doesn't it is easy, finding out whether it does or does not based on combinations of variables is hard. Do the hard work to get the best setup individually or for your company. Anything less and you are slowly stacking lost opportunity cost.
Catching up on calls and emails during my commute time? More like focusing on driving and fighting traffic for over an hour. Working remote removes all that stress AND saves money!
Yes! 👏
He must live in city where they have public transportation.. Checking emails while I fight traffic 😅😅😅
...he was talking about what you do when you don't have to commute...same time, different context...duh?
And you also dont use diesel or gasoil to produce CO2... By the way i Can now have Time to make sport which is way better to start sit in m'y car for one hour.
@nubiega9016 What's messed up is there are maybe 10 or fewer cities in the US where public transportation is even a realistic option.
His view is so myopic, you could tell he was using pretzel logic to make in-office even sound viable anymore.
I've been working remote for two years. Although it's not always easy due to isolation, the freedom it gives hard workers is priceless
AGREED!! they just want you there to stare at you and control you. It’s more expensive to commute, worse for your diet, you can sit by your calming dog - NO TIME WASTED - this guy is just a douche - oh parents of school aged kids were more stressed - oh you mean like when the kids DIDNT HAVE SCHOOL!!
I agree with both of you!
@@radicalmama135 software engineer here, i play video games and do other stuff while working remotely, working maybe 2-3h a day so productivity is EXTREMELY LOW and no one seems to care
Here's a freelance writer since 2019 (full-time home worker). I've never had a better job, and freedom made me the best writer I could be.
Liking something has nothing to do with the productivity derived from that thing. Wish labor would grow up and at least admit this. Its empirically true.
I am a remote worker. My company broke the lease on our building and I have no office to go back to. I’m glad. I prefer to work from home.
I would like my company to do that to make sure i will never go to office again. I feel like work at home is about to end.
My husband's office was one of these cases as well. They were coming up on the renewal and were debating moving the office elsewhere or closing it altogether and go remote when the pandemic made the decision for them. They even allowed the staff to bring home whatever they wanted from the old office.
Yes being a loser with no workers is the way to go
@@pj6857not "no workers", no OFFICE, meaning; more resources for employees and no costs for office space, utilities, etc...
Those leases were upwards of $10k/month.Much more economic to work remotely.There’s less wear and tear on your car too.
After experiencing the effects of the pandemic, my perspective on remote work completely shifted, and I found myself embracing its charms!
I've been working fully remote for the last 3 years and my productivity increased and costs decreased. Got promoted since too. Plus all the extea time.
i hope you are not celling us anything here
I think the answer is simple.
If your job requires you to physically touch things, or manage people who do, you need to be in the office enough to do that in a timely manner.
If your job doesn't require you to touch things, it can be done either way.
The company should set performance expectations and employees should be allowed to deliver on those expectations from wherever they like.
Nonsense... I run a sales team at amazon. EVERYONE self-reported increased productivity during our wild west work from home if you want policy. Our sales numbers were down 21% for my team (30 people) and down 27% across the entire org (13,000 people). You've lost the argument at that point. Full stop. Google is doing the same thing. So is microsoft. So are countless others, big and small. You think all these companies are dragging people back to the office because management loves paying for insanely expensive office space and commuting themselves? Just....stop.....we get it....labor LIKES remote work. Has nothing to do with productivity. You want to talk about how companies should pay that premium for employee well being, fine. You want to complain about how corporations are just....like.....super lame dude....fine. But stop saying its more productive. It isnt.
Although I think this is true I also think there’s something about going into the office that changes work from normal life
I know there’s tons of benefits of WFH (haven’t been in an office since 2020) but I sometimes doubt if WFH can go on forever
We don't need a whole TED investigation on this. Remote work is the way to go. 🎉
Exactly. "It's complicated" is enough to tell me how stupid this is going to be.
You not willing to listen shows me that you’re just biased and entitled and because of that, I can’t take you seriously.
@@SquarePenix. He might have watched the TED talk and determined that it wasn't worth watching? Now who's biased?
Absolutely! Only benefits! Work on site make no sense when you can do the same job remotely. Time and money saved , stress saved , co2 saved less people on traffic jam.. c'mon !
We're not their audience. NPCs need to be told what to think.
I've done full office, then full remote, then full office again. In my opinion, the hybrid model is a good balance. Work from home with a regular catch-up office time helps balance my energy levels while not feeling entirely isolated
Yeah, I agree but how often do you think we need to go to office for a good balance? I would say once every 2 months where companies do some events.
Full remote. I don't work to make friends. I only do it to get paid.
The "commutes are good for transition b/w work and home" argument is so obviously flawed, it's astonishing that it's still their go-to. Hey, if you need an hour to decompress from work, then go outside and go for a walk for an hour. It's better for you (and the environment) than commuting and you can get the same psychological separation benefit.
The straight answer is that commutes are not good.
👏👍
I commute every day from my Homeoffice to my Homeoffice by taking a walk 🙂
He is defending work from the office while giving a TED Talk remotely from home😂
What I find ironic is that most C level executives have been working hybrid or fully remote long before the pandemic.
Got me 😂😂😂😂 lmao
It's very true that there are a lot of positive pros of work WFH or hybrid policy.
1) Being precise and productive.
2) Diversity inclusion.
3) Equal opportunity.
4) Retaining the productivity talent.
4) Avoidance of most common office politics.
5) Employer have variety of talent.
6) Travel time can be used for effective learning to work & professional growths and certification also.
7) Company's day to day operational cost effective or saving.
That's insane
@@Desmondmk3That's because they know working from home is better. They only time the go to the office is to get their butts kissed.
I don't need to spend an hour in a car or train "decompressing" before seeing my family. I WANT to see them more. Remote work allows that to happen. These conversations should be employee focused rather than employer focused. If you can perform your function remotely and choose to do that then you should have all the power to make that choice. I don't live to work, I work to live. I love being remote and can't see myself ever desiring the office after these past few years.
Indeed, if you need to "decompress" from work, maybe you are in the wrong work.
I agree that his explanation for commute time is weak. Not everyone relies on public transportation which would enable them to read emails on their way to work and I would question his credibility as an educated and sane person if he is recommending drivers to do the same thing. Commute on it's own is another stress factor placed on employees. I bus it to work and stuff I have to worry about is the schedule of when the bus will arrive and leave at my stop and it's never accurate. It either comes earlier or later than scheduled causing unnecessary stress. For my co-workers who do drive, traffic, aggressive drivers on the road and parking is an added stress for them.
@@jon6309 I agree. There was a study done a while back that shows that the length of a persons commute, to and from work, has a direct correlation with depression.
@@NickGutor worse; in the wrong family 😮
I have spent years riding trains / busses. Never in my life has the thought crossed my mind: "gee I can't wait to get on the bus and finish my book."
What a bizarre argument!
The problem is quality of life. When you commute two hours a day or more, when do you have time to spend with your family, hobbies and me-time? It sucks. I get home at 7pm, my kid is in bed at 8:30pm. Five nights a week, it’s depressing.
If you’re commuting 2 hours that’s a personal problem
@@steftrandoit's average in any city in the world that's insane amount of time lost
@@steftrandoI don't understand your thoughts . Do you/employers expect all of to have a home near the office ? 😊 Remote work offers solution to the growing demand in a city like ours (Bangalore ) Due to the complete inflexible mindset in our team many of us helplessly take leave on Wednesday after being in office for Monday and Tuesday , the 1hr 20 mins commute extended to 3 hrs (irrespective of the distance )
@@steftrando people develop connections and attachments to the community they live in. Not everyone are office bugs to move homes near the office every time they change jobs
Working in an openoffice space is the worst experience a person can have - abysmal productivity, because of constant noise and random interruptions make working from an office a big NO for me alongside with long commutes, because offices here are usually on the other side of the city and it would take me at least 2 hours a day of commuting. What I do with the 2 extra hours, that are not used for commute anymore - I go in the park near me and take a walk and spend some time reading. Commuting is abysmal before/after work hours with overcrowded uncomfortable public transport or driving to the usual traffic jam. The point for after meeting relationship build/rebuild is also a total BS for me - after meetings(especially long ones) I don't want to communicate with anybody I have just been in a meeting with. The whole idea, that within a company we are "one big family" and that you MUST build personal relationships during work is another BS - I am there to do a job, not make friends and if I find someone interesting I would befriend them outside of office hours.
There are two questions, and only two.
• Can I meet my deliverables working remotely?
• Do I want to work remotely, hybrid, or in an office?
That's all.
3:48 I don't care about nap pods, ball pits, or any of that other bullshit.
4:30 None of your business what I did during my commute. I'm glad I don't have to fight terrible drivers or sit next to someone on the bus who didn't shower for a month.
6:00 I'm not trying to sell you anything; I'm looking to do my job without having to go to an office.
Except you see it’s not complicated at all. It’s much better being able to work from home when it’s completely unnecessary to be in the office.
Better for you, the worker, your life is better and happier but how does your happiness enrich the owners?!
This video is focused on productivity, how much you can make for them.
@@lordbeniel The truth is that the majority of people can focus better at home, coming back to the office once a week now is dedicated to networking, tightening bonds, and making people feel part of the group. In the case of actual work, people get much more distracted at the office because they are now used to the quiet of their homes and productivity is falling down.
focus better from home without all the office type distractions and commute prep, waiting plus the actual commute time. Realistically, concentration times are typically 8-10 hours per day at home, as opposed to 2-3 in office.
If office managers were really concerned with bonds and making people feel relaxed and part of a group they would give job guarantees for a year at a clip; but it is really about bosses power trips of seeing workers at desks for them. 😂
@@vceisdead We have work social online chat rooms that notify with a bubble, somehow wherever you are looking on the screen. Annoying, notification whenever anyone in the chat has a comment like 'agreed' or 'thank you'. There was a particular 45 minute chat I recall about favorite pizza toppings - WFH doesn't hurt productivity (quite the opposite) but social non work chats that include everyone does.
That talk eloquently stated the obvious while at the same time giving mental space to managers to call for in person work. Essentially: 'remote work is great over a couple years as facts show, but long term its bad because reasons that are so complicated only a manager could truly make the judgement call because only they know their business.' I posit there is a huge number of people in white collar jobs whose actual only skill is being good looking, looking busy, or being bossy. Its hard to do any of these things in remote work situations. Also there is real estate factor- people forced to commute are forced to live close to office and drive up real estate prices in that area which benefit those invested. Imagine if you owned apartments in the city where your corp is located and you're a VP.
I'm working hybrid 2 days on and 3 days at home. At this point any future job would have to pay an absolute premium for me to go into the office at all times.
Also, to answer his questionI spend the extra time cleaning, getting stuff done around the house, and sleeping this in turn leads me to having more time with my daughter and the things I enjoy.
And I find when you get those things done during what would have been commute time, your weekends are much more relaxing and enjoyable because you're not spending those 48 hrs doing chores, only to prepare for the new week to start all over again. HUGE improvement in quality of life!!
Basically remote work changed 'lived to work' back to what it is supposed to be, 'work to live'.
I hear you but as an employer I just heard you admit that you are doing things during the day that aren’t what I am paying you to do. I don’t pay you to clean up your home or do laundry. I want you working on xyz and focused.
@atl3630 that's not at all what I said. I said the extra time I.E. time I would be driving into work. Time that was never yours to begin with.
If we want our countries to stop roasting in 110°F+ heat, then working from home and reducing needless commutes is far more essential than saving the rich from bad real estate investments.
We could also convert all that unnecessary office space into desperately needed housing and do something useful with that square footage
I’m a remote worker and work collaboratively with my team through Teams. We team-build and bond together working through issues that arise. Through remote hires, we are able to hire the best in their respective fields without the cost and stress of relocation. No disruptions to families, communities or children’s stability. It’s a win-win. Does it work for all industries, of course not. But many are viable using this model. Change is afoot and companies need to adapt.
Short answer, yes. Travel, Travel Costs, Office Politics, Companies even save money by not wasting it on unneeded office space, need I say more. Can depend on the industry, I work in marketing, all I need is a laptop and an internet connection, so just makes logical sense. As for isolation, I enjoy my own company and have social hobbies I do outside of work so I am all good. Did not even need to watch the video lol.
Haha, I also didn't watch this video, we can learn more by reading comments😉🙂
The answer is simple: if it’s not 100% remote, then it’s a “no go”.
There is a reason that the flexibility policy is the first question everyone is asking recruiters
Nothing complicated about it. Remote work is better than being in the office.
Plenty of Corporate propaganda trying to convince us otherwise so they can justify their leases, but it's unquestionable, and not complicated at all. Plus, it's far better for the environment.
Remote work is good when you have a good place in your house. By other side the office is the house for many people.
@@lucasignis true: i dont have room for a dedicated office at home. so my regular gaming desk would have to double as my office place which to me is an invasion into my free time area. it brings all the troubles of work to the place i dedicate to my free time. and on the other hand my free time activities will always be there tempting me when i am supposed to be productive.
also i am not the most commucative person. almost to the point of being introverted. but i still enjoy some conversation with people in a controlled environment like the office where i can chat about work related stuff from different projects. i need that common ground of the office topics to open up and talk to people. when i am at home (homeoffice or vacation) i end up going weeks without leaving my home or talking to another person face to face.
an all that comes before considering that i am an electrical engineer and software developer working on (sometimes several) machines that dont even fit on my desk at work... so good luck bringing these into a home office!
some of them even need compressed air....
@@vceisdead i draw the line to being introverted at getting exhausted from interacting with other people, which i dont.
as long as i find a topic that i am interested in i am quite happy to talk to people and i even got myself to be able to do something that maybe passes as smalltalk. but i dont "need" human interaction or traveling when going on vacation. i know some people who almost lost it when everything was shut down due to covid.... i was happy as i finally had a somewhat accepted excuse for not going outside if i didnt have to.
also i have a couple of online friends that i still talk to while at home. just not "face to face"
@@TheScarvig this is the main problem I am having, trying to get a job, but alot of what I find in my field is remote work, that i just don't feel comfortable doing.
No, no it's not complicated. Stop pushing this company propaganda.
100%
Thank you , you said the term ! it's a Propaganda! They like control our lives so much . When benefits of remote work are insane on life quality
We need an updated version of this since this was in october 2021. We need an october 2023 one in the future
It is only complicated to commercial real state moguls and investors. For the rest of us remote work or hybrid work gives us more freedom to do what we like and spend time with our loved ones
Remote Work > Office
It's that simple
Nice to know that some people can chill or read or whatever on their commutes. I have to drive and not hit animals, stupid drivers or construction workers..... for 2 hours every single day. That's 8 hours a week (we have a longer day to compensate hours and always have) I would rather go the gym, or read a book, or be outside. I don't disagree that hotel stations at smaller meeting style centers would be good to have for hybrid so that there is still a social aspect to the job if you want it. But nobody should be forced to go into work if it's not required for their job. And no building should charge $1,000/person/month for office space.
i used to commute to college about 1h per trip. most of that time was spent in a single train and i had my fixed spot because both start and end were major stops so i almost always got to pick where to sit.
with 45min of train ride i got into the habit of napping or reading in the train. the naps were especially useful as they were essentially 2 additional hours of sleep to counteract my lack of sleep due to gaming deep into the night.
BUT if i had to drive i wouldnt commute more than 30-45 min of driving per trip...
though to be fair in my new job i had to drive about that time before i found my current flat and i gotta say as NOT a morning person this half hour of mandatory attention was giving me a bit of a jumpstart in the morning and had me less sluggish in the first hours on the clock
Use the commute to decompress? Really?
Squeezed in a hot sweaty tube train for 45min if I'm lucky and it runs on time? Everyday? For 'culture'?
Nope. Hybrid and then on case to case basis.
Travelling to the office EVERY day when you can do the same job from home is extremely frustrating and that is why we are asking what is your company's flexibility at an interview.
Sometimes, we just want to get on with our job at peace.
That statement was the grossest part of this propaganda piece
I will never set foot in another office again
Anything is better than being in the office
I have a higher productivity when I work remotely
Me too.
Dear Boomers,
We aren't going back to the office
This video is brought to you by people tremendously over-invested in now vacant office space
I'm not sure I appreciate your perspective. Where's the one from they guy commuting, picking up his dry cleaners, grabbing the kids from achool and dropping them of at dance. The one trying to navigate school traffic and then work traffic. The guy whose wife has to work a 9-5 too because the jobs don't pay much and the cost of living/ average pay is worse than the great depression. We are not all CEO's Sir. To work from home ALMOST fills the gap, but that still leaves many working paycheck to paycheck.
I can't work from home all the time as a scientist and when I had the option (while analyzing samples for example) I liked the focus, accountability, and separation from home that came with going into the office. As a customer I hate calling a customer service line and hearing their TV or children crying in the background or having to wait even longer while texting them because they're obviously doing something else. Multitasking isn't for everyone and it's even more apparent in these situations and can be very frustrating.
4:21 What does it matter to you how someone uses that reclaimed commute time? It's their time to use for whatever they want, and it's really none of your business. So you gave one benefit of a commute: decompression. What about the benefits of not having a commute, like the money saved, the greenhouse gases prevented, the car maintenance prevented, the money saved on insurance, the scary situations on the road avoided? Your decompression benefit looks laughably trivial compared to those and really says more about how crummy it is to work nowadays than anything, where you might need an hour just to decompress before walking upstairs to your family. Maybe the answer is simply working less and making our lives less about work.
Honestly a real nothing burger of a talk. Seems like it’s mostly aimed at employers looking for some doublespeak to try and sell coming back to the office to gullible prospects. You can tell right from the start from the “three problems” to solve. Delivering to stakeholders. Staffing. Maintaining company culture. You notice what is conspicuously absent? Literally ANY consideration for the needs of the employees. The only time it even gets a passing nod is in staffing, but from the perspective of what you *have* to offer to get them to sign the contract, not on what’s actually good for them, with some good tips on how to delude them into thinking wasting time sitting in traffic every day is a benefit.
“Escalation of perks”? I believe the term you are looking for is “a labor market”. You make it sound like employers actually having to compete on working conditions in order to fill headcount is some bout of temporary insanity to be recovered from. That is how it SHOULD be. ALL THE TIME. And I can only assume with “ball pits” and “slides”, you are either being deliberately condescending, or actually think those are the kinds of perks people were asking for. Either way you come off as extremely out of touch with actual employees.
And the commute argument really kills any claim that you are attempting a good faith conversion. The “what are you doing on your commute” argument falls apart at even the most cursory of inspection. What most people are doing on their commute is sitting in traffic feeling stressed. There are mountains of peer reviewed scientific studies linking commutes to everything from worse cardiovascular health to depression to high blood pressure, and lower life satisfaction.
Second, there is the simple fact that even if you assume sitting in your car for an hour after work is great for you despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, working from home doesn’t actually rob you of that option. The great part of not having a commute is it can do *whatever you want* with that time. If at the end of the day, you want to leave your house and go find some traffic to sit in, you can still do that. It just that commuting is such an objectively and obviously TERRIBLE use of your time, that the idea somebody would do it if they didn’t *have* to is so outlandish that it’s easy to miss.
Are there arguments for working in the office? Sure. But given the content of this talk, it’s hard to imagine a scenario other than you either deliberately arguing in bad faith or you just are too out of touch to really be qualified to give a talk on the subject.
It’s fascinating how many people are commenting on here as absolutes - WFH works, end of discussion, or vice versa.
I think it’s going to depend on many factors. The type of work you do, the company culture you work in, how far you would have to commute, your own personality…and probably more.
I am lucky to work in an organisation that fully supports working from home. Before the pandemic our office was 150-200 staff, with a small handful working from home. Now, the office generally has less than 10 people in it, and the work is still getting done. I choose to go into the office as my home is too small to have an effective workspace, I live alone so like seeing other people, and my commute is short.
As is obvious, the majority of people are choosing to work from home and many have said it never appealed before, but now they love it. On the counter side, many are also working longer hours as that prompt to stop the day of the cleaners / security start nudging them go home is no longer there. A number have said that’s a downside. Also, as I’m in the office every week day I see the reaction from people when they come in for the occasional day. “OMG, it’s great to be here and see everyone face to face again”, “I’ve had loads of conversations with people that I just wouldn’t over a teams call” (referring to those water cooler type chats - “Hadn’t you heard, they’re phasing that out”), and tellingly “I’d love to come to the office more often…but I probably won’t, I like it at home.
Does working in the office suit me? Yes. Do I think there are advantages of being in the office and being able to have those 2 minute chats that just don’t quite warrant a call? Yes. Is there a different and often better dynamic between people face to face, rather than a video call. Personally, I think there is…subtle, but it’s there. Do I think everyone should be made to return to the office. Totally not. I just find watching how things have changed fascinating.
Boss, the one who did job over 10 years in office would prefer WFH. But, the one who is a college passout would love to go office because they want to explore socialize in their early part of the life.
I think most would prefer to socialize with friends they have something in common with than spend a set number of hours with people they are required to be with. Anyway, there are lots of networking meetups that have no 40 hour a week requirement.
@@rachelk4805 ok, but do new hires have the opportunity to learn on the job from those friends? and remember we are talking new hires right out of college, they don't live alone, and are stuck having to deal with whatever problem of the week their family has.
Right on time. I've been having this conversation with everyone I know lately. My dad says I would be losing communication and soft skills when I work from home. But going to work every day and commuting is too much, as well as having to deal with all the office politics. Hybrid would be ideal, I think.
Working from home does not mean isolating from people. We exchanged commuting time to physical drawing and painting classes in an art school as well as to learning Italian with a human teacher. I know people who work together in one another's house and having conversation the whole day. They work for different businesses yet they work together in a relaxing and comfy way. Its not your employer's business from where you are working from, even if they firmly believe it is.
@vceisdead EXACTLYYY!! This is my point too! But my dad says you have to be able to adapt to people you don't like as well and face conflicts. But it's too damn much tbh.
I'm a civil engineer. I waste 2 hours whenever I go into the office, and all for very little benefit, as the office is practically empty. Right now I'm in a deadline crunch, and I do not have time to waste going to the office. To be frank I only go when I have to print out plans. Furthermore, the people I am working with on my current project work in other cities or in other firms, so I do not even meet my work team when I go to the office.
One of the major advantages to working remote, is I can sort my emails every weekend. This takes a few hours, and I usually do it Sunday evening. It helps me plan my week, see what is falling between the cracks, and of course, I end up with sorted emails. I used to have 1000s of unsorted emails.
These counter point to wfh are seriously weak. The guy just said he LIKED wasting an hour a day decompressing from a work interaction he probably would not have even had if he wasn’t forced into the office.
I like both. I work 2 days TWH in the office and 3 at home. Sometimes 3 days in the office depending on meetings.
I'm more motivated /productive with my work knowing I have that flexibility.
I bet 90% of people would agree with you.
There might be some people who want to be in the office all the time and perhaps some none of the time.
Some meetings in person are good. All of them is a waste of time.
Same with studying, not only working. I think the best is a mix of both. I miss going to some type of office or building cause I can't really concentrate at home and miss human connection. Even if I study/edit I usually go to a bar or the library cause I can't stand the isolation even though I love being alone. I just need a balance. Cause driving or public transport can be very stressful.
Could you please help me to get an remotely work?
Did seriously sound alike a big time corp guy hired by the BIGGEST CORPS
Yep, pathetic how much they're pushing us to go back. In reality they're desperate for the money, returns on their investment, boomers in useless middle management roles panicking that their useless job will finally be noticed as useless and get let go like they should have been during the pandemic.
It's laughable how desperate these companies are.
I’ve been working from home
Since 2020 and been loving it due to the flexibility but I’m now starting to think it may not be the best long term as I get older and have a family.
Hard to separate work and life when WFH at times
Depends on your job but we work a hybrid model and it's silly. Go all the way in to work two days a week to go on zoom meetings 😄
There are many studies to show that working from is actually more productive in many sectors of the economy. However, higher-ups in companies now have a 10-year lease on an office that is costing them expenses each year, thus making them look bad to investors by having their resources tied up useless real estate. This is all just corporate propoganda to pad their own pockets and resumes, while making the working class suffer with low wages and depressing jobs in offices they don't want to be in, when they could be doing the job more productively from home. It has nothing to do with company culture. The whole "quiet quitting" movement really caused some problems for these greedy higher-ups in both big and small corporations. Instead of all of this propoganda, why not just pay employees more for the work that they do for your company? Many employees would stay in a job they hate, if they feel that the pay is worth the job. This Ted Talk is clearly geared towards company owners with no perspective from the employees that they are trying to hire. The real problem has to do with the rise of inflation, and the stagnance of employee wages.
Thanks to remote working I have more time to meet the people I love and like: family and friends. Why should I sacrifice this precious time for commuting just to work with people I might like (but can't choose or even don't like?).
Do they really want to tell us that meeting our coworkers makes us human ?
Sounds like 19th century imho.
During this talk he was very clearly talking to business owners and managers, stating 'You're current or potential employees' or 'You need to reclaim that narrative' when talking about the perception of both sides. This entire talk is to give managers and bosses ways to talk to employees that will convince them to agree with working from the office. He hasn't actually provided any real benefits to working in office.
The answer to the question the video poses is very simple but dependent on the industry and the work itself. If it is possible to work from home, then it is overwhelmingly shown to be beneficial to work from home. If there is any aspect of your profession that requires in person interaction, then you need to be at an office or similar location in order to have that interaction. Simple.
Break it down to each industry and the answer presents itself with the data already available.
My commute was the worst part about working in the office. An hour each way trying not to die. Perhaps all the other drivers around me are reading books and going through emails. I have reclaimed two hours of my life, I eat healthier with my kitchen here, I exercise over my lunch, I don’t have to wake up at dark thirty, and most importantly, I get to spend more time with my family. The idea of having to lose all that just to be present in a cube with a group of people that do not care about my existence does not give any weight to your argument.
My wife and I have 3 kids and we both worked remote 100% from 2020 till now. We both love it and it has made life easier for us all. I think companies putting a blanket choice makes for employees not being happy. This in turn causes two of the three issues you mentioned. I also dont care about not being around people I am a natural introvert and I get plenty of interaction with friends and family. I dont need friends at work.
I think the best choice is being hybrid. My company implement the hybrid system, and its work. The positive side from wfo is we can interact with our co-work and discuss about things more clearly, but sometimes we need to relax ourself like not being pathetic when we have to prepare go to office in the morning, get all of the trafic, and etc.
We also have to recognize that real estate and office space rentals are suffering as an effect of companies downsizing their office space giving employees to work remotely. That’s the main problem isn’t it. And that is why I see so many tactics of discouragement of media’s trying to persuade people off from wanting to work remotely.
I've been working for a fully remote company for a year now and I absolutely love the level of flexibility and the extra time. I'm in the process of moving outside of a busy city centre area to a small town surrounded by nature. Then there are the little things. I get to spend my Friday lunches with a refugee girl. We discuss various topics while practising the local language. There's a big chance that I wouldn't be able to do this after evening commutes from the office
I work together with 1 person most of the time and we do that remotely with screen sharing. We’re used to it and it’s actually more efficient for us this way. For multi-person meetings that don’t center around all staring at the same screen the office is still the best option though. That being said I wouldn’t give up my work from home work-life balance for any job.
This guy's commute was an hour one way!? Kudos to him for being able to decompress, but I have experienced increased blood pressure more than anything else from commuting.
Let your team achieve the goal togather with team-inspired solutions, the rest is all about individual time management. Remote or At-offiice work should be based on the nature of the job and individual preference. Having new social/community activities as a team is more benificial to strengthen the relationship, rather than pushing people to get back to the office.
I will insist from now on: any argument against remote work will be immediately denied if it comes from a CEO or any executive, they love micromanagement and remote work destroys that. I will only hear good arguments from common workers.
Reason to go back to office is very simple. Most people are lazy and tracking their progress is difficult, productivity is way down, as people take care of personal stuff on company time. Some do well from home, but those are the minority. Most folks need to be at the office to be at least somewhat productive.
videos like this are why exec teams never get anything done, and then pat each other on the back. ive been remote for 3 years now, our department has put up our best numbers since our department was created. You missed out on technology and communication via software's like teams. i dont need to see joes face and to talk with joe about a problem or challenge. In office only is a very 1950's way of thinking
We ill see:
a) productively
b) Hiring of Talent and
b) Culture of company
Very good 👏🏻
I thinking that the better policy its hibrid work.
This is the guy that would tell you have to work in the office from now on
I just loved to read the real reasons why remote is better. We don’t need the corporate world to tell us. WE KNOW IT. The commentaries rock❤
Great and balanced chat thanks - will be using for my students
remote working for the win, I could never go back to office
I think office work is fine if the office is 10-15 minute drive from our homes. The huge issue nowadays is that most offices are in downtown and most of us are being priced out of the cities. As someone early in his career I do agree that WFH certainly hindered my professional growth, but at the same time even if i wanted to drive to the office (located DT) factoring gas prices it would make it very difficult to make ends meet.
it's nice to have the "option" to WFH, not totally removed it and make it a monitoring issue just because Top Management doesn't "trust" or doesn't respect the SLA of a project, or just isn't wanting to change the way it was done "before" transfering to the new role and rather adopt, not adapt.
WFH to me is way to recharge my energy and diffuse some of the stress from having to commute or to see the big boss face. I have to drive to commute coz public transport is very bad. So not much I can do while commuting, so it's nice to not travel everyday.
it's all a matter of finding balance. Commuting 2 times a day, every day, it's painful in particular if there is no reason for it.
- the idea of not having a proper work/life balance is ALWAYS going to be present during in-presence jobs: if you're productive, you're going to be overload with work to counterbalance unproductive collegues.
- if you are good, there will ALWAYS people that abuse your kindness and skills, to do less work. It's more difficult to do that when you're not available.
- If your problem is decompressing from work, get a bike, get our of the house for a quick run, return refreshed.
- better yet, get a place where you can isolate from family, like a coworking space or a cafè. If you need isolation, get some construction headphones.
- if your work need tight working in team, negotiate some days of work in office and some days or remote work.
- the companies should face the truth: the management is often incompetent and cannot properly manage projects.
As a parent, I will fight for Remote work til the end of time.
Embracing remote work can also be beneficial for companies, for example you can save more money because you don't have to pay for office rent.
Bad for companies. Good for workers.
remote work improved the quality of living for me, especially beeing in a country where the cost of living is low and the weather is good. I would never change this again, I would even quit my job in order to keep this lifestyle. company`s in the past fired their employees, now the employees fire their company as soon they bring nothing to the table, I am flexible so should be the company! or you loose good stuff if you are too slow, my life is more important then any job, good people will find always something as long as they bring something to the table :)
Honestly, none of these arguments seem to outweigh the benefits of working from home and sounds like bullshit made up to justify going back to the office when it's completely unnecessary.
If you are a commercial real estate owner/investor then others being in office is what you want!
Bosses can force me to abandon remote work, but won't be able to persuade me it is better.
Since working remotely, I no longer waste up to three hours per day moving to the office, I have more flexibility on managing my time as I see fit, I save money from moving costs, have less risks on being falling victim of accidents or criminals and all summed up, makes me live a less stressful life with chance of spending more time with family or investing it on my personal development/leisure.
Only drawback I can think related to remote working is having less opportunities to socialize with colleages, but that wasn't something I did very often when used to go to the office anyway.
WFH only. I have more time to meet with people I actually like.
Absolutely
Wfh is better it lesser the carbon emissions produced by commuting
The real problem is the Real State. The more people stay at home, companies stop renting.
Exactly. I work in the centre of London and can't imagine how much money is involved in the properties we work in.
💯
it is for immunocompromised people during a mass disabling pandemic.
To me , I don’t have an office at all … I own a company with over 200 Staff ( Call Center Outsourcing ) … and I only works either from home , at coffee shop or at the meeting room in the locations .
On the other side , 30% of my staff are working from home , but they are some catches to make it successful . I only hire house wife’s and max of 5 hours / Day . This is what I get from the past 3 years of experience after the pandemic
Thoughtful presentation. Key take away is that the work environment and cultures are dynamic. Evolution is driving much of that dynamism.
Excellent one.
I'm a big proponent of face to face interactions and believe they are super important in creating "culture".
That's why I'm a huge supporter of remote work. It allwos me to maximize face to face interactions with my family and establish a good family "culture" with my kids.
Propaganda TEDx talk trying to spin remote work as negative for the wealthy real estate owners... lol... Losing those billions in leases and incentives is really bothering them.
I like being in the office. Nothing beats human interaction and collaboration
Is it true that at the end of 2023 , that MOST people still mostly work from home? When do most people ever leave their home nowadays? Is this not a massive social change that deserves more discussion on the mainstream news media? Why does it seem that not enough focus is given to this major social change and the repercussions that it might have in the commercial real estate market? What are they going to do with ALL of the buildings that people use to go to work?
Plus you’ll be more attached with your family rather than interaction from people you don’t know and don’t like
Important talk.
I work form home full time and you can't convince me that office work brings any benefits. Been working better ever since and way more productive
if you have a good apartment and good work space it can be good
Great thinking experiment, but I didn't like comparing new employee requests for hybrid work to having the "perfect coffee barista by the tech companies". The value of hybrid changes from person to person. Having two young kids/toddlers at home I can say that working from home allowed mw to be more involved in their lives far more than any pre-covid work allowed. So don't try to over simplify
its better for the workers but worse for productivity/management of human resources etc.
I guess Hybrid model is best it gives the opportunity team to work remotely as well as it allow them to physically connected with office family!
Our office does a 50% split, best of both worlds.
For me, there are no benefits to going to the office. Micromanaging, two faced people, office drama. I would rather keep that remote.
Why do we have to pick one only? Why not both? I want to spend more time at home and I also want to meet some people in the office. Hybrid is the answer imo.
It's enormously difficult, and frankly out of reach for most, to find affordable housing near a metro area and deal with the pressures of commuting while parenting. I work on a computer, and doing this from home has transformed my life in so many healthy ways and increased my company loyalty in the process. Unfortunately, executives and other people removed from the work are listening to people like this speaker and now I have to find another job. I will look for remote positions as much as I can.
The world had evolved, gone are the 'completely off weekends'. If that is good depends on who you ask: a how many days of vacation person or someone who is really invested in their job, meaning if they can't sleep do they look at the ceiling or do some remote work? I really enjoy remote work too but just saying it cuts both ways.
Choosing to work outside of your agree upon hours is your choice regardless of whether you work from home or work in an office
@@MatthewCampbell74 Like I said, it cuts both ways. Commute time saved is probably (if not rightly so already) expected to be work time too. I love remote working too but look at it from the employers point of view.
Commute time is completely wasted for me with dealing stressful traffic and public. Also I am very distracted if I have to work at office as it is hard for me to avoid meaningless office small talk. So I prefer to work from all time from home. Personally I see no advantages for myself to work at an office in my job.
Distractions are the crux of work from home. The desire for it in the absolute is the crux of the conversation for hiring. The social fabric of it was dominated by negative bias before and is now a mixed bag, where it should be, that shows it can work and can not work based on several variables. Assuming it does or doesn't it is easy, finding out whether it does or does not based on combinations of variables is hard. Do the hard work to get the best setup individually or for your company. Anything less and you are slowly stacking lost opportunity cost.