Is it just me thinking wfh is abused?

[Anonymous]

I actually think it’s the younger generation with no kids who abuse WFH the most. My nephew is at a ski house he rented with friends most of the winter. Order of priority is skiing, drinking, work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mom of two here. I find it ridiculous that people wfh on a regular basis and are clearly taking care of children at the same time. Suddenly they can't afford childcare even though they don't have to pump gas in the car for a daily commute? It's ridiculous. I'm not talking about the one off snow day or sudden emergency but a regular pattern. Amazed employers haven't started creating policies around this or making employee come into work. Classic example of fussing babies and children needing attention during virtual meetings. Employees are taking advantage and double dipping. Ridiculous.

You sound like a corporate plant. I’m. Most productive from home. Kid always has other stuff to do. During Covid it was online school, snow days now there is snow, books, TVs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love WFH bc I can walk my kids to and from school. They go to aftercare. But if I had to commute every morning, I wouldn’t get that time with them.

So for me, not spending 2+ hours commuting is huge in my work/life balance. It’s also easier when they are sick. Mine are big enough (7&9) now that they mostly watch tv while sick. 5 and younger is hard.

Unless you are spending that two hours saved commuting what is the benefit to the company?

What is the benefit to the company of paying salaries? Offering PTO? Having a healthcare plan?

Maybe just maybeeeeee not everything is all about the benefit to the employer? Perhaps companies realize they need to offer compensation to attract qualified employees? Also there is some benefit to the employer is saved real estate footprint and employees can still get work done even on snow days instead of things shutting down. So I’d actually say it’s a win-win.

[Anonymous]

It’s probably still better than all the wasted time at the office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love WFH bc I can walk my kids to and from school. They go to aftercare. But if I had to commute every morning, I wouldn’t get that time with them.

So for me, not spending 2+ hours commuting is huge in my work/life balance. It’s also easier when they are sick. Mine are big enough (7&9) now that they mostly watch tv while sick. 5 and younger is hard.

Unless you are spending that two hours saved commuting what is the benefit to the company?

What is the benefit to the company of paying salaries? Offering PTO? Having a healthcare plan?

Maybe just maybeeeeee not everything is all about the benefit to the employer? Perhaps companies realize they need to offer compensation to attract qualified employees? Also there is some benefit to the employer is saved real estate footprint and employees can still get work done even on snow days instead of things shutting down. So I’d actually say it’s a win-win.

+1 Happy employees stick around longer. The company also saves on utilities, office supplies, toilet paper, etc.

[Anonymous]

Of course people with school-aged kids who can entertain themselves (or lets be honest be on screens) want to keep WFH. Are you all laboring under the delusion that after school care care is cheap and widely available?

Thanks for another post from the bubble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I actually think it’s the younger generation with no kids who abuse WFH the most. My nephew is at a ski house he rented with friends most of the winter. Order of priority is skiing, drinking, work.

Fair point. A lot of parents are conscientious enough to do the logging back on later stuff, and tend to start earlier in the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mom of two here. I find it ridiculous that people wfh on a regular basis and are clearly taking care of children at the same time. Suddenly they can't afford childcare even though they don't have to pump gas in the car for a daily commute? It's ridiculous. I'm not talking about the one off snow day or sudden emergency but a regular pattern. Amazed employers haven't started creating policies around this or making employee come into work. Classic example of fussing babies and children needing attention during virtual meetings. Employees are taking advantage and double dipping. Ridiculous.

I think it’s mostly just you and a small percentage of other people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mom of two here. I find it ridiculous that people wfh on a regular basis and are clearly taking care of children at the same time. Suddenly they can't afford childcare even though they don't have to pump gas in the car for a daily commute? It's ridiculous. I'm not talking about the one off snow day or sudden emergency but a regular pattern. Amazed employers haven't started creating policies around this or making employee come into work. Classic example of fussing babies and children needing attention during virtual meetings. Employees are taking advantage and double dipping. Ridiculous.

It works differently for different people. Human brain is programmed in such a way that it tries to find flaws, enlarge them and keep them in the permanent memory chamber.
I am a parent of 2 two children and I work from home. I will tell you I end up spending 11+ hours working from home as I tend to keep my laptop always on. I start my work at 8 am after dropping off the kids and work until 5 pm. I also eat lunch at my home office desk often while attending meetings. My team is scattered through different time zones and I cannot block my calendar for an hour of lunch. I take a break at 5 pm, cook, do chores, spend time with kids. At the end of the day when the kids go to bed, I log in to just catch up on next day tasks. I see some emails invariably, respond and unknowingly dive into work. Almost everyday I spend 2 hours at night on my work laptop. By working from home, I am offering my employer 3 additional hours of "FREE" work.

Please do not condemn WFH policy and generalize things just because you found a bunch of people who you think are double dipping. Those type of people are the ones who would waste their and others time even if they go to office. There are kitchen chats, vending machine chats, bathroom breaks and what not at office.

[Anonymous]

Is it just me thinking wfh is abused?


Yes. Just you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mom of two here. I find it ridiculous that people wfh on a regular basis and are clearly taking care of children at the same time. Suddenly they can't afford childcare even though they don't have to pump gas in the car for a daily commute? It's ridiculous. I'm not talking about the one off snow day or sudden emergency but a regular pattern. Amazed employers haven't started creating policies around this or making employee come into work. Classic example of fussing babies and children needing attention during virtual meetings. Employees are taking advantage and double dipping. Ridiculous.

Obvious trolling. Shut up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I actually think it’s the younger generation with no kids who abuse WFH the most. My nephew is at a ski house he rented with friends most of the winter. Order of priority is skiing, drinking, work.

He's not abusing anything. If he's getting his work done, then his employer isn't giving him enough work. If he isn't, they need to fire him. This has nothing to do with work from home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know any parents skipping daycare but know several who gave up afterschool care (and they can definitely afford it). They also take an hour each day (outside of lunch) to pick their kids up at school and walk them home (but still log off at 5-5:30).

It’s frustrating to see as someone with kids who does the right thing, but I don’t work for their employers. If these are your coworkers, complain if it’s impacting you. Otherwise just smile politely when they complain about not getting raises or watch as their career stall.

I am sort of like this, except I start my day at 7 AM, frequently eat at my desk, and only take 20-30 minutes for pickup, so I'm definitely working a minimum of 8 hours a day. My 9 year old just wants to come home and veg on the couch until I'm done work. I don't see how this is abusing WFH. Maybe you don't see your coworkers logging on super early to make up time.

Well with all those caveats it certainly sounds like you are not abusing WFH and should probably be slightly annoyed with those that are, and whose actions could jeopardize your flexibility.

I don't actually know anyone I work with who abuses WFH flexibility, so no, I'm not annoyed with hypotheticals. I can honestly say I have excellent, dedicated colleagues who go above and beyond wherever they are working from. The RTO push jeopardizing my flexibility in my workplace has absolutely NOTHING to do with abuse of WFH.

Sure. Tell yourself that pipe dream. I did WFH on Friday due to snow. I logged on at 9ish in my PJs. Breakfast with family 10ish, shoveled out big driveway 12-2pm, lunch 2-230 back on line 30 minutes, then showered and got dressed, back on line 430 pm to 5:15 pm. Pretty much my schedule when fully remote in 2021 and 2022.

As opposed showered and dressed at my desk 830am to 530 pm every day with a 15 minute lunch in person

Makes me think you don't have enough work. If there are deadlines and priorities set up the correct way, you wouldn't have afforded to waste your time this way. It's not your fault that you easily abused the WFH day, it's your management's fault that they didn't hold you accountable for deliverables.

No, not everyone abuses WFH. Most are honest but a few who do tarnish the WFH image.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP but I have two co-workers who kept their infants at home for a full year while working full-time without any additional help (other than two WFH parents). One of them said she couldn't find childcare, the other one one said her mom was living with them (mom was definitely not living with them, we had mutual friends).

It’s like you are sad that two moms actually got to spend time with their infants!
No work is as important as this. And if they left work they would have a hard time going back because of policies that are hostile to mothers (and to everyone frankly with all the endless interviews).
I am glad infants are getting quality care instead of being in daycares

Meanwhile, those of us with older children or no children at all have to pick up the slack. You're being paid to do a job, not take care of your baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know any parents skipping daycare but know several who gave up afterschool care (and they can definitely afford it). They also take an hour each day (outside of lunch) to pick their kids up at school and walk them home (but still log off at 5-5:30).

It’s frustrating to see as someone with kids who does the right thing, but I don’t work for their employers. If these are your coworkers, complain if it’s impacting you. Otherwise just smile politely when they complain about not getting raises or watch as their career stall.

I gave up aftercare. I spent 30 minutes getting the kids from the bus and helping them get situated with a snack and the remote control while I finish up my work day. I start at 8:30, so even with that half hour distraction, of course I'm logging off at 5:00 or 5:30. Sometimes I have to log on for a bit in the evening to finish things up, though. I frequently see my colleagues who are also parents online at that time. I never see the Gen Z and Millennials who work 9-4 online though. I guess it's okay to take off early for happy hour, but not to watch your kids.