Reply to WaPo opinion piece from a CEO who wants people back in the office

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think if WFH is important to you, make it a priority and you will find it. I did that a decade ago and have never had trouble finding positions with remote work options and flexible scheduling. But that's because it's a priority for me. Earlier in my career, I had other priorities and worked in jobs with no WFH options because it was the only way to do certain kinds of work or work in certain organizations that I really wanted. As I got older and my priorities changed, I didn't mind giving those things up so that I could have more flexibility.

And that's the point. I have worked with many young workers who want WFH and feel resentful when they don't get it. While I understand why they prefer it (I prefer it too!), I think they often are unwilling to accept tradeoffs. Some types of jobs will never go remote. Some organizations never will. There are good and bad reasons for this. Some jobs really just need to be in person, whereas in some instances you are just dealing with a bad organization that can't figure it out. Either way, my recommendation is not to just fight it. Instead, seek out job opportunities that have the work environment you prefer.

That's why I find both sides in this "debate" kind of silly. Yes, WFH can be a huge boon for employees. So, go where they offer it! Don't sit around in a job you hate complaining about how you want to do it from home. I worked in a place a while back that had a generous WFH policy when I started there, then made it more restrictive because they felt some people were abusing it. I left -- I think the better response should have been to replace or discipline people who were abusing the policy, not to simply get rid of it. But that's their choice. I don't want to work somewhere like that.[/quote]

Your last point is so true and frustrating.  When *some* people don’t do well with WFH, that is a management issue between them and their supervisors.  But managers opt for the lazy option of restricting WFH for everyone to solve the problem.  And I am willing to bet employees who abuse work from home privileges aren’t exactly stellar performers when they’re in the office. In your scenario, you, a presumably good and productive employee, left the e company because managers couldn’t manage their people.  I’m glad you’ve found what works well for you![/quote]

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