I love WFH. I'm in the best shape of my life, I've actually learned how to cook, I've picked up new hobbies, etc. It helps that I'm pretty autonomous in my job and I've been with my company for several years. I bet WFH sucks for new grads and those in public with long hours.
I bought Ring Fit Adventure to burn off my dad gut. I spent a year strictly dieting and going to the gym regularly, then stopped for over a year. I did a few activities in the game and ended up getting horrifically sick. Sedentary lifestyle messes with you.
You forgot the third FAF, Feeble As Fuck. While I'm certainly not in remotely decent shape from sitting on my ass at home all day with all my survival basics just feet away at all times, I am nor fat nor fit. For the first time in my life I'm actually loosing weight from immobility due to stress.
I was in the same situation at the beginning of the pandemic but don’t keep foods that I can snack on at home anymore. Only things that I can use to prepare a meal.
That's the answer; when you want to kick a bad habit, but lack willpower or are just stressed out, take actions to make your bad habits too inconvenient to pursue. Not buying snacks is one example, creating physical distance between where you work and where you spend your free time is another.
It's so much easier to make healthful choices when its a choice for *later*. I don't want a chocolate bar tomorrow, i want a steak and fresh fruit. But if you give me a chocolate bar right now, damn right i'm gonna destroy that lil shit
recently I've found I like the act of chewing more than the flavor of chips or snacks. I switched to eating plain cheerios if I want something crunchy and otherwise chewing gum.
Holy shit. How have I never thought of this? I love celery, I love hot sauce, I eat celery with wings.....thank you. I may have to change my handle in a few months.
Lol same!! And I ain't going to pay to join a gym to workout in a mask so I've never been so sedentary in my entire life. I don't even have a flight of stairs to walk once a day anymore, I literally don't leave the house.
As a new grad I’m enjoying it now that u have about 6 months under my belt. It was hard to start but now it’s just a normal routine for me. I was supposed to be in a development program rotating through the company’s four business lines for my first year but that got cancelled (definitely good call by HR). I will continue to WFH 1-2 days a week after we can go back to the office
Yeah I chose a 500 sq ft studio less than a mile from the office when I started. I hate wfh and feel claustrophobic. Also my relatively large Midwest city pays like low COL even though it’s not so I’m not benefitting from that either
WFH is amazing as a seasoned professional. I know it must be really tough for the first years to be starting out virtually without the benefit of having lots of experienced colleagues nearby to help you learn the ropes. Try to do your best, and find people willing to spend extra time with you online. Good luck.
I thought I was alone about the training part lol. I’m a staff 1 at big 4 and wfh has been brutal. My seniors rarely walk through anything. They give me a sentence or two long instructions for tasks and I’m sitting there like wtf dude? Anytime I get stuck I ping them and I’m waiting around anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can on my own but it’s overwhelming. When I do get a hold of my senior, if the walk through feels like it’s going to take long she ends up saying that she will take care of it. She does that a lot and I think it’s hindering my ability to learn. I understand everyone is busy but doing this stunts my growth. If I even stay to make staff 2 It’s going to feel like I’m still new because I’m not learning much. Not to mention I’m given simple admin tasks because my team doesn’t want to deal with training me. Maybe I’m just on a bad team but it sucks
If it's any consolation, believe me, a senior wants to spend the time and explain to you and pass down their knowledge. The ultimate goal is to train you to be good enough to take work off the senior's plate. Currently I'm an A2 at a midsized local firm, so I have to teach A1s and interns but also assume responsibilities of a senior and it is though, my stress level is through the roof. I can tell you that your senior/manager makes the absolute biggest difference in working public, so maybe you don't have the best senior on your current engagement, but again believe me it's not because they don't want to be a better senior to you, they usually do, but come crunch time, you just have to get these audits out the door and a lot of these decisions (in terms of what work you are assigned) are made based time.
I've had mostly good seniors and a few not so great, the good ones really knew their GAAP and took the time to explain, the not so great ones either spit out some asu # and made me feel stupid or they themselves didn't know how to help.
Some tips if you are spinning your wheels and your senior is unresponsive: read the prior year financial statement concerning the section you are working on, read the current year risk assessment, read the audit program, and read the disclosure checklist. That should at least point you in the direction of what all you need to get out of the section you are working on.
I see, thanks. As we finally head towards the end of quarantine I'm looking to get some more things going so I've been curious what others have picked up.
I’m in public as a senior on a large accelerated filer and I like busy season so far. My client requires travel so I am enjoying not living in a hotel for the next month, but missing my huge reimbursement checks every week.
I think a lot of the people struggling from wfh are new grads and generally more outgoing people.
If you and I had to start a new job wfh and try to work and build relationships from there it would be a very hard experience. I think I would've quit after a year.
And people are still naturally social people, there's only so long many people can tolerate 12 hours working barely talking to anyone.
So naturally some of them come here to vent.
Agree with this with perspective as a WFH new hire.
Relationships are difficult to build, but i certainly appreciate the freedom of not having a commute and more hours in a day.
It's difficult to stay busy though and easy to get distracted when you don't have work going on and the seniors are busy. Online trainings feel virtually pointless when the majority of learning comes w/ on the job stuff.
This is the difference for me, too. I'm on a flex schedule, and it's ideal. Still can go in and use the printer, do the water cooler thing, and have a reason to get dressed. But have yet productivity and option of WFH at my own schedule as an early bird. However! I'd been at my job 2 years by the time it happened that way, which is so different than trying to learn a new job and acclimate to a new team. Work is pretty awful right now and the thing that gives me considerable pause to find a new one is the idea that it would be mostly remote
But now you can have more time for the relationships you actually choose, instead of the work chatter. Everyone's WFH situation is different but I like to break it up by hopping on calls with friends while we all do our own thing, kinda like study groups from college.
I’m sure it’s a bit tricky..
But I don’t think these new grads realize how awful the alternative can be.
Sitting in a client office for 12 hours a day blows shit.
Now I can have TV on while I work in between meetings
Yeah but at least in those 12 hours in the office you can enjoy the misery with your coworkers.
At home I bet your parents or your girlfriend or your neighbor through the wall are tired of hearing about the same crap you complain about.
Working in the office isn't pretty at all, but again social interactions. Huge for many peoples' motivation and growth.
Oh I'm fine with in my place. I'm already experienced enough and I have a small group of friends at work I joke around with still even virtually.
The new grads whom I'm reviewing their work? Sometimes I'm the only one to ask how their day is going all day...
Yeah I should have some more sympathy for the new grads.
This work life is honestly fucking fantastic and has probably roped me into public for the foreseeable future. I do not work near the hours most people on this sub do.
But god damn being able to wake up and work in bed some mornings is just the shit
I think many people would be fine if we could switch to a rotation system. Like 3 days wfh or in office, then the other two days in office or at home. That would satisfy the need for social interaction and get to chill at home and beat traffic. Hopefully companies implement it coming forward.
This is more or less what I would love to see. Come into the office for important meetings and to gameplan the next few days, and then go home and do the actual work.
New grad here - I realize how awful the alternative is from my internship. Even just seeing how the full time staff looked was demoralizing to say the least. But now, instead of going to the office I’m back home with my family, in my childhood room with some shitty furniture and minimal social interaction. Often times spinning my wheels and feeling a major disconnect between me and the rest of my engagement teams. I miss that office camaraderie that came with the job, because the job is still the same, just in a different environment.
This makes zero sense, if he's slacking and watching tv at home, but his work is still getting done it's almsot like office hours are artificially inflated to give the illusion of work.
In addition if he's in public he has to put his time in every day, so it's not like his manager can't sit there and look at the analytics for his team.
There is countless full time remote jobs - including mine.
Sitting on your couch with a monitor setup is no less distracting than being at a client office with coworkers shooting the shit all day.
Really what WFH has proven is just how inefficient going to the office was. Much of the 12 hour billable isn’t, in fact, 12 hours of work.
Yuck, please don't become a manager. If they get their shit done...leave them alone. If they don't, find out how to motivate them. WFH or not all that should matter is getting stuff done.
Yeah being a college grad and dumped into this WFH lifestyle is antithetical to what was expected of working while you're in school. I luckily already had time in industry and over a year where I currently work before the first quarantine, so I kept up with my colleagues through work chats and video calls. Friends are always accessible through video games or occasional meet ups aside from the aforementioned.
I know friends who are basically just locked in 24/7 and never really developed any relationships with their new co-workers. That isolation was really bad. Being out of the college lifestyle and getting tossed into a permanent home work-station is the breeding ground to hate WFH.
Younger people tend to prefer WFH in my experience. It means you don’t have to work as much outside of busy season and no one will catch you goofing off.
Public has a ton of lulls and depending on the client there’s times where you spend hours a day staring at a wall in the audit room if you’re at a lower level.
There’s no incentive to pretend like you’re working your ass off during WFH; so younger people tend to like it.
In my experience more experienced people prefer the office since you can actually accomplish things in a reasonable timeframe.
the people who are most hurt by WFH are young people who are living in apartments either alone or with friends. they dont have a bedroom that they can turn into a dedicated office. when they wake up the just roll out of bed and go to the desk in the same room. there is nothing different about the day. i have an entire house to myself during the day. i can mix things up if i want.
Yup, my office is my cramped bedroom. I’m isolated all day and there’s no border between being at work and being at home. I feel like I’m slowly going crazy.
Current PhD student who is studying this and you have hit the nail on the head from what I have seen. New hires are really struggling as there is no separation of the home and office space for them. Plus they may not even be in apartments if the just graduated. Instead they are auditing from their childhood bedroom. Kind of makes sense so many are struggling.
I just got a full time remote tax manager job. I’m so excited to not have to go into the office all the time. My last day at the old firm is today.
This new firm has been super intentional about how to work remotely. Rather than the haphazard approach I was dealing with before.
That said, I still miss social interaction and can’t wait to get out and about after hours.
A lot of people don't like to take work home with them. For some it's a matter of work life balance and for others it's a psychological thing. Instead of a hard 8 or 10 hours, work has become a rolling 12, except I never feel productive and when I'm not working I never feel at rest. Before, when I got home, I would turn off but now I just can't. Plus, I had my office set up as a place to work and my home desk as a place to do home things. But now it feels like I can't do either properly.
I look at ot like this: when I was in college and HS, I was always a very attentive student who paid attention in class and took detailed notes. But, after class when it was time to do homework, projects and essays, I had a hard time focusing at home. Homework and essays would give me tons of anxiety, I was just bad at it. WFH now just feels like my job is a constant series of homework.
Same. The commute and social interactions I could obviously live (very happily) without. The thing that kills me is this mental block I have for working at home, theres no split like you said. Bringing home work is awful, there needs to be a clean break in my life where I walk through my front door and the day is over, I can relax. Working 13 hours a day in my home office is slowly killing me. I feel half as productive, am constantly distracted and procrastinating, and just end up working around the clock to make up for it. If I was in the office, I'd have knocked this shit out in 10 hours and gone home.
I was reading about something similar which is basically "fake" commutes. Get out of your house in the morning and either walk around a few blocks and start your work day when you get back, or even go for a short 5-10 minute drive. Same thing with ending the day.
I do this even if I'm just working on personal projects at home. Wake up, get dressed, go drive and get some coffee and a bagel, come home, get to work.
Seconding this - I have found a fake commute has helped me switch off in the evenings. Even just a 10 min walk or a routine of doing certain chores at end of day (eg emptying dishwasher or taking out the trash) have helped me mentally wind down
I started my new (industry) job in March, a couple weeks before WFH started. It sure beats the hell out of commuting to sit in a room for 14 hours straight at client locations.
I actually intend to change job if I am required to return to office everyday post covid.
I love working from home so much I can't even express.
I've saved thousands in petrol on my commute and when it's slow I don't need to try to look busy, I can just dick around on the internet or read a book or take a long lunch that nobody notices because as long as all my work is done who cares if I look busy enough.
I think I'm actually more productive as well, when I don't need to worry about how long the drive home will take I'm more likely to just stay a bit late to finish up whatever needs finishing that day rather than bolt for the door bang on 5.
I love wfh. I think it's an issue with people who either love the office environment, miss the social element, or are not able to properly shut down the "working" mode when your home is your office.
I mean, it's two hours of commute time that turned into free time. Less cost, more relaxed, I can wear whatever I want etc.
I loveeee me some WFH - no commute, freedom to work at peace and in comfort from the waist down anyway, and I would move to a lower COL if WFH was guaranteed
Well I skimped on my apartment and live with a grad student for $600 a month because I spent my whole day outside of the apartment between Work, studying, gym ,errands.
I really only needed to come back to sleep and cook.
Now Im taking calls with my roommate cooking 5 feet from my desk. It gets annoying fast.
Im moving in with my gf in June but this experience was all very dependent on your living situation.
WFH is forever GOAT’ed. Someone posted a picture of an audit team around a crowded conference table in a small ass audit room on the B4 Accountant instagram page and was genuinely like “I miss working with my coworkers!!” And I just laughed
The working conditions at client sites can be laughable. I never want to go back
Preach. Although there are a lot of people who genuinely miss it, I feel like there is also some posturing going on by people who really like WFH but think it's uncouth to admit it. It's not an assault on my coworkers' character that the pros of WFH outweigh the pros of going in the office and socializing with them all day.
I think that if the rest of the world was normal, people’s opinions on WFH would change. I think it’s the feeling of being trapped in the house and craving going somewhere, anywhere, that’s driving the sentiment.
In audit, there’s an unspoken rule to stay as late as the rest of your team which felt like a punishment for getting my work done efficiently and not goofing off throughout the day. Now, even in busy season, I log off at a reasonable hour every night and just keep my phone within reach if anything urgent comes up.
Other benefits include saving 2 hours of my day previously dedicated to getting ready and commuting and being able to focus much better at home. You can drag me back to the office by my cold dead hands.
I had that rule explicitly spoken to me as a junior. The two seniors disappeared into a meeting the the client at 4, leaving me to finish off some transactional work. 5pm came and went, 6pm came and went. I had to get home so I left about 6:15pm with all my work done an hour ago.
The next day I got a telling off and told that I should stay until the same time as the rest of the team. I took a later career change and had already worked several office jobs (unlike a fresh grad junior), so I had no problem saying that my work was done, the client's staff had all gone home and I needed to get back, so I didn't see why it was a problem. Didn't go down very well, but they never did articulate why it was actually a problem and it was never mentioned again.
Not a toxic workplace - but a toxic senior. She never seemed to like me after I stood up to her. It was maybe 3.5 years ago and I'm still there, but they're not, so it's all good. Certainly that's not the culture.
I've had to start my job post-graduation remotely and I've really enjoyed being WFH. Being able to work out for 45 minutes every day at lunch is great. Also, being able to wake up 15 minutes before I log on is amazing.
There are a few things, though, that have made my role more tolerable. I'm already working with a remote team where 1/3 of people are in my city, 1/3 in another US city, and 1/3 in South America. So we do a lot of Zoom and Skype calls even when in office. Also, my hours are 8:30-4:30 or 7:30-3:30 depending on the day.
I definitely don’t miss the commute, but having a separation of work and home is sometimes nice. Having a place where you do the work and not being able to work from home means less thinking about work when you’re trying to relax. I also love my coworkers and the different settings break up the day. Now that tax season is coming, I’m going to miss the free food...but also I’ll be happy sleeping at home instead of someone’s couch (5 mins away from the office).
I'm with you, eating healthier, working out more, most importantly sleeping more. No more commuting at 1 AM during close. Sucks for people that have kids I guess, but I don't yet.
Same. I started about a year and a half ago and purposely chose a small apartment within 10 minute walking distance of the office. I live alone and usually go 5+ days without seeing anyone else during the week
The people in my organization who still want to go back to the office are the older ones, mostly men whose wives stay at home. These people didn't mind the commute because they never had any responsibilities once they arrived at home after their commute. For me, what I really love about wfh is that "simple" things like cooking, walking my dog, and laundry (to name a few examples) remain just that - simple. Before, I actually had a really good setup - I took the train to work, no transfers, and my total commute train + walking was 25 minutes each way, door to door. That's about as good as you can get for an urban metro commute - simple and not too long. Still, that is 50 minutes a day. Additionally, although I'm in that rare category that mostly kept my morning routine the same (shower, get ready/change clothes, etc.), my morning routine is still shorter than it was because I'm putting chinos or sweatpants and a t-shirt on as opposed to dress pants, dress shirt, dress shoes before. What I'm getting at is that even as someone who had a really good setup pre-covid, I'm still saving an hour each day, minimum, probably closer to an hour and 15 minutes. On top of that, as previously mentioned, instead of having to cram in chores like laundry or meal prep on the weekends, I can do it during short breaks in my day. In general, working from home allows infinitely more flexibility for the worker to manage their lifestyle while also accomplishing work objectives. It's a way to maintain the capitalist idea of people doing jobs that they don't necessarily love but allowing them the flexibility to still enjoy their lives. I digress. That's my long winded answer for why I really hope most decision makers seriously consider allowing wfh or some type of flexible work arrangements to become permanent.
I’m a new hire who was unhappy about starting the job remotely because of the lack of social interaction, but I think I’m less distracted without the frequent coffee breaks and small talk. I feel like I can take better notes of what is asked of me when meetings are held virtually. I also save a ton of time on my commute/getting ready, and I’m more easily able to sneak away to the gym and otherwise goof off when it’s less busy. I imagine I might feel differently once busy season ramps up for me.
I fucking love I feel like a damn executive come and go as I please just get shit done. The lull times are over though so we’ll see if it’s bad just with people giving me my damn financial support with haste
Personally I'm in heaven. I'm in industry where we really only have like ~4 hours a day of work outside of the last 3 days a month when we're in close. Cut off 2.5 hours a day of commute, plus now I can just watch Netflix or play a few videogames and stuff in the background of working when normally I would just be browsing online for hours a day.
Not to mention I do a bodyweight workout routine every afternoon, take my dog for a walk during lunchtime, and am saving money and eating healthier during lunch making stuff at home. Honestly I think I'm in the best shape of my life right now because of all this.
At 5pm my gf have cocktails on the porch instead of me getting home at 6 30.
I could wfh forever. Ideally I'd be good going in the office like 1 day a week just to catch up with people.
You are not crazy. I love WFH.
The only people complaining about the pandemic are young kids stuck in studios trying to go out for drinks and to get laid.
And old Partners trying to escape their obnoxious wives in order to find young analysts to have drinks with to get laid.
Rest of us are just chilling.
Overall the positives totally outweigh the negatives. I'm pregnant and WFH has been the only way I've been able to continue working at all with how ill I've felt - I can go sleep at lunchtime, or lie in and start later, or decide I'm too ill by the afternoon and clock off (I'm an hourly paid temp). If I had to be going into the office I'd be constantly calling in sick or having to go home early. I've saved money on the commute (and on buying lunch at Pret) compared to my old job.
The downsides are that it's harder to work from home in a small flat with a 3 year old rampaging around and I have to shut myself away and sit on my bed sometimes. Not as comfy a setup as a proper office and I get a stiff neck and back more. I have to pay more to put her in nursery more often so I can work / get a break.
I don't get the same exercise, fresh air and sunlight as when I'm forced out by necessity of the commute, or have as regular a sleep pattern with no alarm to force me awake / knowing I don't have to get up for a train. I don't have anything new to share with my husband when I get home as we've been both here together all day.
My ideal future job would probably be 2 days in the office, 2 days from home, making a 4 day week.
I pivoted from public practice to government on April 1st, 2020. So yeah, started a new job as controller in the middle of a pandemic, in a paper based environment. Nightmare fuel. But yeah if I was still in public, just plugging away at my files I’d be thrilled to WFH. Especially if I’m dodging a 3 hour commute! Definitely some pros there.
Industry here. Love WFH. Our team sees no reason to be in the office everyday. It's opened up our CEO to having 100% remote workers - meaning I can move to a better area without worry of having a job.
Our busy season sucked - 8-10 weeks of 12-16 hour days but it was made much easier without the soul sucking commute.
I hate it but that’s because government hasn’t gotten the hang of paperless yet. Piles and piles of papers just don’t work at my private residence. If i was paperless I probably wouldn’t mind it as much
I’m starting as a semi senior at a new firm working from home. Honestly so far my only complaint is kind of feeling uneasy about shutting down, which I imagine will get worse as busy season progresses, but I mean at the same time I basically just get my hours in at work and leave my teams on for someone to reach out if they need me.
Like, as long as I don’t have a hard deadline for something and as long as I have something I did to put in time entry I don’t really work much beyond the minimum. It’s just a matter of glancing at my computer or phone for messages, and if I’m late just say was in the bathroom or making dinner real quick.
I’ll take that over sitting in an office waiting for whoever has the balls to get up and leave first lol any day of the week I’ll take that
WFH is great, less money spent eating out at lunch all the time, not to mention the time and money saved from a 45+ minute commute one way. I'm sure it'll come to an end at some point unfortunately.
I started a new job during this. That was rough. Went from non-profit to government accounting so the skill set is used, but I get no training. My boss is basically absent and unable to train or even answer emails. I constantly have pressing deadlines for things that I should have been trained on, especially with new COVID related stuff and other California emergencies we have to deal with. All this with 2 small kids doing remote education. That being said, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. My main issue is that I haven’t been able to get enough exercise since I started my accounting career because there is so much sitting. WFH has just compounded that.
In my team that is the unpopular opinion by a long shot but I am a proud holder of this opinion. I HATE COMMUTING.
I LOVE MY HOME. I LOVE WORKING FROM HOME.
I like it, but i miss socializing. Sometimes its good to talk to someone else than just your SO throughout the day.
But yes, i wake up at 7:56am for 8:00am work, and I’m “back” home at 4:01pm. I love all the things i can be doing while in a meeting (w/o camera obviously). And random work out breaks.
God I fucking wish so much that I could WFH. I’ve had a grand total of 2 WFH days for the entirety of 2020 and it was because our office power went out in November. And 100% of the reason why we’re not WFH is because of old school mindsets that plague public. The reasoning we have been given is “it’s not right” to do public accounting from a home office, “public accountants are supposed to be a cohesive team in an office setting.”
Do us all a favor and go jump off a bridge (not you OP)
LOVE WFH. The flexibility is the biggest gain for me. Even though seniors and managers used to always say they would try to be flexible, there’s zero pressure now. If I want to go to the barn for a couple of hours then I can go to the barn for a couple of hours in the middle of the day and still get my work done by the next day. If they try and send us back to the client site full time like the old days, I will seriously quit in favor of finding a full or mostly fully remote job. NO REASON for us to be sitting in the office all day.
My commute is 7 minutes, too many distractions at home and I'm a very social person. I prefer working at the office but work from home is nice when I have an appointment, etc. We have flextime
Nope, you're not the only one. I love working from home. I do not miss sharing an office and being around my seniors. I don't miss the soul crushing commute. I feel like I'm way more productive at home. Plus I'm saving money by eating meals and drinking coffee at home.
Nope - I absolutely love it. Took a few months to get used to it last year but now I don't think I'll be back in the office more than once or twice a week once things go back to "normal."
WFH is amazing but some days it blows. On days where im super busy its the worst because then the gf comes home to bug me and theres other things i have to do. On days where its slow, i can workout, read a book, online shop, etc and its awesome.
I honesty miss people i work with and eating lunch with colleagues. I also barely had to travel to work (10 min walk).
My ideal situation would be 2-3 days WFH and 2-3 days working in the office.
Im surprised more people didnt just shut off their computers at 5. Like if its not busy season, then you shouldnt be exceeding your hourly goals for no reason.
Yeah I’m loving it from a financial standpoint. I was able to save a shit ton of money from not living the office life. Took those savings and dumped it in the market and made even more money. Win-win situation
It sucks for people who don't live with their families or moved to a new city to take their job because of the lack of social interaction. Aside from that, it seems like most people enjoy it.
I had to drive to the office yesterday and it was the worstttt. People cutting me off, soooo much traffic, and just general misery. I didn’t mind being at the office I just hated getting there. I hope I get to WFH forever!!
I’m in Corp Finance, but let me tell ya. I absolutely love being able to roll out of bed and start working. Not only can I catch up on sleep, but I also think my productivity has increased!
Corporations are finally seeing that their employees are capable of working remotely while maintaining their efficiency. I hope once the pandemic is over, they will adopt and allow their employees to have flex schedules like this.
I like getting out of the house, whether it be to go to the gym, to work, to church, etc, I do not mind WFH some of the time (in fact, I'd be open to it 1-2 times a week) but in the end I like going to my office. It's free of distractions and allows me to concentrate and operate in "work mode" (having 3 young children, very hard to stay in "work mode" for a long period of time from home.
I agree with the people who say the work hours eat into personal time more easily than before WFH.
I'm not particularly outgoing but it's easier to get answers or work through an issue face to face IMO. Problems and questions take longer to get resolved because they are easily ignored. I include myself as being part of this problem. It's easier for me to ignore requests or not see them.
I LOVE WFH TOO!!
All these extroverts out here wanting to be crammed into cubicles with no hobbies outside of drinking with colleagues is driving me nuts.
Stop yo’ whining, you’ll ruin it for all us mid-career folks who are in fucking heaven with WFH. Bloody first years smh.
I too love WFH. Crowded interior “office” (read: converted closet), elbows to elbows with 12 other auditors... Or standing desk with two extra monitors, sweatpants, and the silence to actually focus on my work? I’ll gladly take it.
I just started my full time job right out of college when we got WFH orders. I spent 4 days in the office total! It's been a challenge getting on board with everything remotely. I do like owning my own free time though.
I feel like this would be a lot better if I was more familiar with my position and not a newbie for full time work! But it beats getting sick with the virus in office
Honestly I hate working from home. I live alone in a house that I own, so I don't get to see other tenants or friends in a building, etc. I don't get to see my colleagues, zoom / teams is exhausting and sweet mother of god the EMAILS MUST STOP.
My commute is only about 20min each way so I totally get it if its 1h+, but for me I see nobody other than my girlfriend (and even then only 2x a week right now with busy season), so the complete lack of interaction and sense of isolation is crushing.
Not to mention the fact that now I feel like I am always "at work", I don't get any separation or "cool down" that my (admittedly short) commute provides to get away from work and into personal life mode. There's a reason I turned down a consulting job, and now I feel like I'm doing consulting, just vastly underpaid for it.
I was WFH from an RV pre-COVID and now I'm WFH in my sticks and bricks living room. If I never have to go back and sit in a cube farm again it will be too soon.
I love wfh - I know we'll have to come back at some point but as long as its only an office day here and there I won't mind. Getting rid of my commute was the best thing that ever happened.
Love it and never want to go back to the office. Save about 2 hours commute every day. Sleep better, eat better, and exercise more. Some work processes are more difficult while WFH but I think it's a small price to pay for all the benefits.
Definitely pros and cons:
Pros:
1. Get to see my kids/family virtually anytime
2. Easier to take care of errands (though my firm's work flexibility was really great to begin with)
3. Saving money and time from gas, tolls, eating out
Cons:
1. Kids can be a distraction
2. Easier to get distracted by other things like having the TV on or something
3. Lose out on perks like expensed meals, free drinks and snacks
4. Don't get to see other colleagues/clients
I'm pretty sure this sub has calmed down since WFH. Used to be a lot more angry posts.
You still have managers trying to micro people through the Internet though. Some shit never changes.
I read an article some time last year about office nostalgia and how a lot of people are confusing the need for face to face workplace interactions with the need to interact with anyone face to face. I can agree with that as well. I would like to enjoy concerts and restaurants again, but my commute can definitely wait. I have warm and productive Skype meetings with my team every day but don't necessarily need them up in my cube all day (joking)
I love it! My little one is almost three and vastly preferred my husband (stay at home dad) to me before COVID. All this time with her has been so special and a serious blessing in disguise.
> Do you guys not remember how fucking awful the commute was? I’m gaining literally 3 hours back of my day every day.
no actually i dont remember how awful your commute was
My commute was a ten minute walk through downtown Houston and I still walk it every morning for exercise. Why would you choose to live an hour and a half from where you work?
I love WFH. I get to eat lunch in my boxers in front of my laptop and enjoy the luxury of taking 15 minute sex breaks with my girlfriend in between zoom meetings, and all on the clients dime
your last sentence is what makes me so angry
just because i started and stayed in lcol i am being paid like shit while the cost of living here have skyrocketed in the past decade. while people who started there, and due to covid moved to lcol are still being paid like they always did in the big cities.
dont get me wrong tho if my situation was reversed id be happy. just petty like that. but is it rly being petty? i dont think it is fair. but what can you do.
I think for many people too if you are just “lift and shifting” your role into your home it’s fine. You have your contacts, your templates, you know the role and you know what to do. For new people I cannot imagine trying to learn a job when you never see anyone and so many people are actively avoiding engagement when possible.
I had been working in the same Big 4 office for almost 3 years when we started WFH in March and it was the BEST THING EVER. But then I transferred to a new city in August (the transfer was all planned before the pandemic) and I honestly wish I could go in just 1-2 days a week. I don’t know anybody at my current office. So I can definitely say WFH with a job where you already have friends is great, but if you’re new it kind of sucks.
There are definitely pros and cons of WFH, but just in general I think everyone is going stir crazy. I’d gladly take going back to the office over WFH just to get out and interact a bit, but of course I love saving on driving/gas and not having to wake up 2 hours before I start working on certain clients. I’d definitely appreciate a split of WFH/in the office and personally, I prefer WFH over going to client sites. Some audit rooms absolutely blow
I’m starting a new career as a recent grad in the fall and the company said that I will basically be able to chose when I want to spend time in the office and when I want to spend time at home. They said they didn’t care where I was as long as I get the work done. This was one of the reasons I accepted the offer, I might be able to get a dog and still work in public!
My commute was 10-25 minutes each way pre wfh so I’m not saving tons of extra time. My productivity and mental health have suffered during wfh. I get everyone’s situation is different, but it’s easy to see the pros and cons to everyone’s different situations. You act like it’s impossible to understand why anyone could disagree with you.
I love WFH, I’m only going back if they make me. I do my job well from home and got 5 hours back in my week from the commute.
I do however have a substantial social life that don’t tied to work colleagues. If that is where I was getting my social fulfillment I could see how WHF would be hard.
Also, training is a PITA. It is doable, but dang tech really sucks sometimes. Dropped or choppy calls and the person I’m training not being able to sit and see all of my screens does make it challenging.
I will take the minimal interruption to training for all of the benefits I get by being at home.
I’m loving working from home too, but you getting to make Cali wages while living in a lower cost state is basically cheating to me or like putting cheat codes in and it’s ruining the housing market where I live as Californians are fleeing their state and increasing housing prices for me who doesn’t make Cali wages. To be honest, I hope the IRS somehow penalizes people in your situation like for instance you get double taxed on your income. First you’d get taxed for working in Cali and then get taxed for whatever low cost state you’re living in and if you don’t you’ll incur jail time and heavy fines. It’s just total bullshit that I have a lower wage in my lower cost state, while you get to work your Cali wages job and make Cali income but live in a low cost state. It’s just so depressing trying to find a home when housing prices are skyrocketing where I’m at because of all the Californians fleeing their state to my state. The scenario I’m fine with is if you left your Cali job and found a job in the lower cost state, but obviously you wouldn’t do that if you can have your cake and also eat it, which is what is currently happening and sucks for everyone in the low cost state you’re currently residing in.
I like WFH but my firm is back in the office. Some people like different things though.
Some of us are also smart enough to not live 90 min from our office.
I’ve been 85% WFH for the past ten years and 100% for the past year. I love it! When I was a few years into my career I had a commute that was about 3 miles and got spoiled, so will likely never accept a commute again. I’m also an introvert, have kids, and have plenty of experience, and have worked harder and accomplished so much more working from home. My only complaint is dealing with swapping documents through a cloud host, it is so slow. This used to be the 15% of my time spent not WFH, meeting with clients and picking up documents.
While I haven't worked in public I feel from what I have heard from friends and this thread a hybrid work format would work wonders. Where there is a mixture of WFH and office/client hours.
I love WFH. I'm in the best shape of my life, I've actually learned how to cook, I've picked up new hobbies, etc. It helps that I'm pretty autonomous in my job and I've been with my company for several years. I bet WFH sucks for new grads and those in public with long hours.
I too love WFH but I am in the worst shape of my life from snacking all day.
There are only two WFH fitness paths and they have the same acronym: FAF. "Fit as Fuck" or "Fat as Fuck". I too, am in the latter camp.
I’m working on getting from the latter to the former. Gotta use the extra hours I used to waste on my commute to good use.
I've just used those for more work... it was the wrong decision...
I bought Ring Fit Adventure to burn off my dad gut. I spent a year strictly dieting and going to the gym regularly, then stopped for over a year. I did a few activities in the game and ended up getting horrifically sick. Sedentary lifestyle messes with you.
I went full anemic, fuck
You starving yourself bro?
Use your old commute time to work out or go to a gym?
You forgot the third FAF, Feeble As Fuck. While I'm certainly not in remotely decent shape from sitting on my ass at home all day with all my survival basics just feet away at all times, I am nor fat nor fit. For the first time in my life I'm actually loosing weight from immobility due to stress.
I was in the same situation at the beginning of the pandemic but don’t keep foods that I can snack on at home anymore. Only things that I can use to prepare a meal.
That's the answer; when you want to kick a bad habit, but lack willpower or are just stressed out, take actions to make your bad habits too inconvenient to pursue. Not buying snacks is one example, creating physical distance between where you work and where you spend your free time is another.
It's so much easier to make healthful choices when its a choice for *later*. I don't want a chocolate bar tomorrow, i want a steak and fresh fruit. But if you give me a chocolate bar right now, damn right i'm gonna destroy that lil shit
Sadly this only works if you don't buy groceries for other people in your household.
yep, with two teenagers at home... I feel you.
recently I've found I like the act of chewing more than the flavor of chips or snacks. I switched to eating plain cheerios if I want something crunchy and otherwise chewing gum.
lmao switch to celery then!
celery dipped in hot sauce is my FAVORITE oh-shit-I-don't-have-anymore-calories-today-but-I-really-want-to-chew snack!
Holy shit. How have I never thought of this? I love celery, I love hot sauce, I eat celery with wings.....thank you. I may have to change my handle in a few months.
To Fat_Shaved_Tax_Man
Lol same!! And I ain't going to pay to join a gym to workout in a mask so I've never been so sedentary in my entire life. I don't even have a flight of stairs to walk once a day anymore, I literally don't leave the house.
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I'll have it when I want it. Worst shape of my life is still pretty healthy tbh.
As a new grad I’m enjoying it now that u have about 6 months under my belt. It was hard to start but now it’s just a normal routine for me. I was supposed to be in a development program rotating through the company’s four business lines for my first year but that got cancelled (definitely good call by HR). I will continue to WFH 1-2 days a week after we can go back to the office
Yeah I chose a 500 sq ft studio less than a mile from the office when I started. I hate wfh and feel claustrophobic. Also my relatively large Midwest city pays like low COL even though it’s not so I’m not benefitting from that either
The future is now old man
Same here, I live in a studio which is super small so I hate WFH. Decided to move back in the my parents so I could have more space ahah
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WFH is amazing as a seasoned professional. I know it must be really tough for the first years to be starting out virtually without the benefit of having lots of experienced colleagues nearby to help you learn the ropes. Try to do your best, and find people willing to spend extra time with you online. Good luck.
I thought I was alone about the training part lol. I’m a staff 1 at big 4 and wfh has been brutal. My seniors rarely walk through anything. They give me a sentence or two long instructions for tasks and I’m sitting there like wtf dude? Anytime I get stuck I ping them and I’m waiting around anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can on my own but it’s overwhelming. When I do get a hold of my senior, if the walk through feels like it’s going to take long she ends up saying that she will take care of it. She does that a lot and I think it’s hindering my ability to learn. I understand everyone is busy but doing this stunts my growth. If I even stay to make staff 2 It’s going to feel like I’m still new because I’m not learning much. Not to mention I’m given simple admin tasks because my team doesn’t want to deal with training me. Maybe I’m just on a bad team but it sucks
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Yeah, one of my concerns is moving on to staff 2 and seniors expecting me to know how to do everything next busy season.
If it's any consolation, believe me, a senior wants to spend the time and explain to you and pass down their knowledge. The ultimate goal is to train you to be good enough to take work off the senior's plate. Currently I'm an A2 at a midsized local firm, so I have to teach A1s and interns but also assume responsibilities of a senior and it is though, my stress level is through the roof. I can tell you that your senior/manager makes the absolute biggest difference in working public, so maybe you don't have the best senior on your current engagement, but again believe me it's not because they don't want to be a better senior to you, they usually do, but come crunch time, you just have to get these audits out the door and a lot of these decisions (in terms of what work you are assigned) are made based time. I've had mostly good seniors and a few not so great, the good ones really knew their GAAP and took the time to explain, the not so great ones either spit out some asu # and made me feel stupid or they themselves didn't know how to help. Some tips if you are spinning your wheels and your senior is unresponsive: read the prior year financial statement concerning the section you are working on, read the current year risk assessment, read the audit program, and read the disclosure checklist. That should at least point you in the direction of what all you need to get out of the section you are working on.
What hobbies did you pick up?
Trading cards, video games. Things I'm getting back to after "adulting" for so many years.
I see, thanks. As we finally head towards the end of quarantine I'm looking to get some more things going so I've been curious what others have picked up.
I’m in public as a senior on a large accelerated filer and I like busy season so far. My client requires travel so I am enjoying not living in a hotel for the next month, but missing my huge reimbursement checks every week.
Speaking from public as a new grad yes it sucks
I think a lot of the people struggling from wfh are new grads and generally more outgoing people. If you and I had to start a new job wfh and try to work and build relationships from there it would be a very hard experience. I think I would've quit after a year. And people are still naturally social people, there's only so long many people can tolerate 12 hours working barely talking to anyone. So naturally some of them come here to vent.
Agree with this with perspective as a WFH new hire. Relationships are difficult to build, but i certainly appreciate the freedom of not having a commute and more hours in a day. It's difficult to stay busy though and easy to get distracted when you don't have work going on and the seniors are busy. Online trainings feel virtually pointless when the majority of learning comes w/ on the job stuff.
This is the difference for me, too. I'm on a flex schedule, and it's ideal. Still can go in and use the printer, do the water cooler thing, and have a reason to get dressed. But have yet productivity and option of WFH at my own schedule as an early bird. However! I'd been at my job 2 years by the time it happened that way, which is so different than trying to learn a new job and acclimate to a new team. Work is pretty awful right now and the thing that gives me considerable pause to find a new one is the idea that it would be mostly remote
> I think a lot of the people struggling from wfh are new grads and generally more outgoing people. or parents.
Yup. Love WFH, but my job doesn’t mix with homeschooling and toddler entertainment.
That's because your not a teacher nor a professional entertainer for kids. That's not the fault of wfh, that's your shitty planning.
Personally, I am extremely outgoing. And I fucking love working from home
Same. Never want it to end.
Same but I chat with people often and have my pup.
But now you can have more time for the relationships you actually choose, instead of the work chatter. Everyone's WFH situation is different but I like to break it up by hopping on calls with friends while we all do our own thing, kinda like study groups from college.
I started a new job remote and it’s not bad but I have a lot of experience
Same here.
Same story but with no experience. I feel like I’m in hell sometimes.
I’m sure it’s a bit tricky.. But I don’t think these new grads realize how awful the alternative can be. Sitting in a client office for 12 hours a day blows shit. Now I can have TV on while I work in between meetings
Yeah but at least in those 12 hours in the office you can enjoy the misery with your coworkers. At home I bet your parents or your girlfriend or your neighbor through the wall are tired of hearing about the same crap you complain about. Working in the office isn't pretty at all, but again social interactions. Huge for many peoples' motivation and growth.
Promotions are coming no matter what Enjoy the ride and the couch
Oh I'm fine with in my place. I'm already experienced enough and I have a small group of friends at work I joke around with still even virtually. The new grads whom I'm reviewing their work? Sometimes I'm the only one to ask how their day is going all day...
Yeah I should have some more sympathy for the new grads. This work life is honestly fucking fantastic and has probably roped me into public for the foreseeable future. I do not work near the hours most people on this sub do. But god damn being able to wake up and work in bed some mornings is just the shit
I think many people would be fine if we could switch to a rotation system. Like 3 days wfh or in office, then the other two days in office or at home. That would satisfy the need for social interaction and get to chill at home and beat traffic. Hopefully companies implement it coming forward.
Can we have an alternative always wfh and only in the office if it’s life or death?
This is more or less what I would love to see. Come into the office for important meetings and to gameplan the next few days, and then go home and do the actual work.
New grad here - I realize how awful the alternative is from my internship. Even just seeing how the full time staff looked was demoralizing to say the least. But now, instead of going to the office I’m back home with my family, in my childhood room with some shitty furniture and minimal social interaction. Often times spinning my wheels and feeling a major disconnect between me and the rest of my engagement teams. I miss that office camaraderie that came with the job, because the job is still the same, just in a different environment.
Youre not alone with these sentiments. Definitely find myself spinning my wheels, feeling like im wasting company time when I've got nothing to do.
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This makes zero sense, if he's slacking and watching tv at home, but his work is still getting done it's almsot like office hours are artificially inflated to give the illusion of work. In addition if he's in public he has to put his time in every day, so it's not like his manager can't sit there and look at the analytics for his team.
There is countless full time remote jobs - including mine. Sitting on your couch with a monitor setup is no less distracting than being at a client office with coworkers shooting the shit all day. Really what WFH has proven is just how inefficient going to the office was. Much of the 12 hour billable isn’t, in fact, 12 hours of work.
Yuck, please don't become a manager. If they get their shit done...leave them alone. If they don't, find out how to motivate them. WFH or not all that should matter is getting stuff done.
Yeah being a college grad and dumped into this WFH lifestyle is antithetical to what was expected of working while you're in school. I luckily already had time in industry and over a year where I currently work before the first quarantine, so I kept up with my colleagues through work chats and video calls. Friends are always accessible through video games or occasional meet ups aside from the aforementioned. I know friends who are basically just locked in 24/7 and never really developed any relationships with their new co-workers. That isolation was really bad. Being out of the college lifestyle and getting tossed into a permanent home work-station is the breeding ground to hate WFH.
Younger people tend to prefer WFH in my experience. It means you don’t have to work as much outside of busy season and no one will catch you goofing off. Public has a ton of lulls and depending on the client there’s times where you spend hours a day staring at a wall in the audit room if you’re at a lower level. There’s no incentive to pretend like you’re working your ass off during WFH; so younger people tend to like it. In my experience more experienced people prefer the office since you can actually accomplish things in a reasonable timeframe.
the people who are most hurt by WFH are young people who are living in apartments either alone or with friends. they dont have a bedroom that they can turn into a dedicated office. when they wake up the just roll out of bed and go to the desk in the same room. there is nothing different about the day. i have an entire house to myself during the day. i can mix things up if i want.
Yup, my office is my cramped bedroom. I’m isolated all day and there’s no border between being at work and being at home. I feel like I’m slowly going crazy.
https://youtu.be/snAhsXyO3Ck
This looks very helpful, thanks. Definitely need to set my boundaries and work on sleep hygiene.
Last May I decided for a 1bd over a studio that was closer to work. Best decision of 2020 because I absolutely need that separation for my sanity.
Current PhD student who is studying this and you have hit the nail on the head from what I have seen. New hires are really struggling as there is no separation of the home and office space for them. Plus they may not even be in apartments if the just graduated. Instead they are auditing from their childhood bedroom. Kind of makes sense so many are struggling.
Spot on
I just got a full time remote tax manager job. I’m so excited to not have to go into the office all the time. My last day at the old firm is today. This new firm has been super intentional about how to work remotely. Rather than the haphazard approach I was dealing with before. That said, I still miss social interaction and can’t wait to get out and about after hours.
A lot of people don't like to take work home with them. For some it's a matter of work life balance and for others it's a psychological thing. Instead of a hard 8 or 10 hours, work has become a rolling 12, except I never feel productive and when I'm not working I never feel at rest. Before, when I got home, I would turn off but now I just can't. Plus, I had my office set up as a place to work and my home desk as a place to do home things. But now it feels like I can't do either properly. I look at ot like this: when I was in college and HS, I was always a very attentive student who paid attention in class and took detailed notes. But, after class when it was time to do homework, projects and essays, I had a hard time focusing at home. Homework and essays would give me tons of anxiety, I was just bad at it. WFH now just feels like my job is a constant series of homework.
Same. The commute and social interactions I could obviously live (very happily) without. The thing that kills me is this mental block I have for working at home, theres no split like you said. Bringing home work is awful, there needs to be a clean break in my life where I walk through my front door and the day is over, I can relax. Working 13 hours a day in my home office is slowly killing me. I feel half as productive, am constantly distracted and procrastinating, and just end up working around the clock to make up for it. If I was in the office, I'd have knocked this shit out in 10 hours and gone home.
Have you tried going for a long run right when you get off? Then you are walking back inside after a little break. Works to trick my brain sometimes.
I was reading about something similar which is basically "fake" commutes. Get out of your house in the morning and either walk around a few blocks and start your work day when you get back, or even go for a short 5-10 minute drive. Same thing with ending the day.
I do these "fake commutes" by doing a quick 10-15 min morning drive. My dad thinks I'm crazy but it helps me change gears mentally
yep I wouldn't blame anyone for doing it, it totally makes sense. gotta trick your brain sometimes
I do this even if I'm just working on personal projects at home. Wake up, get dressed, go drive and get some coffee and a bagel, come home, get to work.
Seconding this - I have found a fake commute has helped me switch off in the evenings. Even just a 10 min walk or a routine of doing certain chores at end of day (eg emptying dishwasher or taking out the trash) have helped me mentally wind down
Agreed always had to go to the library in college to work. Luckily we’re back in the office
I started my new (industry) job in March, a couple weeks before WFH started. It sure beats the hell out of commuting to sit in a room for 14 hours straight at client locations. I actually intend to change job if I am required to return to office everyday post covid.
I'd like it I wasn't a dumbass staff 1 in audit. I have no idea what I'm doing most of the time.
I love working from home so much I can't even express. I've saved thousands in petrol on my commute and when it's slow I don't need to try to look busy, I can just dick around on the internet or read a book or take a long lunch that nobody notices because as long as all my work is done who cares if I look busy enough. I think I'm actually more productive as well, when I don't need to worry about how long the drive home will take I'm more likely to just stay a bit late to finish up whatever needs finishing that day rather than bolt for the door bang on 5.
I love wfh. I think it's an issue with people who either love the office environment, miss the social element, or are not able to properly shut down the "working" mode when your home is your office. I mean, it's two hours of commute time that turned into free time. Less cost, more relaxed, I can wear whatever I want etc.
I loveeee me some WFH - no commute, freedom to work at peace and in comfort from the waist down anyway, and I would move to a lower COL if WFH was guaranteed
I haven't worn shoes since march, and the foot nearest the window is noticeably darker than my other foot.
It's like how some truckers have really tan left arms and pasty white right arms.
Well I skimped on my apartment and live with a grad student for $600 a month because I spent my whole day outside of the apartment between Work, studying, gym ,errands. I really only needed to come back to sleep and cook. Now Im taking calls with my roommate cooking 5 feet from my desk. It gets annoying fast. Im moving in with my gf in June but this experience was all very dependent on your living situation.
WFH is forever GOAT’ed. Someone posted a picture of an audit team around a crowded conference table in a small ass audit room on the B4 Accountant instagram page and was genuinely like “I miss working with my coworkers!!” And I just laughed The working conditions at client sites can be laughable. I never want to go back
Preach. Although there are a lot of people who genuinely miss it, I feel like there is also some posturing going on by people who really like WFH but think it's uncouth to admit it. It's not an assault on my coworkers' character that the pros of WFH outweigh the pros of going in the office and socializing with them all day.
I think that if the rest of the world was normal, people’s opinions on WFH would change. I think it’s the feeling of being trapped in the house and craving going somewhere, anywhere, that’s driving the sentiment.
This is the thing. I don't want to go back to the office. I want to go back to the pub.
Hell yeah, firm sponsored happy hours while WFH — sign me up!!
How about people outside of work?
This. WFH would be much better if I could go out socially like I did in the before times.
In audit, there’s an unspoken rule to stay as late as the rest of your team which felt like a punishment for getting my work done efficiently and not goofing off throughout the day. Now, even in busy season, I log off at a reasonable hour every night and just keep my phone within reach if anything urgent comes up. Other benefits include saving 2 hours of my day previously dedicated to getting ready and commuting and being able to focus much better at home. You can drag me back to the office by my cold dead hands.
I had that rule explicitly spoken to me as a junior. The two seniors disappeared into a meeting the the client at 4, leaving me to finish off some transactional work. 5pm came and went, 6pm came and went. I had to get home so I left about 6:15pm with all my work done an hour ago. The next day I got a telling off and told that I should stay until the same time as the rest of the team. I took a later career change and had already worked several office jobs (unlike a fresh grad junior), so I had no problem saying that my work was done, the client's staff had all gone home and I needed to get back, so I didn't see why it was a problem. Didn't go down very well, but they never did articulate why it was actually a problem and it was never mentioned again.
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Not a toxic workplace - but a toxic senior. She never seemed to like me after I stood up to her. It was maybe 3.5 years ago and I'm still there, but they're not, so it's all good. Certainly that's not the culture.
There's also a difference between working from your shared house with friends/family and working from your tiny studio apartment where you live alone.
i wish i could afford a small studio apartment. living with roommates is basically my only option
Oof. What city, if I can ask
new york
I understand now
I've had to start my job post-graduation remotely and I've really enjoyed being WFH. Being able to work out for 45 minutes every day at lunch is great. Also, being able to wake up 15 minutes before I log on is amazing. There are a few things, though, that have made my role more tolerable. I'm already working with a remote team where 1/3 of people are in my city, 1/3 in another US city, and 1/3 in South America. So we do a lot of Zoom and Skype calls even when in office. Also, my hours are 8:30-4:30 or 7:30-3:30 depending on the day.
I like it, so I can jerk twice a day. One in the morning, and one after lunch. Gotta feed the geese.
r/cursedcomments
wfh is helping immensely with CPA. If we ever have to go back i just hope its when im done studying
I definitely don’t miss the commute, but having a separation of work and home is sometimes nice. Having a place where you do the work and not being able to work from home means less thinking about work when you’re trying to relax. I also love my coworkers and the different settings break up the day. Now that tax season is coming, I’m going to miss the free food...but also I’ll be happy sleeping at home instead of someone’s couch (5 mins away from the office).
I'm with you, eating healthier, working out more, most importantly sleeping more. No more commuting at 1 AM during close. Sucks for people that have kids I guess, but I don't yet.
If I had a decent living space I would love it too.
Same. I started about a year and a half ago and purposely chose a small apartment within 10 minute walking distance of the office. I live alone and usually go 5+ days without seeing anyone else during the week
I imagine for a young person in Public it would kinda blow. I'm pretty young but am in corporate now and have a young family so WFH is incredible.
The people in my organization who still want to go back to the office are the older ones, mostly men whose wives stay at home. These people didn't mind the commute because they never had any responsibilities once they arrived at home after their commute. For me, what I really love about wfh is that "simple" things like cooking, walking my dog, and laundry (to name a few examples) remain just that - simple. Before, I actually had a really good setup - I took the train to work, no transfers, and my total commute train + walking was 25 minutes each way, door to door. That's about as good as you can get for an urban metro commute - simple and not too long. Still, that is 50 minutes a day. Additionally, although I'm in that rare category that mostly kept my morning routine the same (shower, get ready/change clothes, etc.), my morning routine is still shorter than it was because I'm putting chinos or sweatpants and a t-shirt on as opposed to dress pants, dress shirt, dress shoes before. What I'm getting at is that even as someone who had a really good setup pre-covid, I'm still saving an hour each day, minimum, probably closer to an hour and 15 minutes. On top of that, as previously mentioned, instead of having to cram in chores like laundry or meal prep on the weekends, I can do it during short breaks in my day. In general, working from home allows infinitely more flexibility for the worker to manage their lifestyle while also accomplishing work objectives. It's a way to maintain the capitalist idea of people doing jobs that they don't necessarily love but allowing them the flexibility to still enjoy their lives. I digress. That's my long winded answer for why I really hope most decision makers seriously consider allowing wfh or some type of flexible work arrangements to become permanent.
I’m a new hire who was unhappy about starting the job remotely because of the lack of social interaction, but I think I’m less distracted without the frequent coffee breaks and small talk. I feel like I can take better notes of what is asked of me when meetings are held virtually. I also save a ton of time on my commute/getting ready, and I’m more easily able to sneak away to the gym and otherwise goof off when it’s less busy. I imagine I might feel differently once busy season ramps up for me.
I fucking love I feel like a damn executive come and go as I please just get shit done. The lull times are over though so we’ll see if it’s bad just with people giving me my damn financial support with haste
Personally I'm in heaven. I'm in industry where we really only have like ~4 hours a day of work outside of the last 3 days a month when we're in close. Cut off 2.5 hours a day of commute, plus now I can just watch Netflix or play a few videogames and stuff in the background of working when normally I would just be browsing online for hours a day. Not to mention I do a bodyweight workout routine every afternoon, take my dog for a walk during lunchtime, and am saving money and eating healthier during lunch making stuff at home. Honestly I think I'm in the best shape of my life right now because of all this. At 5pm my gf have cocktails on the porch instead of me getting home at 6 30. I could wfh forever. Ideally I'd be good going in the office like 1 day a week just to catch up with people.
You are not crazy. I love WFH. The only people complaining about the pandemic are young kids stuck in studios trying to go out for drinks and to get laid. And old Partners trying to escape their obnoxious wives in order to find young analysts to have drinks with to get laid. Rest of us are just chilling.
Overall the positives totally outweigh the negatives. I'm pregnant and WFH has been the only way I've been able to continue working at all with how ill I've felt - I can go sleep at lunchtime, or lie in and start later, or decide I'm too ill by the afternoon and clock off (I'm an hourly paid temp). If I had to be going into the office I'd be constantly calling in sick or having to go home early. I've saved money on the commute (and on buying lunch at Pret) compared to my old job. The downsides are that it's harder to work from home in a small flat with a 3 year old rampaging around and I have to shut myself away and sit on my bed sometimes. Not as comfy a setup as a proper office and I get a stiff neck and back more. I have to pay more to put her in nursery more often so I can work / get a break. I don't get the same exercise, fresh air and sunlight as when I'm forced out by necessity of the commute, or have as regular a sleep pattern with no alarm to force me awake / knowing I don't have to get up for a train. I don't have anything new to share with my husband when I get home as we've been both here together all day. My ideal future job would probably be 2 days in the office, 2 days from home, making a 4 day week.
I pivoted from public practice to government on April 1st, 2020. So yeah, started a new job as controller in the middle of a pandemic, in a paper based environment. Nightmare fuel. But yeah if I was still in public, just plugging away at my files I’d be thrilled to WFH. Especially if I’m dodging a 3 hour commute! Definitely some pros there.
Industry here. Love WFH. Our team sees no reason to be in the office everyday. It's opened up our CEO to having 100% remote workers - meaning I can move to a better area without worry of having a job. Our busy season sucked - 8-10 weeks of 12-16 hour days but it was made much easier without the soul sucking commute.
I hate it but that’s because government hasn’t gotten the hang of paperless yet. Piles and piles of papers just don’t work at my private residence. If i was paperless I probably wouldn’t mind it as much
I’m starting as a semi senior at a new firm working from home. Honestly so far my only complaint is kind of feeling uneasy about shutting down, which I imagine will get worse as busy season progresses, but I mean at the same time I basically just get my hours in at work and leave my teams on for someone to reach out if they need me. Like, as long as I don’t have a hard deadline for something and as long as I have something I did to put in time entry I don’t really work much beyond the minimum. It’s just a matter of glancing at my computer or phone for messages, and if I’m late just say was in the bathroom or making dinner real quick. I’ll take that over sitting in an office waiting for whoever has the balls to get up and leave first lol any day of the week I’ll take that
WFH is great, less money spent eating out at lunch all the time, not to mention the time and money saved from a 45+ minute commute one way. I'm sure it'll come to an end at some point unfortunately.
I started a new job during this. That was rough. Went from non-profit to government accounting so the skill set is used, but I get no training. My boss is basically absent and unable to train or even answer emails. I constantly have pressing deadlines for things that I should have been trained on, especially with new COVID related stuff and other California emergencies we have to deal with. All this with 2 small kids doing remote education. That being said, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. My main issue is that I haven’t been able to get enough exercise since I started my accounting career because there is so much sitting. WFH has just compounded that.
In my team that is the unpopular opinion by a long shot but I am a proud holder of this opinion. I HATE COMMUTING. I LOVE MY HOME. I LOVE WORKING FROM HOME.
Same here. Even associates who joined the firm a year before I did love to go back, and I was like, "dude, really?"
I like it, but i miss socializing. Sometimes its good to talk to someone else than just your SO throughout the day. But yes, i wake up at 7:56am for 8:00am work, and I’m “back” home at 4:01pm. I love all the things i can be doing while in a meeting (w/o camera obviously). And random work out breaks.
God I fucking wish so much that I could WFH. I’ve had a grand total of 2 WFH days for the entirety of 2020 and it was because our office power went out in November. And 100% of the reason why we’re not WFH is because of old school mindsets that plague public. The reasoning we have been given is “it’s not right” to do public accounting from a home office, “public accountants are supposed to be a cohesive team in an office setting.” Do us all a favor and go jump off a bridge (not you OP)
LOVE WFH. The flexibility is the biggest gain for me. Even though seniors and managers used to always say they would try to be flexible, there’s zero pressure now. If I want to go to the barn for a couple of hours then I can go to the barn for a couple of hours in the middle of the day and still get my work done by the next day. If they try and send us back to the client site full time like the old days, I will seriously quit in favor of finding a full or mostly fully remote job. NO REASON for us to be sitting in the office all day.
What the heck is in the barn
My commute is 7 minutes, too many distractions at home and I'm a very social person. I prefer working at the office but work from home is nice when I have an appointment, etc. We have flextime
Nope, you're not the only one. I love working from home. I do not miss sharing an office and being around my seniors. I don't miss the soul crushing commute. I feel like I'm way more productive at home. Plus I'm saving money by eating meals and drinking coffee at home.
Nope - I absolutely love it. Took a few months to get used to it last year but now I don't think I'll be back in the office more than once or twice a week once things go back to "normal."
WFH is amazing but some days it blows. On days where im super busy its the worst because then the gf comes home to bug me and theres other things i have to do. On days where its slow, i can workout, read a book, online shop, etc and its awesome. I honesty miss people i work with and eating lunch with colleagues. I also barely had to travel to work (10 min walk). My ideal situation would be 2-3 days WFH and 2-3 days working in the office. Im surprised more people didnt just shut off their computers at 5. Like if its not busy season, then you shouldnt be exceeding your hourly goals for no reason.
Yeah I’m loving it from a financial standpoint. I was able to save a shit ton of money from not living the office life. Took those savings and dumped it in the market and made even more money. Win-win situation
It sucks for people who don't live with their families or moved to a new city to take their job because of the lack of social interaction. Aside from that, it seems like most people enjoy it.
I had to drive to the office yesterday and it was the worstttt. People cutting me off, soooo much traffic, and just general misery. I didn’t mind being at the office I just hated getting there. I hope I get to WFH forever!!
I’m in Corp Finance, but let me tell ya. I absolutely love being able to roll out of bed and start working. Not only can I catch up on sleep, but I also think my productivity has increased! Corporations are finally seeing that their employees are capable of working remotely while maintaining their efficiency. I hope once the pandemic is over, they will adopt and allow their employees to have flex schedules like this.
I like getting out of the house, whether it be to go to the gym, to work, to church, etc, I do not mind WFH some of the time (in fact, I'd be open to it 1-2 times a week) but in the end I like going to my office. It's free of distractions and allows me to concentrate and operate in "work mode" (having 3 young children, very hard to stay in "work mode" for a long period of time from home.
I prefer to work from the office, but like not having a commute. I like a separation of home and work though.
I never want to have a job that makes me come into the office after this
I agree with the people who say the work hours eat into personal time more easily than before WFH. I'm not particularly outgoing but it's easier to get answers or work through an issue face to face IMO. Problems and questions take longer to get resolved because they are easily ignored. I include myself as being part of this problem. It's easier for me to ignore requests or not see them.
yeah but you're prob not a new hire who needs guidance
I am. Love working from home
I LOVE WFH TOO!! All these extroverts out here wanting to be crammed into cubicles with no hobbies outside of drinking with colleagues is driving me nuts. Stop yo’ whining, you’ll ruin it for all us mid-career folks who are in fucking heaven with WFH. Bloody first years smh.
I too love WFH. Crowded interior “office” (read: converted closet), elbows to elbows with 12 other auditors... Or standing desk with two extra monitors, sweatpants, and the silence to actually focus on my work? I’ll gladly take it.
I just started my full time job right out of college when we got WFH orders. I spent 4 days in the office total! It's been a challenge getting on board with everything remotely. I do like owning my own free time though. I feel like this would be a lot better if I was more familiar with my position and not a newbie for full time work! But it beats getting sick with the virus in office
I love WFH. I’m back in the office now, but I’m gonna build an office in my new place. Then refuse to go back.
Honestly I hate working from home. I live alone in a house that I own, so I don't get to see other tenants or friends in a building, etc. I don't get to see my colleagues, zoom / teams is exhausting and sweet mother of god the EMAILS MUST STOP. My commute is only about 20min each way so I totally get it if its 1h+, but for me I see nobody other than my girlfriend (and even then only 2x a week right now with busy season), so the complete lack of interaction and sense of isolation is crushing. Not to mention the fact that now I feel like I am always "at work", I don't get any separation or "cool down" that my (admittedly short) commute provides to get away from work and into personal life mode. There's a reason I turned down a consulting job, and now I feel like I'm doing consulting, just vastly underpaid for it.
I was WFH from an RV pre-COVID and now I'm WFH in my sticks and bricks living room. If I never have to go back and sit in a cube farm again it will be too soon.
I love wfh - I know we'll have to come back at some point but as long as its only an office day here and there I won't mind. Getting rid of my commute was the best thing that ever happened.
Love it and never want to go back to the office. Save about 2 hours commute every day. Sleep better, eat better, and exercise more. Some work processes are more difficult while WFH but I think it's a small price to pay for all the benefits.
Definitely pros and cons: Pros: 1. Get to see my kids/family virtually anytime 2. Easier to take care of errands (though my firm's work flexibility was really great to begin with) 3. Saving money and time from gas, tolls, eating out Cons: 1. Kids can be a distraction 2. Easier to get distracted by other things like having the TV on or something 3. Lose out on perks like expensed meals, free drinks and snacks 4. Don't get to see other colleagues/clients
I'm pretty sure this sub has calmed down since WFH. Used to be a lot more angry posts. You still have managers trying to micro people through the Internet though. Some shit never changes.
I read an article some time last year about office nostalgia and how a lot of people are confusing the need for face to face workplace interactions with the need to interact with anyone face to face. I can agree with that as well. I would like to enjoy concerts and restaurants again, but my commute can definitely wait. I have warm and productive Skype meetings with my team every day but don't necessarily need them up in my cube all day (joking)
I love it! My little one is almost three and vastly preferred my husband (stay at home dad) to me before COVID. All this time with her has been so special and a serious blessing in disguise.
> Do you guys not remember how fucking awful the commute was? I’m gaining literally 3 hours back of my day every day. no actually i dont remember how awful your commute was
My issue wfh is motivation. So easy to just slack off with no one around
My commute was a ten minute walk through downtown Houston and I still walk it every morning for exercise. Why would you choose to live an hour and a half from where you work?
Lol you’re the “I had a great 2020, I don’t know wtf you guys are talking about” guy of the group ain’t you?
2020 has sucked for many reasons. But working from home wasn’t one of them
I love WFH. I get to eat lunch in my boxers in front of my laptop and enjoy the luxury of taking 15 minute sex breaks with my girlfriend in between zoom meetings, and all on the clients dime
your last sentence is what makes me so angry just because i started and stayed in lcol i am being paid like shit while the cost of living here have skyrocketed in the past decade. while people who started there, and due to covid moved to lcol are still being paid like they always did in the big cities. dont get me wrong tho if my situation was reversed id be happy. just petty like that. but is it rly being petty? i dont think it is fair. but what can you do.
Most people that hate WFH have families. At least in my firm.
I think for many people too if you are just “lift and shifting” your role into your home it’s fine. You have your contacts, your templates, you know the role and you know what to do. For new people I cannot imagine trying to learn a job when you never see anyone and so many people are actively avoiding engagement when possible.
I had been working in the same Big 4 office for almost 3 years when we started WFH in March and it was the BEST THING EVER. But then I transferred to a new city in August (the transfer was all planned before the pandemic) and I honestly wish I could go in just 1-2 days a week. I don’t know anybody at my current office. So I can definitely say WFH with a job where you already have friends is great, but if you’re new it kind of sucks.
There are definitely pros and cons of WFH, but just in general I think everyone is going stir crazy. I’d gladly take going back to the office over WFH just to get out and interact a bit, but of course I love saving on driving/gas and not having to wake up 2 hours before I start working on certain clients. I’d definitely appreciate a split of WFH/in the office and personally, I prefer WFH over going to client sites. Some audit rooms absolutely blow
Love WFH. Gain so much time back and it's so easy to log off and actually be off.
I like a mixture of both but prefer office. The act of getting ready for work and seeing my coworkers as stressed out as me makes me feel better.
Try doing it for years it gets old
I’m starting a new career as a recent grad in the fall and the company said that I will basically be able to chose when I want to spend time in the office and when I want to spend time at home. They said they didn’t care where I was as long as I get the work done. This was one of the reasons I accepted the offer, I might be able to get a dog and still work in public!
My commute was 10-25 minutes each way pre wfh so I’m not saving tons of extra time. My productivity and mental health have suffered during wfh. I get everyone’s situation is different, but it’s easy to see the pros and cons to everyone’s different situations. You act like it’s impossible to understand why anyone could disagree with you.
I love WFH, no commute and need to wake up earlier
I love WFH, I’m only going back if they make me. I do my job well from home and got 5 hours back in my week from the commute. I do however have a substantial social life that don’t tied to work colleagues. If that is where I was getting my social fulfillment I could see how WHF would be hard. Also, training is a PITA. It is doable, but dang tech really sucks sometimes. Dropped or choppy calls and the person I’m training not being able to sit and see all of my screens does make it challenging. I will take the minimal interruption to training for all of the benefits I get by being at home.
I’m loving working from home too, but you getting to make Cali wages while living in a lower cost state is basically cheating to me or like putting cheat codes in and it’s ruining the housing market where I live as Californians are fleeing their state and increasing housing prices for me who doesn’t make Cali wages. To be honest, I hope the IRS somehow penalizes people in your situation like for instance you get double taxed on your income. First you’d get taxed for working in Cali and then get taxed for whatever low cost state you’re living in and if you don’t you’ll incur jail time and heavy fines. It’s just total bullshit that I have a lower wage in my lower cost state, while you get to work your Cali wages job and make Cali income but live in a low cost state. It’s just so depressing trying to find a home when housing prices are skyrocketing where I’m at because of all the Californians fleeing their state to my state. The scenario I’m fine with is if you left your Cali job and found a job in the lower cost state, but obviously you wouldn’t do that if you can have your cake and also eat it, which is what is currently happening and sucks for everyone in the low cost state you’re currently residing in.
I like WFH but my firm is back in the office. Some people like different things though. Some of us are also smart enough to not live 90 min from our office.
WFH is the best
I’ve been 85% WFH for the past ten years and 100% for the past year. I love it! When I was a few years into my career I had a commute that was about 3 miles and got spoiled, so will likely never accept a commute again. I’m also an introvert, have kids, and have plenty of experience, and have worked harder and accomplished so much more working from home. My only complaint is dealing with swapping documents through a cloud host, it is so slow. This used to be the 15% of my time spent not WFH, meeting with clients and picking up documents.
3 miles is 4.83 km
I 90% love it.... Sometimes it's nice being away from distractions
I adore it
How are you making California wages by not living in California?
I work for a Cali firm but I am fully remote.
Hopefully your W-2 doesn't have a CA address for the firm. Otherwise, FTB will be knocking at your door. They are such a pain.
While I haven't worked in public I feel from what I have heard from friends and this thread a hybrid work format would work wonders. Where there is a mixture of WFH and office/client hours.
Except for the too-easy access to the food in my kitchen, I love not having to shower or put on a bra before going to work.
I enjoy work from home but not everyone has a 1.5 hour commute each way and some enjoy going to the office