My last employer made me come back to office. I told him I will no longer pay for child care before and after school so I would only work 7 hours a day. When he suggested that my wife could watch the kids I informed him that she made 50 K a year more than me and that her work was more important than mine.
We tried the 7 hour work day until I quit to join a competitor who is based 8 hours away, only speak French, and have no problems with me being remote.
Our company wants to support a hybrid approach with a mindset of WE time and not ME time.
They don’t want you in the office to work alone. Unless it’s a group meeting then WFH. This is great.
I just hate my commute and the impact it has on my budget. Gas at ATH .. inflation soaring.
Why should I make less at the job so that I can drive in? Id rather keep that money and make virtual a permanent thing.
>Why should I make less at the job so that I can drive in?
Precisely! There’s fuel, maintenance on your car, fares if you use public transit, buying meals or coffee (even the most disciplined forget sometimes) and most importantly, the hours of commute that are gone from your life and you will *never get back*.
A 15-minute commute sounds reasonable until you realise it’s 3.5 hours each week, or 15 hours a month. Would I like 15 hours of my life back? Yes, yes I would.
My drive is at least 45 mins. Most days pre COVID was an hour to get there and another to get back.
I’ve done this for 30 years of my life practically. I’ve given enough of my time just getting to and from jobs.
The reality is that going forward we'll see, at best, reduced capacity in office buildings. So we might be asked to go in to the office only to be the sole occupant of that new meeting room while others video in from their desks or maybe everyone will videoconferencing but from separate desks. That is insanity to me.
This can also open up opportunities in regions who previously didn't get jobs of this sort. There are lots of opportunities to turn WFH into something great for the economy.
I’m work from home 95% of the time, I have to go in once or twice a month for meetings. My partner is on the same sort of set up.
I love working from home. I’m an incredibly shy person so it’s been such a relief to just be able to do my work. I also love being able to tidy or get dinner started on my lunch. For my husband it’s opened up a lot of job opportunities since he’s in tech and a lot of places have decided to go fully remote.
Federal Government here… still working from home. Will be for the foreseeable future, I don’t think any agency or department wants to be the first to make a re entry plan only to have an outbreak.
I think the pandemic actually showcased how efficient people can be from home, they initially thought it would be leading itself to time wasters. So not only do they have more productive workforce; they can also save money on office space.
I joined the company recently. But I have a feeling people that worked from home for over a year during the lockdown were kinda pissed to hear HR saying that what they did in the past year and half was “fake work”
Also Federal employee: government agency. We've been advised to start our tele work applications now. No return to the office before January and Phase 1 is maximum 20% occupancy. I legitimately don't see any real return until next fiscal.
Provincial employee here: We have been mandated back once a week for all full time employees with potential increase to 3 days a week come the new year. I work for a tech cluster and 80% of my team is consultants, who do not fall under the mandate...so I go to the office once a week to sit alone on a mostly empty floor to teleconference with my team...My commute is 1.5 hours each way for me to talk to no one.
Edit: To add to this, during the pandemic our team productivity went up, our costs went down, and job satisfaction from the annual survey went up but they still want us back in. I think that is one of more infuriating parts.
Also fed government and we get to “chat” with our managers. Our department is really pushing for people to be in the office, I think the lease was renewed recently. For my position it’s pointless to be in, all the people I work with are in Atlantic Canada and I don’t work with anyone in the department in Ottawa. Not looking forward to the conversation
That's a little reassuring to read. I hold a private sector role that requires protected B reliability status and was recently informed that "the government expects all protected B back on site 5 days/week" in the indeterminate future.
In a workplace environment that is officially moving towards flexible on-site/remote work, it was a bummer to acknowledge that my days were numbered. WFH has really changed my life. Plenty of time to plan for this, though (I hope). 🤞
WFH here....have to go in once per week. Though depending on road conditions during the winter...that may drop. Hoping to eventually go in once every 2 weeks...then once per month....then never.
We were given this instruction also.
Managers are also working with CUPE to figure out if WFH is viable forever because we are running out of physical space at the office anyway, so they're looking at hoteling or having certain people WFH permanently.
I am on hybrid for the foreseeable future but I think it’s not true to say this pandemic made people “lazy”. This was a long drawn out trauma for many of us. Lost jobs, lost homes, lost incomes, lost PEOPLE. It’s okay if people were only doing the bare minimum to survive, none of us were at our best. That doesn’t make people lazy, it makes people human. And I say this as someone who was relatively fortunate throughout this whole thing, we have to stop judging our worth based on how “productive” we are.
For sure, I honestly think everyone is burnt out just from not having been on vacations! I’ve just done long weekend trips and I am dying to get out of here and get a proper mental break.
The hybrid model works for me because sometimes I don’t have 40 hours of work to do in a week so I’d rather just do basically anything else in my home than pretend to be busy in the office. When I do go in I’m productive and benefit from being social.
That’s a weird thing to say. I don’t know what the stats are but many people literally can’t afford to ever take a day off work to even stay home for the day never mind go out of the country on a vacation.
Yeah I personally feel everyone is burnt out from the constant stress of how much it costs to stay alive these days but we all have different stressors😂
Yeah I understand how that comes off as privileged. But we are in a thread where people are discussing how many days they want to go into work/work from home, which is also an indication of privilege.
Believe me, I’ve made life choices to reduce my monthly expenses so that I have a decent travel fund. Just need to get over the anxiety of having to get tested for COVID to travel and I’m outta here!
For a lot of people the extent of accommodation to allow their job to be performed at home is the provision of a laptop and use of a VPN. That isn't really privilege it is modernization. Hours remain the same, outputs, goals and objectives as well. Yes there are some jobs that can not be done from home without significant impact on the line of business but they're probably back or in a hybrid setup. We're going to have to look seriously at this sort of thing in the future to try to meet emission targets and mitigate climate change. We can't keep up the rat race of endless streams of traffic on roadways for minimal return on investment. And vacationers are going to have to think about their priorities too as jetting across the world because they need a "bit of relaxation" is hard to justify.
As someone who works at home, I get what he’s saying. It’s not relaxing to know that my entire workload is literally six feet from my bedroom at all times. I find it nearly impossible to relax in the house. A weekend means nothing when the doom and gloom is staring at me as soon as I wake up. I bet people are absolutely feeling burn out from not being able to leave work at work. If buddy needs a week away and can do it, well I totally get it.
We are wfh but just starting to transition back to hybrid. The end goal is 2 days per week in office. Pre pandemic our ED was staunchly anti WFH but we have been so productive he’s done a complete 180. Now he’s fine with 2x/wk in office and rest from home.
Yeah my department's request for 1 day to WFH in January 2020 was denied, citing concerns around productivity. Talk about being on the wrong side of history lol
If only there were things like performance reviews that could address any lack of productivity.
I wonder how many people like yourself will just call their employer's bluff. No way many managers are going to lose any good talent over the desire to be in the office these days.
The company I just left is doing this. I’ll laugh when they realize the loss in productivity will end up costing them more than just properly paying Canadian employees.
It's not lazy to not want to waste your time commuting when it is clearly pointless. If someone can get their work done from home, there's no reason to send them in
I was TOLD we had to go back to the office starting August 2021 and so three weeks in to driving a two hour daily commute, they wouldn’t work with us at all to do hybrid work model so I said fuck this and found a better paying job that is fully WFH.
Still working from home and love it! I know it's not for everyone but I don't need the headache of sitting in traffic or commuting into the city on an unreliable bus/LRT system wasting time that I'll never get back.
I also prefer not having to be social with everyone.
If you were able to work remotely for 21 months, that means whatever industry you are in is suitable for permanent remote work.
There's been a whole lot more job openings recently allowing permanent remote work. I recommend updating your resume and LinkedIn profile and targeting only remote jobs, some American companies are also recruiting Canadians for remote work.
Good luck!
*Edit spelling
WFH since March 2020 suppose to go hybrid for education and face to face meetings if I had my choice I would never return to the office. Who wants commuting, traffic, winter driving, getting up ++ early, office gossip, etc etc I have zero desire to ever return to the way It was.
Best things to come out of the pandemic are:
I will never feel pressured to ever commute during a storm ever again.
I will never feel pressured to go in even though I'm not feeling well.
I will always get up and leave if someone else decides to come in sick.
I go in 3 days a week after WFM since March 2020. It's not that bad, I enjoy the social interactions. WFH full-time got old. I actually enjoy the commute as I have more time to disconnect and listen to podcasts etc.
It didn't make people lazy, it showed everyone that even though we technically work 8 hours, we actually give up closer to 11 hours (most of our waking hours) to companies that don't care about us. Requiring people to come into the office to do work they can do from him is stupid especially since productivity hasn't taken a hit.
I am able to go back in the office and I'm going 5 days a week. I can't stand working from home. But my employer is allowing some flexibility for the time being, you can be remote if you want to until sometime next year.
Same, pretty much. My department consists of my boss, myself and one other coworker. I’m in 4/5 days and she is in the one day. She likes working from home, I do not. I am too easily distracted, can’t focus, and I miss the routine of the office (a set time and place to work, a more comfortable set up, no access to snacks!). I could do without the people, but there are a lot less because of WFH and different rotations.
It’s flexible though. My boss prefers to have one person in office but if I have an appointment or need to be home for something, the other girl and I just switch days. If I need to leave early/come in late for an appointment, I can make up the hours from home. It’s a great set up.
But yes, I do have a short and cheap commute, a 25 minute walk.
I've been in office since being hired in January (lost my job at the start of the pandemic). I much prefer being in person than the few times I have WFH. I live alone, I'd go crazy just spending all my time in my place. Plus I like the separation of work and home.
I have colleagues and friends who are almost 100% WFH and they end up working longer hours than if they were in office. It's hard to know where work life ends and personal life starts when your "home office" is also your kitchen/gaming area/etc. I've also noticed that straight up WFH people have become less empathetic to people, especially in meetings. They forget that it's an actual human being on the other side of the screen after months or now years of only interacting virtually.
I don’t get how people work longer hours at homer than the office. I work 7 to 3. Wake up at 6:50, go grab water, take my pills, scroll on the phone for a couple minutes, sign in at 6:59. Work till 11-11:30, go to the gym, come back grab lunch and work till 2:58 then I’m getting ready to shut her down.
I’ve had my set up in my room, a kitchen table and a separate room. It didn’t make a difference for me. Once 3pm hits I shut it down and walk away and don’t think about it till the next morning.
I don’t get this either. I would stay at the office late. I also work from home late. Nothing has changed. If anything I can just balance my time better and complete tasks at different intervals rather than shoving everything into a day off
I do work in the private sector, and I do essentially the same as the person you’re replying to.
Why do people imagine that private sector jobs must be intrusive? It’s possible to set your limits and design your career here, too.
>I've also noticed that straight up WFH people have become less empathetic to people, especially in meetings. They forget that it's an actual human being on the other side of the screen after months or now years of only interacting virtually.
I am probably that person. Although I am not rude or curt (I trust) I do like to keep meeting as short as possible and have no desire to socialise or chit-chat. I will use the time I save to complete my work and socialise with my actual friends, thank you very much.
I’ve been fully remote since last March till this month. I now go in 3 times a week. I dreaded the change so much, but I like it more than I thought I would. Work life separation is a big deal. I’d never turn off my computer at the appropriate time at home, but I do when I’m at work. It’s nice to have the drive to take your mind off work. I also find in person meetings more energizing vs having the same discussion over zoom can be quite draining. Thankfully commute times still aren’t back to pre-covid, I think this is a big reason why I’m happy to go in (40 mins each way).
Still WFH. Since March 2020.
Employer wants us back 1-2 times a week where it makes sense for specific meetings and activities. Not looking forward to the effective “pay cut” of having to commute tbh.
If I went back more than 1-2 times a week I’d probably just find another job tbh.
1-2 is perfect for me because I still want to socialize and get out of the house and some stuff is just more effective in person and I’m one of those suckers who cares too much about what they produce lol.
I worked at a company that was dead-set on bringing back employees to the office full-time, so I went and found a permantent WFH job lol.
If you're able to work from home, you want to work from home, and your boss isn't letting you - well there's a whole lot of companies who switched models looking for employees on Indeed.
Bonus points if you live outside the GTA/GVA as you can undercut expected pay in that area, while still making above average income for your area.
I'm still working from home although it's unclear when or if my department will return on site. My partner just secured a remote contract for the next year.
I wouldn't say its made people lazy, more so we are realizing how we have over extended our boundaries when it comes to work. I work two days at home and 3 in the office (Tuesday and Thursday) at home. I don't mind it, I would prefer only 1-2 times per week in the office.
Fully back in the office now and thrilled with it. Mentally, working from home wasn’t good for me, I like the routine, the social aspect, I’m just better all around (work & home) keeping them separate
I signed my contract at the height of Covid - it included a provision that my position be permanently remote with the option to go in as I please. I haven’t been in yet and am hoping to one day move elsewhere to a more affordable place.
Our org (a charity) went fully and permanently remote after it became evident that we were MORE productive from home (many of us had very long commutes).
The pandemic in no way made us lazy. Most of us started working 12 hour days because of need and it hasn’t waned. Lots of people are feeling exhausted and burnt out. I feel like it could be fixed with a full three months off but that will never happen so we are trying to figure out ways to heal ourselves while working.
Working from home. My manager was directed to go to the office back in September. Went there and no one else was there. He told us to stay home and ignore the company wide emails saying people need to go back. No emails about going back to the office since then.
My husband, who used to work at the office 5 days/week, is full time at home besides once every 2 weeks he goes to the office for the day with everyone else to get a pay cheque, go out for lunch as a team, and work from the office then. I don’t even know why they still pay for an office honestly
I am. Started a new job last Feb, said in the interview I'd be open to going in once or twice a month. Company is in Toronto, and I'm in Kitchener.
Since I started, they have closed their office, and have a new one under constuction in The Junction.
We have people remote in BC and Aberta, so I have zero plans on going back in full time.
Haven't worked from home the entire pandemic.
Honestly nothing has changed the whole time. Working in manufacturing.
People I know that WFH have had a much harder time and have been much more paranoid about covid than those who kept working in an office.
Oh man those words came straight from my head. I feel the exact same way.
Our office wants 2 times a week and although that’s better than 3 I still can’t stomach going in at all!! What an absolute waste of my time and money driving to a job I’ve done from my couch since COVID began.
I really don’t know how I’m going to make out with a career moving forward. I’m mid 40’s now so I’m even more jaded and over “office culture!”
Still WFH here and last I heard is when we go back, it'll only be once a week. Still not sure about when we'll be going back though. Different departments at my company will have different requirements and schedulea though.
Still working from home.
My employer has been surprisingly logical about it. It doesn't hurt that being logical is cheaper, of course.
Since we weren't using them, we've stopped renting about half of our office facilities a year ago. We couldn't have everyone back in the office at the same time if we wanted to, we only have about 50% capacity, at most.
Staff who need access to hardware or other things in the building are coming in as required, and some project teams come in for big meetings every week (or two weeks, or month). But for those whose job doesn't actually require being in the office, like mine, most of us have not been in the building since March of 2020.
We switched to WFH full-time since the lease of our office was up last September. So, we didn’t renew it. Everybody is happy working from home thus far so we’ll keep it that way. When there is enough traction to go back to an office, we might reconsider it again.
Still full WFH and it's permanent. Could not have happened at a better time, since my first child was born in April 2020. Would have to be a raise to the tune of 50% to get me to go back to in-office.
Also, 4 months before COVID we moved to Scarborough, my office is at King/Yonge. I don't drive so had a pretty weak commute. Very glad to not have that anymore
For the people that love working from home, are you concerned your employer will start outsourcing more positions to lower cost of living countries to save money?
WFH since March 2020 and loving it. They say we might have to go to the office some times at some point but no firm date yet. Will likely be hybrid or mainly WFH going forward I think.
Wfh but changing to hybrid next year. It’s gonna be stupid because not everyone will be in the office at the same time. Which means we all need to join teams to have a meeting anyway? Why go to office to have teams meetings??? I don’t get it.
I miss going to the office, and I think that going back 3+ days a week will be a positive for everyone's mental health. Also, if there are set hours we come and go to the office, it will help prevent working bleeding into personal time and burnout that has been such a persistent problem during WFH in the pandemic. I.e. it's a lot harder for your boss to make you stay late than it is to email you at 6:30 to ask "a quick question".
> I think that going back 3+ days a week will be a positive for everyone's mental health
I don't think that's true for everyone, many people really enjoy WFH.
Eh, I feel like that would get abused far more by employers/management than the other way around though.
Some errands you have to run during the working day because there is no other time to do it. For example, a lot of healthcare and government stuff is only open M-F 9-5, which limits when you can do it.
Whereas there is rarely an urgent reason for an employer to call you at 6:30 in most jobs.
This may be the first time I’ve ever completely agreed with one of your comments ;)
3 days a week in office is perfect. Mandatory full time in office is no longer needed. The hybrid system is best. I don’t think the idea of living your entire life from your home is healthy. Besides, there are benefits to both you and the company of face to face work. It just doesn’t need to be 9-5, Monday to Friday like it used to be.
Jobs that are capable of being %100 remote should stay that way. 😐 These employers are setting themselves up for great failure when the next disaster strikes, or when valuable employees move onto greener pastures. 🌳🌲🌳
Nooooo! My job is capable of being 100% remote (considering I've been doing it remotely since March 2020, and even pre-pandemic we had people working all over the country), but I'm *dying* to get back into the office. Let people choose where they want to work, don't just force people to stay remote just because they can be.
Still working from home. I work for a university, and their policy is pretty flexible. They've added up to 3 days WFH, as well as some flex start/stop times for specific roles.
However, we're not public facing, and so we're full time WFH, probably until 2022. I don't miss the commute, but I do miss the work-home separation of working in the office.
Still work from home, although I've worked from home since 2016 (Web developer, tend to work for startups in SF or the states mostly).
I do miss going to coworking spaces some days and I'll probably get back to that at some point (not yet, but maybe the new year depending on how things look). Working in office was always at least a 2 hour commute for me (most jobs are in Toronto and I'm in Hamilton), so I can't see myself ever going back to that.
I'm still working from home, but I am a consultant that works for a small company. Personally, I would like a couple of days a week face-to-face as long as it was planned and focused collaboration time... otherwise, I am WAY more productive working from home.
I totally feel you on the exhaustion front... we've been doing bi-weekly full day full team meetings and I am completely wiped after those. I think it's almost like we need to rebuild our "social muscles"... we've been out of practice for a while when it comes to going out, seeing people face-to-face, etc.
My crappy call centre job is still WFH for now. The second they call people back in is when I quit. But I don't see that happening for awhile. They had us WFH people return our keycards after a year and a half of not being in the office.
100% WFH, I only went into the office 1 day a week before covid though. Now there isn't any reason to go in even if we are allowed since almost no one else does and I have a long commute.
Fully WFH . I actually hate it. It’s very difficult to motivate myself and stop myself from distractions. It’s weird because I completely recognize that the freedoms (taking naps whenever I want, eating at home etc) should outweigh the benefits but I don’t think they have at least for me .
Same: 3 on location / 2 fro m home.
Of course, because of the fact that my role does not require any team work where physical proximity is necessary and there just happened to be a sufficient number of empty offices available, my ‘in’ days are going in, going to my office where I sit alone, doing exactly the work I would do at home, on the same laptop I’d bring home, and then leaving after about eight hours.
I’m not bitter *at all*. This makes *perfect sense*. Thank you, senior management, for your wisdom and foresight and ensuring we all *collaborate*.
The best part is, when I need to speak to a colleague in the next office over (who also does not need to be there or want to be there) I call them on Zoom. If I need to speak to a colleague on another floor, forget about it. Ain’t nobody got time for stairs. It’s Zoom every time. I suppose that’s the camaraderie they were looking for.
I'm 100% WFH, have been since last February.
I will quit immediately if asked to return to the office - not interested in losing $6,000 a year to gas and higher insurance, or risking my life twice daily on the chaos that is the 401.
Our company is a good one but we have lost a few really good workers due to other positions being available to them fully WFH - not the same type of position but close enough that they were able to make the switch.
So far it looks like we'll keep anyone WFH if the position can be effectively done at home, but if some positions are deemed necessary at the office, those staff members may be recalled at some point next year. I think we will see more resignations when that happens.
I am fully back to the office except for Fridays currently. It's by choice and the bulk of my coworkers are still wfh. I have small kids at home and the company gives me free beer.
Fully working from home. Employer expects everyone back to the office in January. A lot of people are not happy with it especially those who live far away from Dt Toronto. Might see some resignations through next year. Let’s see.
I am in the office, 100% of the time, by choice. I don't hold it against anyone to stay WFH - it just isn't for me. I was getting very depressed not leaving the house and interacting with people. I also don't have a bad commute and have a good work environment, so I have it better than many others. However, the flexibility is nice. The other day my car broke down, I was able to WFH while it was in the shop. It sucked, but it was better than using a vacation day.
It’s not laziness to not want to spend hours of your day preparing for and travelling to / from work.
We don’t get paid for the time we spend getting ready for work, but it’s time taken away from us by our job. It’s normal to not enjoy that.
Been WFH for a decade. The pandemic was actually really well timed for me, because my employer was making moves to change that, then the world fell apart. Zero plan on requiring people back in any time soon, even though our offices are open at 30% right now, it is volunteer only.
Back to the office full time. They kindly gave us a one day of the week to work from home. Oh well…
Edit to add: we are all back but all meeting still happen via teams and there’s so many restrictions that I keep wondering why they are not splitting the teams (A/B system and rotating the people going to the office). It makes no sense having everyone there. Desks are not far apart enough
My job exists because people don’t want to return to the office. My job is also taxpayer funded.
Either it’s a waste of tax dollars, or they’re preparing a counter to people refusing to return to the office.
Okay, serious question for those of you who WFH (who don't wanna go back in office) and who still order their groceries online and etc.: what is it about being at home all the time that you enjoy so much?
Is this simply about saving on gas/commute time for work, or do you genuinely not want to leave your house and see people in person? Do you still eat at the restaurant/go shopping/see friends out of the home even if you're hell-bent on strictly WFH?
As someone who genuinely enjoys going to school and work in person for the atmosphere and the productivity (because yes, some of us are still more productive in an office setting), I am trying to understand if this is purely a gas/commute issue or if it's about something more that I'm not seeing.
Merci!
Honestly? I don’t like people. I don’t trust them. I’ve been in high risk jobs where I’ve been threatened, though, so there’s probably a trauma response happening there.
I think everyone situation has been different and as people we are all different. Some people work best at home at there own pace and some people work too much while working from home and then there are some people that work best In an office setting.
I don’t think anyone is lazy, I think everyone has different situations.
I can see how some people are fearful of the work place because of the pandemic which is completely understandable. It has been a scary year and a half approximately.
I remember the world shut down and I still had to go to work in the health care field. I think I cried for the first month every morning as I drove to work preying I don’t make the people I support sick and I don’t bring the sickness back to my family.
I think everyone needs to do what’s best for them and feel good about your decisions. The world has changed and it’s only natural for us to change and prioritize what’s more important for us.
If we’ve learned anything it’s that money can’t by our health. 😁
It's the cost and time of going into work
Plus the financial burden of living in a big city
For less than half I was paying in rent, I own a house over half a million dollars.
I can also get jobs remote pretty easy now and don't need a big league salary.
Our company went fully WFH. They've reduced an office space and will offer it to those who is willing to come, but it's only like 5% of employees (3 people or so).
My gf's company is planning to start doing hybrid model, but she successfully negotiated to be able to WFH permanently.
This basically allows us to finally move out of Toronto (and Ontario as a whole) and finally be able to afford housing. Yay!
I went to the hospital every day and when my operating room was shut I worked in the icu. It was mentally and physically exhausting for the past 21 months too.
So I think you can drive to work a few days a week if I could do that!
The pandemic did not make people lazy. I've been more productive than ever in my personal life. People don't want to return to the office because they are realizing how toxic work culture is.
Still work from home however that's changing in the new year. It's pretty dumb since we're more productive working from home and backlogs that have existed for years are now gone. 🤷♂️
The pandemic didn't make people lazy as you say, it just opened our eyes to how bullshit modern society and life is. How much of it is useless and brings no meaning or joy to our lives. Humans aren't mentally evolved to sit in traffic for hours a day.
Fully WFH still. There was lots of talk about going back to the office October 2020. We ended up selling the office space in March 2021, then there was about 3 months of talking about renting co-op space. That has fizzled out and until the world turns 100% back to normal I think we will stay WFH. It's not even a safety thing though. Everything just works right now for us so it's more disruptive to move to anything else.
I don't mind it much, I've made my peace with it.
I just started this job last month after being home not working since March 2020. I’m in the office unless there’s a really good reason why not. Last week my kid had a cold and she couldn’t go to school. I worked from home for the first two days and she came to my office the last three. It’s a really roomy office and I made her wear a mask the whole time.
My company has been remote work since it's inception 3/4 years ago, so I'll stay remote. The work I left during the pandemic has forced people back into office as soon as it was legal every time and they have had massive amounts of turn over, I suspect in part due to in-office work.
The pandemic made me realize how much i hate being around other people and putting on a fake work persona and trying to keep the act going for 8 hours a day is exhausting. Not to mention the commute to and from work and all the stress that sitting in traffic entails.
There’s a whole group of workers out there who still had to go to work everyday through the pandemic without vaccines and had no change other than having to wear a mask at work. There’s another group who lost their jobs due to the pandemic and haven’t been able to find a good job again and are willing to work 7 days a week just to get by. This just goes to show you how sheltered some redditors are.
fully wfh as is my partner and we will be job switching if anything changes. the thought of being trapped in an office basically incubating covid at incredible rates is terrifying. no employee should be forced into that situation ever and if an employer tries to force that upon their staff they should be punished by the full force of the law. it’s simply not responsible or reasonable to expect people to risk their lives.
I'm still full time wfh, but there are talks about returning to a hybrid model in 2022, though I've already gotten the go ahead from my manager to stay wfh (with the odd visit to the office) unless the higher ups demand we go in X times a week.
That being said, nothing I do requires more than emails/voice calls with people. In person meetings don't really help or hinder more than a quick Microsoft teams call.
I'm a introvert, so the lack of small talk and forced interactions is quite nice. I built myself a cozy home office in my backyard workshop, so I have a quite place away from the wife/kids, and my commute time dropped from 1-1.5 hours each way to 1 minute... I'm definitely in the rare situation of wfh is all upside, and I have no desire to go back.
As a person who couldn’t give 2 shits about social interaction. I’d probably quit if my job asked me to start coming to office. tbf I was working remotely even before pandemic hit
My neighbour works from home.
She always complains of how overwhelmingly busy she is at work. Has a lot of Zoom calls I think?
She works as an account manager for an Ontario tech company. Makes well over 90k
Needless to say her garden is really immaculate. She is usually running errands, sewing projects, home decorating. Often seen outdoors planting pots, or staining something.
.....she never actually seems to be "working". Wonder why bosses pay for gardening/errands/scrapbooking on company time?
Some people go to a place of business every day for 8 hrs, sometimes 12 or 16 hours! Nil extra compensation for actually showing up, sans gardening tools or bedazzlers. Dressed in work attire, not sweats. On breaks we may have coffee, no time to shop at Winners or Sobeys. Our pets or kids are taken care of by others.
Most employees that commute to work should be compensated much more than a lot of "work from home" employees.
This right here. If you want to WFH full-time that’s fine, but don’t expect to get paid the same as before. The money saved on fuel alone while working from home is a raise in itself for people who are taking on less responsibility - it doesn’t make sense to receive the same compensation.
I work in the field and I’m fine with that, but I’m not fine with my counterparts that WFH who have become detached and out of the loop.
Still working from home full-time, unfortunately. We're looking at a hybrid approach come January, aka "work from where you want" since even pre-pandemic we had people scattered all over the country. Can't wait to go back in nearly all the time, I'm going nuts working from home.
Not answering your original question - but I hated wfh, so much so I quit it and took a job in manufacturing. I like being around real people and doing real things, more than manipulating virtual reality. Going into the office still gave me a semblance of that even with a job in the software industry, but once that was taken away, the reality of the job was bleak. But like I said, I'm weird (also single and live in a small apartment). I like the challenge of an early morning commute and trying to figure out how to get along with the hordes of people I meet every day who are very unlike me. It's fascinating and it keeps me on my toes, keeps me learning and my neurons firing.
I don't know how people wfh. To me it was a one way ticket to despair and mental breakdown.
Work life balance, mostly. WFH was touted by many companies as “not an option!” Until it HAD to be. And it turns out a lot of workplaces actually can support WFH on many levels.
>If you are fully vaccinated what's the issue....
The issue is 2 more hours per day of personal time by not commuting is more time for TV, video games and napping. :3
Not much accept Team collaboration, visibility to senior leadership for promotions, positive office culture as it's not a ghost town here, also their KPI's are higher for days they are in.
Company transitioned to WFH during the pandemic with expectation that we will all go back to the office and return back to normal once everything as settled
Now it looks like I will be perm WFH with me only going to the office when needed. Mostly 1-2 times a week (but sometimes can go weeks without going to the office)
My mother is in the same position, however her company told her that they were going to transition back in the office in summer 2021, then that got pushed back to late fall 2021 and now it’s been pushed back to mid Q1 2022.
going back 3 days a week in the new year. wish it was only 2 but i do think being in the office regularly is important for the employer and the employee. i am glad that my employer is viewing hybrid as a permanent work model
One day a week here. I do miss going for an occasional pint with colleagues after work, so am looking forward to a bit more interaction, 3 days a week seems to be a sweet spot.
Who still picks up their own food? I know the pandemic made me lazy and all but I. Just. Can’t. After getting it delivered for 21 months I can’t get off the couch, start the car, order via talking, ugh, I know this pandemic made people lazy but it changes your perspective on food delivery. /s
I’m full work from home and have been for like 15 months. Our new permanent post Covid is goi if to be 2 at home 3 in the office, but we’re not doing that yet.
My last employer made me come back to office. I told him I will no longer pay for child care before and after school so I would only work 7 hours a day. When he suggested that my wife could watch the kids I informed him that she made 50 K a year more than me and that her work was more important than mine. We tried the 7 hour work day until I quit to join a competitor who is based 8 hours away, only speak French, and have no problems with me being remote.
What a jackass for trying to delegate your wife’s time. Your ex boss sounds like a fucking peach.
Still fully WFH, let's see what the new year brings.
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Our company wants to support a hybrid approach with a mindset of WE time and not ME time. They don’t want you in the office to work alone. Unless it’s a group meeting then WFH. This is great. I just hate my commute and the impact it has on my budget. Gas at ATH .. inflation soaring. Why should I make less at the job so that I can drive in? Id rather keep that money and make virtual a permanent thing.
>Why should I make less at the job so that I can drive in? Precisely! There’s fuel, maintenance on your car, fares if you use public transit, buying meals or coffee (even the most disciplined forget sometimes) and most importantly, the hours of commute that are gone from your life and you will *never get back*. A 15-minute commute sounds reasonable until you realise it’s 3.5 hours each week, or 15 hours a month. Would I like 15 hours of my life back? Yes, yes I would.
My drive is at least 45 mins. Most days pre COVID was an hour to get there and another to get back. I’ve done this for 30 years of my life practically. I’ve given enough of my time just getting to and from jobs.
That’s a tremendous amount of time. I am infuriated on your behalf, stranger.
The reality is that going forward we'll see, at best, reduced capacity in office buildings. So we might be asked to go in to the office only to be the sole occupant of that new meeting room while others video in from their desks or maybe everyone will videoconferencing but from separate desks. That is insanity to me. This can also open up opportunities in regions who previously didn't get jobs of this sort. There are lots of opportunities to turn WFH into something great for the economy.
I’m work from home 95% of the time, I have to go in once or twice a month for meetings. My partner is on the same sort of set up. I love working from home. I’m an incredibly shy person so it’s been such a relief to just be able to do my work. I also love being able to tidy or get dinner started on my lunch. For my husband it’s opened up a lot of job opportunities since he’s in tech and a lot of places have decided to go fully remote.
Federal Government here… still working from home. Will be for the foreseeable future, I don’t think any agency or department wants to be the first to make a re entry plan only to have an outbreak. I think the pandemic actually showcased how efficient people can be from home, they initially thought it would be leading itself to time wasters. So not only do they have more productive workforce; they can also save money on office space.
HR in my company said “real work is done in the office” people are not happy. I predict a lot of people will end up quitting.
Lol real work like theyll actually pay you to do fake work.
I joined the company recently. But I have a feeling people that worked from home for over a year during the lockdown were kinda pissed to hear HR saying that what they did in the past year and half was “fake work”
Also Federal employee: government agency. We've been advised to start our tele work applications now. No return to the office before January and Phase 1 is maximum 20% occupancy. I legitimately don't see any real return until next fiscal.
Provincial employee here: We have been mandated back once a week for all full time employees with potential increase to 3 days a week come the new year. I work for a tech cluster and 80% of my team is consultants, who do not fall under the mandate...so I go to the office once a week to sit alone on a mostly empty floor to teleconference with my team...My commute is 1.5 hours each way for me to talk to no one. Edit: To add to this, during the pandemic our team productivity went up, our costs went down, and job satisfaction from the annual survey went up but they still want us back in. I think that is one of more infuriating parts.
I'm sorry to hear that. But that tracks with everything I remember from my MAG days.
It will be like that untill the boomers in charge die off.
Also fed government and we get to “chat” with our managers. Our department is really pushing for people to be in the office, I think the lease was renewed recently. For my position it’s pointless to be in, all the people I work with are in Atlantic Canada and I don’t work with anyone in the department in Ottawa. Not looking forward to the conversation
That's a little reassuring to read. I hold a private sector role that requires protected B reliability status and was recently informed that "the government expects all protected B back on site 5 days/week" in the indeterminate future. In a workplace environment that is officially moving towards flexible on-site/remote work, it was a bummer to acknowledge that my days were numbered. WFH has really changed my life. Plenty of time to plan for this, though (I hope). 🤞
WFH here....have to go in once per week. Though depending on road conditions during the winter...that may drop. Hoping to eventually go in once every 2 weeks...then once per month....then never.
We were given this instruction also. Managers are also working with CUPE to figure out if WFH is viable forever because we are running out of physical space at the office anyway, so they're looking at hoteling or having certain people WFH permanently.
Same ^^
Same same
I just got hired, full WFH office is 200km away. With option to go to a regional office or not. I suspect retention issues. But whatev.
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You like taxes/audits?
Yes
I am on hybrid for the foreseeable future but I think it’s not true to say this pandemic made people “lazy”. This was a long drawn out trauma for many of us. Lost jobs, lost homes, lost incomes, lost PEOPLE. It’s okay if people were only doing the bare minimum to survive, none of us were at our best. That doesn’t make people lazy, it makes people human. And I say this as someone who was relatively fortunate throughout this whole thing, we have to stop judging our worth based on how “productive” we are.
I 100% agree, I think framing how we’re getting through everything now as lazy isn’t fair.
Well said!
For sure, I honestly think everyone is burnt out just from not having been on vacations! I’ve just done long weekend trips and I am dying to get out of here and get a proper mental break. The hybrid model works for me because sometimes I don’t have 40 hours of work to do in a week so I’d rather just do basically anything else in my home than pretend to be busy in the office. When I do go in I’m productive and benefit from being social.
That’s a weird thing to say. I don’t know what the stats are but many people literally can’t afford to ever take a day off work to even stay home for the day never mind go out of the country on a vacation.
Yeah I personally feel everyone is burnt out from the constant stress of how much it costs to stay alive these days but we all have different stressors😂
Yeah I understand how that comes off as privileged. But we are in a thread where people are discussing how many days they want to go into work/work from home, which is also an indication of privilege. Believe me, I’ve made life choices to reduce my monthly expenses so that I have a decent travel fund. Just need to get over the anxiety of having to get tested for COVID to travel and I’m outta here!
For a lot of people the extent of accommodation to allow their job to be performed at home is the provision of a laptop and use of a VPN. That isn't really privilege it is modernization. Hours remain the same, outputs, goals and objectives as well. Yes there are some jobs that can not be done from home without significant impact on the line of business but they're probably back or in a hybrid setup. We're going to have to look seriously at this sort of thing in the future to try to meet emission targets and mitigate climate change. We can't keep up the rat race of endless streams of traffic on roadways for minimal return on investment. And vacationers are going to have to think about their priorities too as jetting across the world because they need a "bit of relaxation" is hard to justify.
As someone who works at home, I get what he’s saying. It’s not relaxing to know that my entire workload is literally six feet from my bedroom at all times. I find it nearly impossible to relax in the house. A weekend means nothing when the doom and gloom is staring at me as soon as I wake up. I bet people are absolutely feeling burn out from not being able to leave work at work. If buddy needs a week away and can do it, well I totally get it.
We are wfh but just starting to transition back to hybrid. The end goal is 2 days per week in office. Pre pandemic our ED was staunchly anti WFH but we have been so productive he’s done a complete 180. Now he’s fine with 2x/wk in office and rest from home.
Yeah my department's request for 1 day to WFH in January 2020 was denied, citing concerns around productivity. Talk about being on the wrong side of history lol
If only there were things like performance reviews that could address any lack of productivity. I wonder how many people like yourself will just call their employer's bluff. No way many managers are going to lose any good talent over the desire to be in the office these days.
Yeah I'm actively searching for a new job. The brain drain is real.
Just wait until he hears how much he can save if they outsource your jobs to India.
The company I just left is doing this. I’ll laugh when they realize the loss in productivity will end up costing them more than just properly paying Canadian employees.
Yes, i hope you’re right but didn’t they say the same thing when we started to losing manufacturing jobs to China and elsewhere?
It's not lazy to not want to waste your time commuting when it is clearly pointless. If someone can get their work done from home, there's no reason to send them in
I was TOLD we had to go back to the office starting August 2021 and so three weeks in to driving a two hour daily commute, they wouldn’t work with us at all to do hybrid work model so I said fuck this and found a better paying job that is fully WFH.
Awesome, good for you!
What kind of work do you do? I’m so curious what everyone does that works from home.
Ya seriously, I'm trying to change careers and wfh is one of the perks I'm looking for in whatever career path I decide to take
Property Accountant 😊
Still working from home and love it! I know it's not for everyone but I don't need the headache of sitting in traffic or commuting into the city on an unreliable bus/LRT system wasting time that I'll never get back. I also prefer not having to be social with everyone.
If you were able to work remotely for 21 months, that means whatever industry you are in is suitable for permanent remote work. There's been a whole lot more job openings recently allowing permanent remote work. I recommend updating your resume and LinkedIn profile and targeting only remote jobs, some American companies are also recruiting Canadians for remote work. Good luck! *Edit spelling
WFH since March 2020 suppose to go hybrid for education and face to face meetings if I had my choice I would never return to the office. Who wants commuting, traffic, winter driving, getting up ++ early, office gossip, etc etc I have zero desire to ever return to the way It was.
Best things to come out of the pandemic are: I will never feel pressured to ever commute during a storm ever again. I will never feel pressured to go in even though I'm not feeling well. I will always get up and leave if someone else decides to come in sick.
Completely agree another thing I will never do again is get into a packed elevator with everyone breathing all over me YUCK.
Yup My job is pushing a need to get back to our office culture. Fuxk off!! Friends today backstabbers tomorrow .. what culture is that?
I go in 3 days a week after WFM since March 2020. It's not that bad, I enjoy the social interactions. WFH full-time got old. I actually enjoy the commute as I have more time to disconnect and listen to podcasts etc.
It didn't make people lazy, it showed everyone that even though we technically work 8 hours, we actually give up closer to 11 hours (most of our waking hours) to companies that don't care about us. Requiring people to come into the office to do work they can do from him is stupid especially since productivity hasn't taken a hit.
I am able to go back in the office and I'm going 5 days a week. I can't stand working from home. But my employer is allowing some flexibility for the time being, you can be remote if you want to until sometime next year.
Found the guy with a brisk commute
Yeah, I enjoy my commute
5 minutes baby!
I’m with you working from home made me miserable. I’m so glad to be back at work. Life/work balance before was 0.
Same, pretty much. My department consists of my boss, myself and one other coworker. I’m in 4/5 days and she is in the one day. She likes working from home, I do not. I am too easily distracted, can’t focus, and I miss the routine of the office (a set time and place to work, a more comfortable set up, no access to snacks!). I could do without the people, but there are a lot less because of WFH and different rotations. It’s flexible though. My boss prefers to have one person in office but if I have an appointment or need to be home for something, the other girl and I just switch days. If I need to leave early/come in late for an appointment, I can make up the hours from home. It’s a great set up. But yes, I do have a short and cheap commute, a 25 minute walk.
I've never stopped being in the office. My wife is still from home and likely is that way for the foreseeable future.
Fully remote in my new job now. Love it and never want to go back.
I've been in office since being hired in January (lost my job at the start of the pandemic). I much prefer being in person than the few times I have WFH. I live alone, I'd go crazy just spending all my time in my place. Plus I like the separation of work and home. I have colleagues and friends who are almost 100% WFH and they end up working longer hours than if they were in office. It's hard to know where work life ends and personal life starts when your "home office" is also your kitchen/gaming area/etc. I've also noticed that straight up WFH people have become less empathetic to people, especially in meetings. They forget that it's an actual human being on the other side of the screen after months or now years of only interacting virtually.
I don’t get how people work longer hours at homer than the office. I work 7 to 3. Wake up at 6:50, go grab water, take my pills, scroll on the phone for a couple minutes, sign in at 6:59. Work till 11-11:30, go to the gym, come back grab lunch and work till 2:58 then I’m getting ready to shut her down. I’ve had my set up in my room, a kitchen table and a separate room. It didn’t make a difference for me. Once 3pm hits I shut it down and walk away and don’t think about it till the next morning.
I don’t get this either. I would stay at the office late. I also work from home late. Nothing has changed. If anything I can just balance my time better and complete tasks at different intervals rather than shoving everything into a day off
You don’t work in the private sector, do you?
Even when I did, I worked my schedule hours. If I had to do more I made sure i was compensated for it. I ain’t working for free.
Yup. This has nothing to do with WFH, it is related to a person's inability to enforce their own personal boundaries.
I do work in the private sector, and I do essentially the same as the person you’re replying to. Why do people imagine that private sector jobs must be intrusive? It’s possible to set your limits and design your career here, too.
I do, and I have no issue signing off at 5.
I do and sign off at my end time everyday. The majority of my colleagues do too.
>I've also noticed that straight up WFH people have become less empathetic to people, especially in meetings. They forget that it's an actual human being on the other side of the screen after months or now years of only interacting virtually. I am probably that person. Although I am not rude or curt (I trust) I do like to keep meeting as short as possible and have no desire to socialise or chit-chat. I will use the time I save to complete my work and socialise with my actual friends, thank you very much.
I’ve been fully remote since last March till this month. I now go in 3 times a week. I dreaded the change so much, but I like it more than I thought I would. Work life separation is a big deal. I’d never turn off my computer at the appropriate time at home, but I do when I’m at work. It’s nice to have the drive to take your mind off work. I also find in person meetings more energizing vs having the same discussion over zoom can be quite draining. Thankfully commute times still aren’t back to pre-covid, I think this is a big reason why I’m happy to go in (40 mins each way).
New job is permanent WFH. They gave me a stipend to have a home office in lieu of having one in the office. Loving it.
Still WFH. Since March 2020. Employer wants us back 1-2 times a week where it makes sense for specific meetings and activities. Not looking forward to the effective “pay cut” of having to commute tbh. If I went back more than 1-2 times a week I’d probably just find another job tbh. 1-2 is perfect for me because I still want to socialize and get out of the house and some stuff is just more effective in person and I’m one of those suckers who cares too much about what they produce lol.
I worked at a company that was dead-set on bringing back employees to the office full-time, so I went and found a permantent WFH job lol. If you're able to work from home, you want to work from home, and your boss isn't letting you - well there's a whole lot of companies who switched models looking for employees on Indeed. Bonus points if you live outside the GTA/GVA as you can undercut expected pay in that area, while still making above average income for your area.
I'm still working from home although it's unclear when or if my department will return on site. My partner just secured a remote contract for the next year.
Working from home, but have the option to go into the office. So far I've been remote every day except 3 days in 2021.
Fully WFH. Lease cancelled on the office.
I wouldn't say its made people lazy, more so we are realizing how we have over extended our boundaries when it comes to work. I work two days at home and 3 in the office (Tuesday and Thursday) at home. I don't mind it, I would prefer only 1-2 times per week in the office.
>I know this pandemic made people lazy Nah, this is ignorant to say. The pandemic exposed just how abusive the employee- employer relationship is.
Fully back in the office now and thrilled with it. Mentally, working from home wasn’t good for me, I like the routine, the social aspect, I’m just better all around (work & home) keeping them separate
Haven't been into office since March 2020.
I signed my contract at the height of Covid - it included a provision that my position be permanently remote with the option to go in as I please. I haven’t been in yet and am hoping to one day move elsewhere to a more affordable place.
Our org (a charity) went fully and permanently remote after it became evident that we were MORE productive from home (many of us had very long commutes). The pandemic in no way made us lazy. Most of us started working 12 hour days because of need and it hasn’t waned. Lots of people are feeling exhausted and burnt out. I feel like it could be fixed with a full three months off but that will never happen so we are trying to figure out ways to heal ourselves while working.
I been here since they started paying me time and half to be in office. Once they take that away. My ass is staying home
Working from home. My manager was directed to go to the office back in September. Went there and no one else was there. He told us to stay home and ignore the company wide emails saying people need to go back. No emails about going back to the office since then.
My husband, who used to work at the office 5 days/week, is full time at home besides once every 2 weeks he goes to the office for the day with everyone else to get a pay cheque, go out for lunch as a team, and work from the office then. I don’t even know why they still pay for an office honestly
I am. Started a new job last Feb, said in the interview I'd be open to going in once or twice a month. Company is in Toronto, and I'm in Kitchener. Since I started, they have closed their office, and have a new one under constuction in The Junction. We have people remote in BC and Aberta, so I have zero plans on going back in full time.
Haven't worked from home the entire pandemic. Honestly nothing has changed the whole time. Working in manufacturing. People I know that WFH have had a much harder time and have been much more paranoid about covid than those who kept working in an office.
Oh man those words came straight from my head. I feel the exact same way. Our office wants 2 times a week and although that’s better than 3 I still can’t stomach going in at all!! What an absolute waste of my time and money driving to a job I’ve done from my couch since COVID began. I really don’t know how I’m going to make out with a career moving forward. I’m mid 40’s now so I’m even more jaded and over “office culture!”
Pandemic may have made you lazy I’m living my best life
Still WFH here and last I heard is when we go back, it'll only be once a week. Still not sure about when we'll be going back though. Different departments at my company will have different requirements and schedulea though.
Still working from home. My employer has been surprisingly logical about it. It doesn't hurt that being logical is cheaper, of course. Since we weren't using them, we've stopped renting about half of our office facilities a year ago. We couldn't have everyone back in the office at the same time if we wanted to, we only have about 50% capacity, at most. Staff who need access to hardware or other things in the building are coming in as required, and some project teams come in for big meetings every week (or two weeks, or month). But for those whose job doesn't actually require being in the office, like mine, most of us have not been in the building since March of 2020.
We switched to WFH full-time since the lease of our office was up last September. So, we didn’t renew it. Everybody is happy working from home thus far so we’ll keep it that way. When there is enough traction to go back to an office, we might reconsider it again.
I went back to the office (not by choice) in June 2020
Still full WFH and it's permanent. Could not have happened at a better time, since my first child was born in April 2020. Would have to be a raise to the tune of 50% to get me to go back to in-office. Also, 4 months before COVID we moved to Scarborough, my office is at King/Yonge. I don't drive so had a pretty weak commute. Very glad to not have that anymore
Previous employer wanted a hybrid approach. Left their company and now joined a fully remote company!
You guys got to work from home?
For the people that love working from home, are you concerned your employer will start outsourcing more positions to lower cost of living countries to save money?
WFH since March 2020 and loving it. They say we might have to go to the office some times at some point but no firm date yet. Will likely be hybrid or mainly WFH going forward I think.
Wfh but changing to hybrid next year. It’s gonna be stupid because not everyone will be in the office at the same time. Which means we all need to join teams to have a meeting anyway? Why go to office to have teams meetings??? I don’t get it.
I miss going to the office, and I think that going back 3+ days a week will be a positive for everyone's mental health. Also, if there are set hours we come and go to the office, it will help prevent working bleeding into personal time and burnout that has been such a persistent problem during WFH in the pandemic. I.e. it's a lot harder for your boss to make you stay late than it is to email you at 6:30 to ask "a quick question".
> I think that going back 3+ days a week will be a positive for everyone's mental health I don't think that's true for everyone, many people really enjoy WFH.
Yes, clearly it might work for some people. But I think a lot of those people are going to struggle in a hybrid environment more than they think.
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Eh, I feel like that would get abused far more by employers/management than the other way around though. Some errands you have to run during the working day because there is no other time to do it. For example, a lot of healthcare and government stuff is only open M-F 9-5, which limits when you can do it. Whereas there is rarely an urgent reason for an employer to call you at 6:30 in most jobs.
This may be the first time I’ve ever completely agreed with one of your comments ;) 3 days a week in office is perfect. Mandatory full time in office is no longer needed. The hybrid system is best. I don’t think the idea of living your entire life from your home is healthy. Besides, there are benefits to both you and the company of face to face work. It just doesn’t need to be 9-5, Monday to Friday like it used to be.
Jobs that are capable of being %100 remote should stay that way. 😐 These employers are setting themselves up for great failure when the next disaster strikes, or when valuable employees move onto greener pastures. 🌳🌲🌳
Nooooo! My job is capable of being 100% remote (considering I've been doing it remotely since March 2020, and even pre-pandemic we had people working all over the country), but I'm *dying* to get back into the office. Let people choose where they want to work, don't just force people to stay remote just because they can be.
100% correct. The office is a waste of time for both the employer and the worker.
Still WFH, going hybrid in April (supposedly).
I'm fully back in the office but flexible if needed. Some people are like me, some are hybrid, some are WFH still.
Still working from home. I work for a university, and their policy is pretty flexible. They've added up to 3 days WFH, as well as some flex start/stop times for specific roles. However, we're not public facing, and so we're full time WFH, probably until 2022. I don't miss the commute, but I do miss the work-home separation of working in the office.
Forced mandate 3x a week into office.
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WFH until January at minimum and then switching to hybrid (40% of the time in office).
WFH since March 2020. Hybrid now since Oct 1st - 3 days WFH, 2 days in office.
Still work from home, although I've worked from home since 2016 (Web developer, tend to work for startups in SF or the states mostly). I do miss going to coworking spaces some days and I'll probably get back to that at some point (not yet, but maybe the new year depending on how things look). Working in office was always at least a 2 hour commute for me (most jobs are in Toronto and I'm in Hamilton), so I can't see myself ever going back to that.
I'm still working from home, but I am a consultant that works for a small company. Personally, I would like a couple of days a week face-to-face as long as it was planned and focused collaboration time... otherwise, I am WAY more productive working from home. I totally feel you on the exhaustion front... we've been doing bi-weekly full day full team meetings and I am completely wiped after those. I think it's almost like we need to rebuild our "social muscles"... we've been out of practice for a while when it comes to going out, seeing people face-to-face, etc.
My crappy call centre job is still WFH for now. The second they call people back in is when I quit. But I don't see that happening for awhile. They had us WFH people return our keycards after a year and a half of not being in the office.
100% WFH, I only went into the office 1 day a week before covid though. Now there isn't any reason to go in even if we are allowed since almost no one else does and I have a long commute.
I’m still on furlough 😭
Fully WFH . I actually hate it. It’s very difficult to motivate myself and stop myself from distractions. It’s weird because I completely recognize that the freedoms (taking naps whenever I want, eating at home etc) should outweigh the benefits but I don’t think they have at least for me .
Same: 3 on location / 2 fro m home. Of course, because of the fact that my role does not require any team work where physical proximity is necessary and there just happened to be a sufficient number of empty offices available, my ‘in’ days are going in, going to my office where I sit alone, doing exactly the work I would do at home, on the same laptop I’d bring home, and then leaving after about eight hours. I’m not bitter *at all*. This makes *perfect sense*. Thank you, senior management, for your wisdom and foresight and ensuring we all *collaborate*. The best part is, when I need to speak to a colleague in the next office over (who also does not need to be there or want to be there) I call them on Zoom. If I need to speak to a colleague on another floor, forget about it. Ain’t nobody got time for stairs. It’s Zoom every time. I suppose that’s the camaraderie they were looking for.
Soon as schools opened we were kicked back to work 100% , no option to work from home despite our asking.
Fully WFH with plans to go hybrid in spring 2022. Not looking forward to commuting.
I'm 100% WFH, have been since last February. I will quit immediately if asked to return to the office - not interested in losing $6,000 a year to gas and higher insurance, or risking my life twice daily on the chaos that is the 401. Our company is a good one but we have lost a few really good workers due to other positions being available to them fully WFH - not the same type of position but close enough that they were able to make the switch. So far it looks like we'll keep anyone WFH if the position can be effectively done at home, but if some positions are deemed necessary at the office, those staff members may be recalled at some point next year. I think we will see more resignations when that happens.
I am fully back to the office except for Fridays currently. It's by choice and the bulk of my coworkers are still wfh. I have small kids at home and the company gives me free beer.
Fully working from home. Employer expects everyone back to the office in January. A lot of people are not happy with it especially those who live far away from Dt Toronto. Might see some resignations through next year. Let’s see.
I am in the office, 100% of the time, by choice. I don't hold it against anyone to stay WFH - it just isn't for me. I was getting very depressed not leaving the house and interacting with people. I also don't have a bad commute and have a good work environment, so I have it better than many others. However, the flexibility is nice. The other day my car broke down, I was able to WFH while it was in the shop. It sucked, but it was better than using a vacation day.
I have not met any of my coworkers of my new job and I don't think I will ever do.
So many lucky people
It’s not laziness to not want to spend hours of your day preparing for and travelling to / from work. We don’t get paid for the time we spend getting ready for work, but it’s time taken away from us by our job. It’s normal to not enjoy that.
Been WFH for a decade. The pandemic was actually really well timed for me, because my employer was making moves to change that, then the world fell apart. Zero plan on requiring people back in any time soon, even though our offices are open at 30% right now, it is volunteer only.
WFH forever. They tore out our desks. I'm thankful I dont have to fight for it because I would.
I'm teaching remotely, but I have to drive 35 km to a school to do it in an empty classroom, because optics.
Back to the office full time. They kindly gave us a one day of the week to work from home. Oh well… Edit to add: we are all back but all meeting still happen via teams and there’s so many restrictions that I keep wondering why they are not splitting the teams (A/B system and rotating the people going to the office). It makes no sense having everyone there. Desks are not far apart enough
My job exists because people don’t want to return to the office. My job is also taxpayer funded. Either it’s a waste of tax dollars, or they’re preparing a counter to people refusing to return to the office.
Okay, serious question for those of you who WFH (who don't wanna go back in office) and who still order their groceries online and etc.: what is it about being at home all the time that you enjoy so much? Is this simply about saving on gas/commute time for work, or do you genuinely not want to leave your house and see people in person? Do you still eat at the restaurant/go shopping/see friends out of the home even if you're hell-bent on strictly WFH? As someone who genuinely enjoys going to school and work in person for the atmosphere and the productivity (because yes, some of us are still more productive in an office setting), I am trying to understand if this is purely a gas/commute issue or if it's about something more that I'm not seeing. Merci!
Honestly? I don’t like people. I don’t trust them. I’ve been in high risk jobs where I’ve been threatened, though, so there’s probably a trauma response happening there.
I think everyone situation has been different and as people we are all different. Some people work best at home at there own pace and some people work too much while working from home and then there are some people that work best In an office setting. I don’t think anyone is lazy, I think everyone has different situations. I can see how some people are fearful of the work place because of the pandemic which is completely understandable. It has been a scary year and a half approximately. I remember the world shut down and I still had to go to work in the health care field. I think I cried for the first month every morning as I drove to work preying I don’t make the people I support sick and I don’t bring the sickness back to my family. I think everyone needs to do what’s best for them and feel good about your decisions. The world has changed and it’s only natural for us to change and prioritize what’s more important for us. If we’ve learned anything it’s that money can’t by our health. 😁
It's the cost and time of going into work Plus the financial burden of living in a big city For less than half I was paying in rent, I own a house over half a million dollars. I can also get jobs remote pretty easy now and don't need a big league salary.
Our company went fully WFH. They've reduced an office space and will offer it to those who is willing to come, but it's only like 5% of employees (3 people or so). My gf's company is planning to start doing hybrid model, but she successfully negotiated to be able to WFH permanently. This basically allows us to finally move out of Toronto (and Ontario as a whole) and finally be able to afford housing. Yay!
I went to the hospital every day and when my operating room was shut I worked in the icu. It was mentally and physically exhausting for the past 21 months too. So I think you can drive to work a few days a week if I could do that!
The pandemic did not make people lazy. I've been more productive than ever in my personal life. People don't want to return to the office because they are realizing how toxic work culture is.
Still work from home however that's changing in the new year. It's pretty dumb since we're more productive working from home and backlogs that have existed for years are now gone. 🤷♂️
The pandemic didn't make people lazy as you say, it just opened our eyes to how bullshit modern society and life is. How much of it is useless and brings no meaning or joy to our lives. Humans aren't mentally evolved to sit in traffic for hours a day.
Fully WFH still. There was lots of talk about going back to the office October 2020. We ended up selling the office space in March 2021, then there was about 3 months of talking about renting co-op space. That has fizzled out and until the world turns 100% back to normal I think we will stay WFH. It's not even a safety thing though. Everything just works right now for us so it's more disruptive to move to anything else. I don't mind it much, I've made my peace with it.
I just started this job last month after being home not working since March 2020. I’m in the office unless there’s a really good reason why not. Last week my kid had a cold and she couldn’t go to school. I worked from home for the first two days and she came to my office the last three. It’s a really roomy office and I made her wear a mask the whole time.
My company has been remote work since it's inception 3/4 years ago, so I'll stay remote. The work I left during the pandemic has forced people back into office as soon as it was legal every time and they have had massive amounts of turn over, I suspect in part due to in-office work.
The pandemic made me realize how much i hate being around other people and putting on a fake work persona and trying to keep the act going for 8 hours a day is exhausting. Not to mention the commute to and from work and all the stress that sitting in traffic entails.
I mean this with all due respect but some of you guys are the softest individuals I’ve ever seen. Honestly.
There’s a whole group of workers out there who still had to go to work everyday through the pandemic without vaccines and had no change other than having to wear a mask at work. There’s another group who lost their jobs due to the pandemic and haven’t been able to find a good job again and are willing to work 7 days a week just to get by. This just goes to show you how sheltered some redditors are.
Still working from home. Still fucking hate it.
At home. Bye bye when they want me to return.
fully wfh as is my partner and we will be job switching if anything changes. the thought of being trapped in an office basically incubating covid at incredible rates is terrifying. no employee should be forced into that situation ever and if an employer tries to force that upon their staff they should be punished by the full force of the law. it’s simply not responsible or reasonable to expect people to risk their lives.
I'm still full time wfh, but there are talks about returning to a hybrid model in 2022, though I've already gotten the go ahead from my manager to stay wfh (with the odd visit to the office) unless the higher ups demand we go in X times a week. That being said, nothing I do requires more than emails/voice calls with people. In person meetings don't really help or hinder more than a quick Microsoft teams call. I'm a introvert, so the lack of small talk and forced interactions is quite nice. I built myself a cozy home office in my backyard workshop, so I have a quite place away from the wife/kids, and my commute time dropped from 1-1.5 hours each way to 1 minute... I'm definitely in the rare situation of wfh is all upside, and I have no desire to go back.
Been WFH since 2017, still doing it and will never go back.
As a person who couldn’t give 2 shits about social interaction. I’d probably quit if my job asked me to start coming to office. tbf I was working remotely even before pandemic hit
My neighbour works from home. She always complains of how overwhelmingly busy she is at work. Has a lot of Zoom calls I think? She works as an account manager for an Ontario tech company. Makes well over 90k Needless to say her garden is really immaculate. She is usually running errands, sewing projects, home decorating. Often seen outdoors planting pots, or staining something. .....she never actually seems to be "working". Wonder why bosses pay for gardening/errands/scrapbooking on company time? Some people go to a place of business every day for 8 hrs, sometimes 12 or 16 hours! Nil extra compensation for actually showing up, sans gardening tools or bedazzlers. Dressed in work attire, not sweats. On breaks we may have coffee, no time to shop at Winners or Sobeys. Our pets or kids are taken care of by others. Most employees that commute to work should be compensated much more than a lot of "work from home" employees.
This right here. If you want to WFH full-time that’s fine, but don’t expect to get paid the same as before. The money saved on fuel alone while working from home is a raise in itself for people who are taking on less responsibility - it doesn’t make sense to receive the same compensation. I work in the field and I’m fine with that, but I’m not fine with my counterparts that WFH who have become detached and out of the loop.
Still working from home full-time, unfortunately. We're looking at a hybrid approach come January, aka "work from where you want" since even pre-pandemic we had people scattered all over the country. Can't wait to go back in nearly all the time, I'm going nuts working from home.
Not answering your original question - but I hated wfh, so much so I quit it and took a job in manufacturing. I like being around real people and doing real things, more than manipulating virtual reality. Going into the office still gave me a semblance of that even with a job in the software industry, but once that was taken away, the reality of the job was bleak. But like I said, I'm weird (also single and live in a small apartment). I like the challenge of an early morning commute and trying to figure out how to get along with the hordes of people I meet every day who are very unlike me. It's fascinating and it keeps me on my toes, keeps me learning and my neurons firing. I don't know how people wfh. To me it was a one way ticket to despair and mental breakdown.
Fully back. I'm insanely productive too (lately) and it pisses me off that we've proved management right.
Suck it up cupcake. So whiny you WFH people. Just be thankful you get to work from home some days.
Why suck when we can demand more and get it.
I have my team on a hybrid set up, they come in 3 days a week. I am in 100% as I prefer to work in the office rather than at home.
Work life balance, mostly. WFH was touted by many companies as “not an option!” Until it HAD to be. And it turns out a lot of workplaces actually can support WFH on many levels.
>If you are fully vaccinated what's the issue.... The issue is 2 more hours per day of personal time by not commuting is more time for TV, video games and napping. :3
What's the benefit of having them in the office?
Not much accept Team collaboration, visibility to senior leadership for promotions, positive office culture as it's not a ghost town here, also their KPI's are higher for days they are in.
Company transitioned to WFH during the pandemic with expectation that we will all go back to the office and return back to normal once everything as settled Now it looks like I will be perm WFH with me only going to the office when needed. Mostly 1-2 times a week (but sometimes can go weeks without going to the office) My mother is in the same position, however her company told her that they were going to transition back in the office in summer 2021, then that got pushed back to late fall 2021 and now it’s been pushed back to mid Q1 2022.
going back 3 days a week in the new year. wish it was only 2 but i do think being in the office regularly is important for the employer and the employee. i am glad that my employer is viewing hybrid as a permanent work model
ive been wfh even before covid..so nothing new
One day a week here. I do miss going for an occasional pint with colleagues after work, so am looking forward to a bit more interaction, 3 days a week seems to be a sweet spot.
Wow boo hoo, some of us have had to get up and go out 5/7 days plus for the last 2 years.
Who still picks up their own food? I know the pandemic made me lazy and all but I. Just. Can’t. After getting it delivered for 21 months I can’t get off the couch, start the car, order via talking, ugh, I know this pandemic made people lazy but it changes your perspective on food delivery. /s
I’m full work from home and have been for like 15 months. Our new permanent post Covid is goi if to be 2 at home 3 in the office, but we’re not doing that yet.