So you want to "work from home"?

Why do you want to work from home?

One of my neighbours is complaining bitterly because his departmental boss has told him he must return to the office to work. He does not want to do this at all.

It comes as no surprise to me. Working from home suits him. He takes his children to school and often "picks up a coffee" in the shopping centre on the way back. He will stop for a chat if anyone is around. He walks the dog...and he collects the children from school. "Yes," he tells me, "I can do all that and put all the time in."

Perhaps he is putting the time in at other times but how effectively? I know about working from home. I have done since family circumstances caused me to come back and care for my parents in 1989. I had to actually create a job which allowed me to work from home. It was very, very fortunate for us that the Senior Cat's cousin was still in charge of one of the biggest government departments, knew the situation and suggested something that "might work". Yes, it worked and that department has done extremely well out of me because I had no choice but to sign the "contract". 

Working from home has not been easy. It requires discipline, especially when things are going disastrously wrong around you. It requires the capacity to make decisions without being able to call on the person at the next desk or in the next office or on the next level. In my case it requires the capacity to do your own research. Before the internet I had a day set aside to go to one of our universities to use (with permission) the resources there. I also saw students face to face on that day. It was not always convenient for me or for them but we had to make it work. 

The internet and all the connections now available have made it all much easier but Zoom meetings and tutorials are not the same as face-to-face meetings. Supervision is not the same. It is why I have turned down a request to supervise another doctorate. I just do not believe I can do the best for the student and that matters. 

Workers from home are now complaining about the expense of having to commute again and the cost of lunches. They are saying they find it more difficult to "maintain a healthy work/life style balance" and that all this is "stressful". At least some of these people say they should be paid more to work at home as they get more work done. I wonder about that.

Are at least some of these people now feeling the pressure of having to perform again? Is more really being expected of them? Yes, they need to pay for the commute to work but isn't that part of having employment? Not everyone can avoid a commute - builders, plumbers, electricians all need to commute. Not everyone can avoid the workplace - doctors, nurses, teachers, police, shop assistants and more need to be in their work places. Why should other people be any different?

And perhaps those who say they want to work from home are missing the actual point of having a job at all. They are being paid to contribute something for the benefit of other people and that almost always requires some form of human interaction.  It will be interesting to see how my neighbour copes with his part-time return to the office. He might find it has some benefits as well.