> Die-hard sofa-surfers can be persuaded back to the office with new rooftop pools, pet-friendly concierges and Michelin-starred canteens.
No amount of perks are going to make an office more comfortable than my home. I don't care how good the coffee is or how many pizza days they have, it's not going to make up for wasting an hour or more of my life every day commuting.
Ditto. I'm not a sofa-surfer, I'm somebody who doesn't need the office to feel content or have a social life. You can have catered food 3x a day, a top of the line gym, a race track, zipline, whatever you want, and I couldn't care less. I have my home and my family and I have zero desire to leave it for work reasons. Hopefully you have more leverage; I'm not confident my currently remote employer will keep things remote forever. But I've definitely decided that after this job I'll never work an office-based job again if there's anything I can do to help it.
Not to mention the amount of CO2 emissions from the ritual of driving to a place and back every day, then to a lunch and back. That seems to not be mentioned in this dialog.
Early on in the industrial revolution, companies would send work to their workers for home work. Making cloth and whatnot.
I'm guessing this batch of "pro office" articles is just paid adverts / propaganda from members of the commercial real estate industry to shift perspectives.
nice to be rich or live somewhere where you can have a nice office space in your home. I've never lived anywhere where my home was better than my office for work. My last job I had 4 workstation class machines at my desk. 2 Windows boxes, one Mac Pro, One Linux workstation. 3 monitors. I don't have room for all of that at any place I've ever lived. In fact I barely had room for 1. Add to that a PlayStation and/or Xbox Dev kit and space for its display.
to each their own
can't wait to get back to the office.
and I'm not willing to go live in some non walking friendly suburbia for a large house.
You don't have to be rich at all to have a nice office, you just need the flexibility to not have to be required to live in one of a handful a major metro areas where work is located.
That's why we're in a housing boom, because you can pay 50% over asking for more than 2x your living space, and reduce your monthly housing payment 20% or more.
I'll have saved enough from moving to afford all of the office equipment you describe just in the difference between my old rent and current mortgage... not to mention that every tech company I've worked at would gladly provide that setup to remote employees that needed it.
My home office consists of a laptop, wireless keyboard/mouse, a monitor and a table to put it on. That's all I need. I could even get by with just the laptop if I wanted to or had to. I make good money but I'm nowhere near rich by US standards.
I get it though, everyone has different preferences and/or requirements.
I think there are alternatives to coming together in person than forcing everyone into an office, which if done with enough enthusiasm would be more productive and enjoyable for everyone.
Teams might be better having mandatory lunches once in awhile at a nice restaurant instead having mandatory onsite office time. Better the team’s performance, the better the restaurant.
Think about the money that having an office costs, and then think about how it could be better spent on team based experiences and growth activities.
No amount of perks are going to make an office more comfortable than my home. I don't care how good the coffee is or how many pizza days they have, it's not going to make up for wasting an hour or more of my life every day commuting.
I'll never willingly go back to the office.