As someone who has worked remotely (from home) for many years now I find this whole enlightenment employers and employees are having right now quite interesting/entertaining.
However one thing that I dislike is this talk, mostly started by Facebook as far as I can tell, about reducing salaries for employees who move to cheaper places to live.
Sorry but that is BULLSHIT.
When I take on work I have my fixed daily rate that I charge whether I am working from Paris, SF, London or the Welsh Highlands.
My employer is paying for my time, expertise, knowledge, experience and delivery quality.
I am not worth more or less because of where I work.
This is typical of employers trying to maintain that dominant position over the employee because suddenly they have been forced to adapt to this changing world and they don't like.
My wife works a normal office job for a big, global company. Like most others they had to adapt to 100% WFH with a few days notice and after some teething problems it is working exceptionally well.
This realisation has upset a lot of middle managers and "old school" types who live for the office.
However the facts don't lie. Meetings still happen. Everything has been delivered on time. All of the things middle managers say require being in the office continue to happen with an issue.
It is almost as if all of these middle managers and old school thinkers are suddenly scared everyone will see through their bullshit and that flexibility works best for everyone.
Now I feel this evidence gives employees a lot of leverage to push for more flexibility in where they work. This upsets the employer/employee dynamic.
It may well be much easier for an employee to find another job for a better salary at a company the other side of the country and that is a risk for the employer.
Sure you can say "yes but now that employee is competing with people all over the country as well!" and that us true. However it is easier for an employee to change job than it is for an employer to recruit and get a new employee up to speed. This gives the employee a much better deal hence this bullshit display of "we're still the ones with power damnit!" from companies needing to change but being scared shitless about the advantages that gives all their employees.
As I said at the beginning I have been a remote worker for a number of years now and for me it is perfect. I can (and do) pop into the office when needed but I get to live in a nicer, cheaper area with more space and an overall nicer environment. Where I live suddenly wasn't restricted to "how long will it take me to get to work from here?" and that is fucking freedom.
I fully appreciate I am not like everyone else. There are people who need an office. That's fine, nobody is saying ditch all the offices and we all work from home. Just that it should be an option rather than being forced into a single location for no quantifiable reason.
For all the crap companies talk about the environment, quality of life, etc. there needs to be a serious change to how we work.
Forgetting everything else, just reducing the number of cars on the road every day for a pointless commute to the office would be worth it from an environmental standpoint.