Hybrid workplaces for offices aren't working

Today is my first day back in the office at the $DAYJOB, where they've mandated a 3-day-a-week in the office, 2-day-a-week remote policy. It's not the worst thing in the world, but on the drive here this morning, I was definitely thinking a lot about the time wasted on commuting back and forth, that I'd gotten use to having available for other purposes over the last two years.

Not sure if I'd leave here over the issue, but it was a harsh shock to jump back into commuting again. And my drive is only about 30 minutes each way (depending on traffic, of course). But still, an hour a day stolen for driving... it adds up.

There is speculation however, that most people here will come into to the office per the policy for about a couple of weeks, and slowly migrate back to a pattern of working from home more or less all the time. I've heard the line managers have been given more or less carte-blanche permission to just look the other way and allow this to happen, even though the "official" policy will probably remain in effect for the foreseeable future. So yeah, we'll see what happens.

Last paragraph makes a lot of sense:

"But companies also need to be smarter about how to make hybrid scheduling work. Just telling people to come in two days a week doesn’t facilitate collaboration. A more thoughtful approach would be for teams to map out what they truly need to collaborate on, with whom, and when, and then plan schedules accordingly (and acknowledge that some weeks there may be no need to come in at all). Instead, though, too many companies have simply ordered people back on site without doing enough to ensure in-person work is working again … and without devising concrete plans to ensure there’s a payoff to all those long commutes"