But the slides, the ball pits, the scooters? Sure it might make the office a nice place to be but once the novelty wears off it's still really hard to beat working from home.
Never had to worry about food except maybe dinner. I could roam around free away from my desk and enjoy a quiet office park that allowed me to feel safe. I had access to a very nice gym that was quiet and well maintained. The on-site dentist and doctor was also nice, kept my costs down to virtually zero on both accounts.
Pay and stock options were just as good if not better.
I’m sad it’s gone to be honest. While I’d likely advocate for a true hybrid solution myself I don’t dismiss the upsides of offices like this at all
I also had really good company paid noise canceling headphones and I’m hard of hearing, so that helped
I had a different one with open ish plan and I would still take that today. Noise canceling headphones and good culture norms mitigate a lot for me
The office is energizing. Collaboration is amazing. Food and amenities take pressure off. White boards, conference rooms. Everything is always clean. Hanging out after hours with an open bar and video games helps with bonding.
Working from home is comfortable. There's no pressure, no transit, and you can build it however you like. You can interleave your chores, focus without distraction, and be around the people and pets you love.
Both of them are good. I truly want to have both.
Now, I'll never go into an office again if I can help it. But, if I was in my 20s again I'd probably have a different opinion.
Or in your 60s and empty nester.
Between my spouse, dogs, and hobbies, very unlikely.
There is an extent to which the "cool tech office designer" role has been fulfilled by people who otherwise might've decorated kindergarten classrooms. It's a very strange convergence.
This is fairly subjective/personal. Unless another horrendous global pandemic results in me being legally required to (odds of this seem... medium? The period between the 1918 flu pandemic and covid was historically rather high), I don't plan to work from home again. Not for me, at all; I wouldn't consider taking a remote-only job.
For you, it’s really hard to beat working from home.
For some people, it’s really hard to beat working from an office.
That was definitely a general statement
Yes, he did. By talking about "people" he obviously meant everyone or at least a clear majority.
Otherwise they would have said, “it really is funny how impressed I used to be”.
Citation needed.
Personally, working from home is an absolute nightmare for me. There is an endless list of chores and things to do around the house that are a constant distraction and mind-space consumer, it is hard to disconnect at the end of the day, I am continually continually interrupted by family members (...and if I am not I am worrying if the kids are ok since why cant I hear them? Are they ok? Are they laying on the floor unconscious? etc etc), cleaners, the post man, the amazon delivery guy/gal, the list is endless. I have to keep half a brain "on-call" to listen out for and react to these interruptions.
This is even with a good sized dedicated office room. I did not even have that during covid and my entire family was in one room at a time.
At the office I can concentrate and get work done, since it is a workplace and there are no non-work distractions. Any interruptions at work are for work, so it is my job to handle them on work time.
I had a few coworkers that skipped out on daycare when they worked from home. Then they complained about being interrupted all the time by their kids. IMO, there is nothing wrong with putting the kids in daycare while you are working at home.
So e.g. blood-curdling scream from your kid and then silence. Or lots of laughing and running about and then a huge crash and bang followed by silence as something is clearly falling over.
What do you do? Just shrug and ignore it because there is someone else down there? Of course you cant. 99.9% of the time its all fine, but you can't just turn off that sensation of needing to keep half-a-brain listening for something major happening. The divided attention is a killer for productivity.
Out-of-sight-out-of-mind at the office is an absolute godsend. Day care is very, very expensive in the UK (especially if you earn over £100K) so financially it is often not viable to send them to daycare for 5 full days a week (this will often cost £2-3,000 a month in London, often more than a mortgage or rental costs)[1]
1 - personal experience, the only data I could find is UK average of £15K a year (https://www.daynurseries.co.uk/advice/childcare-costs-how-mu...) but that is UK average, not London. For comparison the UK average house price is £285K, but in London it is £742k. I suspect the average figures include a lot of people who earn under 100K and so get some aspect of free care - any tech worker will be earning more than this so gets zero help.