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Comment by dfxm12 | Hacker News Reader

I think like a lot of heated discussions, you have a group of people, the workers, being taken advantage of and a group of people, their employers, who hold all the power in their relationship and just want to lord over them; studies [0, 1] prove that allowing workers to work from home will keep productivity the same. There are also benefits specifically for the worker, but why would the employer care about this?

0 - https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2022/02/04/3-new-...

1 - https://hbr.org/2020/11/our-work-from-anywhere-future

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I switched jobs and two weeks later started the corona lockdown. I was able to get up to speed, form meaningful connections to team members, and do some of my best work for two years.

My productivity tanked completely ever since we were forced back to the office. It almost burned me out.

And, to play devils advocate, how about the other way around? How about employers who really want employees to succeed but employees who don't want to put in the effort? Or, how about employees who believe what reddit tells them: they are being mistreated/abused because they can't have it their way?

Based on my own personal experience, good companies want to be accommodating because they understand people truly are the most important resource. They strive for a good balance of company-vs-employee desires. Who knows, maybe I am just lucky; maybe my past 30yrs working for big-tech is an anomaly?

How about employers who really want employees to succeed but employees who don't want to put in the effort?

Like the studies show, people are as productive at home as at the office. Going to the office doesn't change effort. You're also implying that one can't improve while working from home, which isn't true.

Or, how about employees who believe what reddit tells them: they are being mistreated/abused because they can't have it their way?

I don't know what you're talking about specifically, but at a minimum, considering wages for workers are stagnant for decades while executive pay is (way) up, it's easy to see how workers are being exploited by default.

If the employee truly doesn't want to put in the effort, then no amount of the employer "wanting them to succeed" (Whatever that means) will make them successful. In office or not.

> employers who really want employees to succeed

Doesn't exist.

Maybe in your world, but certainly not mine.

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