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Comment by rightbyte | Hacker News Reader

More like, people realized how nice their life's were if they spent less time at work.

I did not understand how much my 45min x 2 commute was draining my stamina before I stopped commuting, e.g.

Agreed. I will never work a job with a >10 minute commute another day in my life. On top of the time lost, you don’t even get paid for it. It costs you time and money to go to work.

I wonder if workers, at some point, will be able to start demanding compensation for commute to work, when there it is perfectly possible to work from home? E.g. these tech companies that are starting to require employees to return to office.

On the other hand, we don’t get compensated (fully [1]) for the utilities cost from working from home.

[1] Some reimburse things like internet, but that’s about it. We can’t even claim taxes on expenses from WFH unless we’re independent.

Dude really? The cost of working from home is absolutly minimal. You gain much more than you loss.

You do NOT waste time and money commuting. You can eat healtier food. You can take break when you really need it. People who say that they need to get compesation for WFH cant do basic math...

Work from home is literally an employee subsidized office. Who pays for the internet? You do. Who pays for the electicity? You do. Who pays for water? You do. Who pays for the ac during the heat of the day? You do. Who pays for square footage dedicated to a desk? You do. Who fixes networking it related issues? You do. Who is the custodian and building maintainer? Also you.

Companies save money hand over fist by shoveling all the above costs that they previously paid for onto your lap. If you think this is all free then you need to reevaluate what your employer is really asking of you in a work from home situation.

You already have those things. Network rarely like maybe once a year goes down at home, if your company doesn't provide food then you either order and the cost is the same or you can cook and it's cheaper.

You are right, companies save money and you save commute time. It's win/win.

That's if you like working from home which I don't.

> You already have those things.

That depends. Many people, especially those who live in cities, do not have the square footage in their home for a home office, or even a desk.

When you think about it, having a dedicated office building is likely to be a more efficient use of space than everyone dedicating a portion of their home to office space.

I wouldn't give up WFH, but let's not pretend it doesn't add costs to the employee. Sure, it can also remove costs, but the result isn't always a net positive.

> You already have those things.

i don’t even know where to begin with this… so many people absolutely do not have an in home office, do not understand networking, don’t cool their homes/turn their heat down when at the office, don’t use home electricity while at work, etc…

Then dont work in home, go to office instead. Whats the problem?

I think WFH is an option, not something that is enforced?

Yes, this was my point, but not articulated as well.

I think it would be hard to expect compensation for the expenses when coming to the office, when the savings (for them) by working from home aren’t also passed onto us.

Did you get paid for your commute?

by law, in israel we get compensated each month for travel costs its called "The Right to a Travel Allowance"

Yes, the commute removal definitely added a new perspective to many people who have been working in offices for many years. I ended up renting a small office near my house because working and being in the same place without any change felt dismal.

The mental and financial toll of long commutes was (and still is, to a reduced extent) consistently underestimated. Doubly so if that commute is driven, where one must remain focused on driving and deal with associated frustrations the whole time.

I don't mind my 75 minutes x 2 commute, but 55 minutes are spent on a half empty train and the rest on bikes (mostly on bike lanes or empty roads), so I get to eat a snack, use my laptop and do some mild cardio. I've done the same commute a couple of times by car and it was much more stressful.

> More like, people realized how nice their life's were if they spent less time at work...

... but still got paid.

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