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Comment by GarnetFloride | Hacker News Reader

Surprise, surprise making it easier to work allows more people to work. Taking a phrases I read about the latest iPad. If they stop neutering the workplace by not allowing remote work then more people will work. Sort of like how cities are neutered because they are car centric and not people centric. And it’s not just the currently disabled but caregivers as well. I had a PM that was caring for aging parents and we could hear her feeding them as we were on calls trying to unbork a business process that wouldn’t let us give customers the software licenses they paid for.

This is a good thing but there are some people who hate the idea of remote work because they can’t comprehend a management style that isn’t their First Grade teacher’s.

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> And it’s not just the currently disabled but caregivers as well. I had a PM that was caring for aging parents and we could hear her feeding them as we were on calls trying to unbork a business process that wouldn’t let us give customers the software licenses they paid for.

I fall into the caregiver bucket, and I'll present an argument I was hearing a lot on linkedin and those kinda places in favor of RTO: Some companies and bosses think that if you're on the clock you shouldn't be taking care of your family.

The reality is a lot more complicated. WFH means I can spend 20 minutes resolving a problem that would've taken me half a day before - driving home, resolving the issue, driving back, finding parking, getting back into the right mindset to do work, etc.

It also means I can join meetings that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to join. (like in your example, the coworker feeding their parents). Admittedly your coworker should probably invest in a mute button lol.

Anyway, yea, WFH is a huge enabler! But I guess some people are kinda ableist/unfair about it.

It's silly. Life goes on. We shouldn't be playing this game of competing on how hard we can lick boots.

LinkedIn has an agenda to push, for sure. Screw that website.

As for the, "if you're clocked in, you should be working," that would mean in-office employees are working 100% of the time they're clocked in. Have them prove that this is the case.

Then look at productivity during the pandemic vs now and let then explain how WFH hampered those numbers.

Just a ridiculous mindset by boomers who should have retired a decade ago.

> Then look at productivity during the pandemic vs now and let then explain how WFH hampered those numbers.

I thought in general it was widely agreed upon at this point WFH is at-least a 10% drop in productivity. Stanford has been doing plenty of research in this area. The argument in favor of WFH has for the most part moved on to now cost savings from not having offices lets you hire more people to make up for the loss in productivity.

https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/working-paper/evolut...

Work from home might result in 90% productivity. A disabled employee out of work certainly results in 0% productivity.

> I thought in general it was widely agreed upon at this point WFH is at-least a 10% drop in productivity. Stanford has been doing plenty of research in this area. The argument in favor of WFH has for the most part moved on to now cost savings from not having offices lets you hire more people to make up for the loss in productivity.

I wonder if they covered that people working from home may get sick less and work longer hours.

Ye gods, I can concentrate better at home than I can in an open floorplan office lol :D

Exactly, they would rather lose a worker for half a day than 20 minutes. Talk about penny wise and pound foolish.

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