Of course it’s great to work part time and get paid for full time (“remote work”). But you can see why employers might not love it.
While YouTube binging days happen, in general there's a higher expectations for results and more pressure.
At the office you could do 2000 breaks for coffee and smoke and it was more relaxed. If I was missing at my desk people would assume I was in a meeting or had some call or was on a break.
But online? Don't answer someone in 30/40 minutes and there was an instant assumption you were not working.
I don't believe that remote working is for everyone, it's tough, and I believe that many are less productive (countless coworkers I could see playing videogames on discord during the day). They pay the price at some point, but I don't judge.
But for many others the reality is tougher than office days.
Especially the first 18 months after COVID hit were hell for me.
That's not even counting the mental toll of isolation and lower socialization. Again, good remote work is not for everyone and I understand companies that oppose it.
But I don't share any view implying that it's less productive or less stressful, in many many ways it isn't.
One of our well respected product owners was always so very busy, with back to back meetings when working in office. Then we started WFH and all figured out she was a Costanza - all those meetings were her way of looking important, while everyone routed work around her.
On the other hand, some of our more neurodivergent engineers benefited from the rigidity of sitting at a desk where they are too afraid to pick up their Switch and just game.
Swings and roundabouts.
Also though - studies have been conducted and companies shrinking days to 4 whilst keeping 5 days have seen an increase in/same productivity.
So, depends on whether the company is after results or presenteeism.
Which wouldn't match my experience. It is exactly the opposite unless you count being present physically somewhere as work.
Yes, it can be effective to deploy such methods over the limited physical access to employees, but ultimately it is an unsustainable method of control that arguably breeds a cohort of disinterested middle managers over time. A successful organization for its goals has the most motivated workers, needless of such methods of control.
Simply being present physically counts as work now I guess.
The social aspects that have nothing to do with working or productivity. What comes with that though are massive distractions that don't exist remote.
I suspect the productive workers are much more productive remote and the unproductive workers are equally unproductive. The big difference is that the unproductive workers don't have to pretend to be working like they do in the office but at least they aren't such a distraction to the productive workers.