My issue here is this is not really a honest conversation most of the time.
Wanting to work from home generally means just that, wanting to work from home. Not wanting to work from home however usually really means "I don't want others to be able to work from home", it's about taking options away from other people. The exception being people who don't want to work from home because they have a pack of screaming children at home, etc - in their case saying they don't want to work from home is actually honest.
Your comment is a good example. For your perceived issues to be resolved, we need to make other people work at the office. The idea that others shouldn't have the option to work from home because them being at the office helps someone else build their network is not something I can agree with.
I came to say exactly this. In addition, we can't forget the people who have to work in the city but can't afford to live there, so their lives are made vastly more difficult.
Sometimes the commute is just too stressful, even if you live in the city. My partner's well-being has visibly improved due to going into the office only when necessary.
Maybe WFH should be renamed to something else. It doesn't capture all the subtleties of flexibility and choice we're asking for.
Wanting to work from home generally means just that, wanting to work from home. Not wanting to work from home however usually really means "I don't want others to be able to work from home", it's about taking options away from other people. The exception being people who don't want to work from home because they have a pack of screaming children at home, etc - in their case saying they don't want to work from home is actually honest.
Your comment is a good example. For your perceived issues to be resolved, we need to make other people work at the office. The idea that others shouldn't have the option to work from home because them being at the office helps someone else build their network is not something I can agree with.