> I have similar logic, but reach an almost opposite conclusion. I genuinely believe many people who prefer working at home rather than an office have unfulfilling work lives and struggle to form meaningful friendships/relationships with colleagues.
This take makes no sense at all.
If people had unfulfilling work lives they would not be threatening resignation to preserve the work life they loathe, and they would definitely not wait out for diktats to return to the office to switch jobs, specially in a supply-driven market which is today's job market.
More importantly, if people had a hard time forming meaningful friendships at the office then they would not stay remote, where it's easier to get ignored, nor would they stick around a toxic corporate environment that makes it difficult to be integrated and feel welcomed.
> I genuinely enjoy interactions with my colleagues during a work day, and wouldn't want to replace that with staring at a screen for 7.5 hours of my day or only talking to them via Slack. I have a great social group outside of work, but that doesn't diminish the value of enjoying the company of people I work with too.
Your personal anecdote is great, but ignores the fact that even in the office the majority of us are paid to stare at screens for over 7.5 hours a day, and are criticized if you spend even 0.5 of that time doing anything other than staring at the screen.
The foosball table recruiters are always boasting about is just for show, and is always unused.
> Sure, it might technically be more productive if I just locked myself in a room and worked intensely on my own for my whole career and only communicated through a webcam, but that doesn't seem particularly enjoyable to me personally.
That's precisely the point that the OP stated: people who prefer working in an office tend to have unfulfilling social lives or bad home lives.
They need the office because it's their way to fill the void in their lives and escape their personal problems.
In the office they surround themselves with people who, for the sake of keeping things professional, have no alternative to exchange pleasantries and treat them cordially, something they don't get anywhere else. Thus they waste hours per day commuting just to have a shot at those irrelevant social interactions they fail to get anywhere else.
In contrast, those who prefer to work from home do have far better and more fulfilling things to do at home. They don't need to waste precious personal time commuting, and instead spend it in more meaningful ways.
More importantly, let's not forget the age old trope of retirees finding themselves in the pit of despair because by losing their job they lost their life and reason to live.
> Why does having a fulfilling social life mean I can’t have a fulfilling work life too?
Those who already have fulfilling social lives don't point out their shot at having a fulfilling work life as their justification to return to the office.
Also, that chance of using work as a way to fill in the void in their personal life comes at a steep expense: hours of their personal life wasted in long commutes, and constraining their choice of places to live as a tradeoff between how far they live from the office and how much they are willing to spend for a home.
> Everything is predicated on it being an either/or, but I feel lucky enough to have great relationships both in and out of work.
It is an either/or. The time, money, and energy you're forced to waste every single day just to commute to work is ripped out of your personal time.
The two hours you spend in traffic every single day are two hours you don't get to spend with your family/friends. Either you spend those hours playing with your son/daughter, or driving from the office.
This take makes no sense at all.
If people had unfulfilling work lives they would not be threatening resignation to preserve the work life they loathe, and they would definitely not wait out for diktats to return to the office to switch jobs, specially in a supply-driven market which is today's job market.
More importantly, if people had a hard time forming meaningful friendships at the office then they would not stay remote, where it's easier to get ignored, nor would they stick around a toxic corporate environment that makes it difficult to be integrated and feel welcomed.
> I genuinely enjoy interactions with my colleagues during a work day, and wouldn't want to replace that with staring at a screen for 7.5 hours of my day or only talking to them via Slack. I have a great social group outside of work, but that doesn't diminish the value of enjoying the company of people I work with too.
Your personal anecdote is great, but ignores the fact that even in the office the majority of us are paid to stare at screens for over 7.5 hours a day, and are criticized if you spend even 0.5 of that time doing anything other than staring at the screen.
The foosball table recruiters are always boasting about is just for show, and is always unused.
> Sure, it might technically be more productive if I just locked myself in a room and worked intensely on my own for my whole career and only communicated through a webcam, but that doesn't seem particularly enjoyable to me personally.
That's precisely the point that the OP stated: people who prefer working in an office tend to have unfulfilling social lives or bad home lives.
They need the office because it's their way to fill the void in their lives and escape their personal problems.
In the office they surround themselves with people who, for the sake of keeping things professional, have no alternative to exchange pleasantries and treat them cordially, something they don't get anywhere else. Thus they waste hours per day commuting just to have a shot at those irrelevant social interactions they fail to get anywhere else.
In contrast, those who prefer to work from home do have far better and more fulfilling things to do at home. They don't need to waste precious personal time commuting, and instead spend it in more meaningful ways.
More importantly, let's not forget the age old trope of retirees finding themselves in the pit of despair because by losing their job they lost their life and reason to live.