Judy Klipin | Master Life Coach | Judy Klipin Coaching | mail me |
Articles, webinars, and opinion pieces about how office workers will never return to work full time are all the rage right now.
According to all the pieces I see and read, people love working from home and will elect to carry on doing so full-time or only return to the office a couple of days a week – the ‘hybrid’ model that so many are talking about. While I am sure this is true for some, and indeed for the people writing these columns, I think many more are eager and even anxious to get back to the office.
Working from home has been a successful response to a global challenge – but not for everyone all of the time.
Here’s what I have picked up through a year and a half of coaching groups and teams of young professionals who have been working from home since March 2020 (spoiler: working from home suits some people, but not everyone):
- People who live on their own in small apartments are feeling increasingly lonely, isolated, bored, and demotivated.
- People who live in households that see school-age children and working parents competing for dedicated working spaces, access to computers and internet connectivity, and quiet surroundings are seeing a drop in their productivity and a rise in their frustration and irritation.
- People who live in small, simple homes that don’t have swanky bookshelves to use as backdrops to online meetings are anxious about masking the modesty of their living spaces.
- People who don’t have access to or can’t afford broadband internet connection are disadvantaged – and stressed – by their dependence on expensive and unreliable data connectivity.
- People who live on a tight budget can’t afford the extra costs of the electricity required for heating their spaces when working from home – and are freezing in front of their computers.
- People who are young and energetic, starting their careers and trying to build a professional life for themselves, are missing the informal interactions of office work. As a result, they are not developing networks, making friends, and building the connected community that young professionals need and deserve. Nor are they being mentored, supported, and developed.
Working from home is a luxury for many of us, but it is a luxury that comes with hidden emotional and professional costs that not everyone can afford.
The pandemic has undoubtedly created an opportunity to rethink and reshape our approach to work and working spaces. My hope is that it’s not just the privileged who are in charge of the redesign.
