Last week, prior to a meeting, I was part of a most interesting discussion. The fact that it was a hybrid meeting, and that I was attending the in person part, actually led into the discussion.
We got to talking about working remotely (usually at home) versus working at the office. It seemed to be about a 50/50 split among those taking part in the meeting. The discussion centered mainly around the effect and/or impact on the worker, rather than on the company. There were also discussions relating to pre-, during, and post- Covid, and how the situations were different.
Now for myself, I had retired pre-Covid and as such have been “working” at home, which, for me, is certainly not considered remote. As such, my experiences and thoughts were of course different from the others.
Once the pandemic began, quite a number of companies, in effect, closed down their on-site operations. Some were hands on workplaces, so this meant that employees were laid off. However the majority were office type workplaces, and while closing their physical spaces, various arrangements were made for employees to continue to work, in most cases, from home.
Now it seems, as Covid has passed (??), a good number of organizations are wanting their employees to return to the office while others say working from home is “doing the job” (pun intended). Then there are those organizations which are adopting a hybrid solution and having their employees go to the office two or three days a week and work from home the remainder of time.
Judging by the various reactions, some workers like the thought of returning to the office, some are ambivalent, while others are against it. And, it seems that there are some good reasons, and thoughts, behind each of these options.
During our discussions one person mentioned that although they like working at home they did miss the interaction of having co-workers around. He mentioned that the casual chat which often occurs while working had, from time to time, resulted in an “ah-ha” type of moment as he was working on a document or project.
Interestingly enough, both in-office workers and remote workers provided comments about having, at times, a disruptive environment. Either from co-worker activities or from child/dog/spouse activities. For instance, in my case, Otis the cat demanding to be fed. (Be assured, he can be quite disruptive.)
What are your thoughts or experiences? Do you prefer working at the office, at home, or some combination of both. Share in the comments please.
Richard's Ramblings 
Like you I retired before the pandemic. However my office had experimented with working at home. I found that some people excelled with remote work but most did not. I couldn’t work from home. I liked the interaction with others that just isn’t possible when working from home. I also liked the clear boundaries between work and home. These included changing my work clothes even if that wasn’t necessary for any other reason. Work is work and home is home and for me they mix like oil and water.
Oooh having that work/home separation really helps I find. When working from home, finding a way to make that separation more real becomes all the more important.
Oh gosh the whole working from home or from the office question… I currently work solely from the office by choice but there are so many factors that go into that that it is really hard to describe exactly why that is my preference. This is not to say I haven’t enjoyed hybrid or fully from home working modalities since the pandemic began, though, of course. There are so many pros and cons to each!