Asklemmy

WFH. Unless I also get paid for commute time. Then, still WFH. Fuck traffic. This way, I'm neither dealing with it nor contributing to it.

The commute time is kinda worse than work time, so the 4 days in the office are equal to 5 days WFH timewise. And I would still be missing out on benefits like cheaper lunch at home and wearing comfortable clothes, and not being tired all the time. On the other hand, I would always have 3 day weekends.

WFH for 5 days will still result in less time spent doing dumb shit I don't want to do than RTO for 4. That doesn't even count the pomodoro breaks I take where in the office I can't do anything but walk in circles but at home I can start laundry or prep for dinner.

Full remote.

I actually like going into the office ~2x per week. But tell me I have to and bump it to 4 days, I'm out. I also do not want my colleagues forced on site. My current ~2x/week is as productive as it is because the other people going on site now are there voluntarily and for specific reasons.

I feel like we're at the point where WFH workers can work from home for four days for more pay.

I originally wanted to go back to the office because I'm a weirdly social person. Eventually my work told us to come in 3 days a week. They told us "it's the best of both worlds!" That's when I realized that hybrid is actually the worst of both worlds. I don't get to have a consistent daily routine. I have to constantly lug all my equipment back and forth between work and home. I don't get a dedicated desk. Everyone is coming in just to take virtual meetings from their desk all day, so it's really loud. I would rather everyone be at work 5 days a week than three, because then we would all be there, so meetings would be in person again.

My manager rebelled against upper management and had us just come in one day a week, and honestly, I think that's fine. We just don't get hardly any work done that one day. But we are seeing each other's faces, which is what upper management wants. They say it's good for team building and collaboration, and I see the merits in that.

Half the team still doesn't even do that. I mean, one member of the team lives 2000 miles away from the rest of us. One has a newborn baby. One has kids that she needs to pick up from school at 3 every day. Another guy has worked at the company for like 15 years and just refuses to come in because he knows they won't fire him. Another guy is 2 months away from retiring, so what's the point?

5 days WFH hands down.

I need to go into the office to be productive. I don't begrudge anyone that wants to work from home, I wish it worked for me, but it doesn't. During the pandemic I was 100% work-from-home and got very little done. I actually asked my boss how long it would be until we could go back to the office. Donkey-brains chose that time to upgrade the office furniture and shampoo the carpets. It was another month until the office was open. I went back, and it was heaven. There were very few people there. I could sit at my desk, listen to my music, and do whatever I needed. Don't ask me what the difference was. Maybe I just have an affinity for flickering fluorescent tubes.

I've been WFH full time since early covid, so WFH for sure. My commute wasn't even bad, my office is less than 10 minutes away.

I'm not a social person so there is no upside to going into the office for me. Everything to do with my job must be communicated by email so it's documented, so it's just a waste of time if someone wants to chat in person or on the phone about it.

Plus I don't have to wear pants.

The one downside is my dogs seem to have developed separation anxiety since I'm around all the time.

I will never commute again, ever. I'd rather work four days a week in my pajama pants and one day pantsless (Casual Friday) than waste my time schlepping my brain through meatspace.

Not even a question for me: full remote or bust. The extra day off wouldn't make up for all the time wasted just from the pageantry of going to and being at an office.

For me. 100% remote.

But I work more for objectives rather than gross time/days. If the project is falling behind I work extra to gain some safeguard. If the project is going well I work more relaxed.

I don't mind working extra hours if I'm already saving a lot of time avoiding travelling to the client or going to the office, living in another place away from a city. Etc.

I am WFH full time now.

My commute was, at best, 30 minutes each way. Weather or traffic can easily drive up this time. So at least an hour a day. Being in the office 4 days/week = 4+ hours commuting and all the headaches of driving, parking expense, car expenses, etc. I was much less productive in the office so I think it actually hurts my work to be in the office.

I'd prefer to drop the commute and be more productive. My employer will get MORE than 8 hours of work with that arrangement.

I don't want to go in to the office. The pay doesn't include the extra commute time, plus getting dressed up slightly nicer.

I live alone. I don't have kids. Home is fine.

The office is loud. Often the wrong temperature. I get interrupted a lot. I don't get as much done on the tiny monitor they provide vs the big ass 4k ones I have home.

Some people are really not great at responding on slack though. If they could get on my level that would be nice.

In response to your question, I'd like to share my personal experience regarding remote work. I have been working entirely remotely for years, and given this background, I cannot imagine returning to an office setting, even if it was just for one day a month.

The primary reason is tied to time and quality of life. If my office were an hour away from my home - and in reality, it's even further - I would be committing 8 hours a week just for commuting. This effectively means that in terms of hours, I'd still be tied to a five-day work commitment when considering the commute time.

But beyond the simple tally of hours, there are aspects of daily life and routine to consider. On the days I'd be expected to be in the office, I would have significantly less time to spend with my son. This would majorly impact our daily routine. We wouldn't get the chance to have lunch together, and the management of daily commitments would become much more complex.

In conclusion, given my background and personal priorities, I would unquestionably choose to continue working from home five days a week rather than commuting to the office for four days. The flexibility and time saved from commuting hold invaluable worth to me.

I took WFH for higher pay in 2013. It makes sense because I'm more productive without the noise, uncomfortable lighting, interruptions and subpar hardware.

Not conidering going back to office unless things change A LOT

WFH every time, I'm not going back

I work in a job where working from an office doesn’t make sense. So I’ve always wfh. In my current role, I’d never work for any employer that required me to go to an office. It’s counter productive to the job.

In your scenario, if I had a job that made sense, I’d pick wfh because I won’t commute an hour. 15-30 is the tops I’ll commute.

We WFH and have a "no meetings on Monday and Fridays" policy.

So people could hypothetically not work those days.

Doesn't bother me as long as the tasks get done.

4 days on-site, same pay, same 40 hours per week? No. I don't work 10hrs a day + 2hrs of driving. So 5 days remote in this case!

4 days on-site, same pay, 32 hours per week? Sure, why not? I'll use the driving time with audio books or reading during a train commute.

Both. Studies have shown that WFH actually INCREASES productivity, and other studies have shown that a 4 day work week doesn't decrease productivity at all either. It sounds unlikely but it's true. So both are a win-win for the worker and company alike.

WFH and it's not even close. Too many benefits to it.

WFH, no question.

I’m 100% WFH, my commute is about 30 mins each way, and I like the social aspect of going into the office, but 5 days remote all the way.

WFH hands down. I would get two hours of each week day back that I spend commuting.

Commute time for 4 days is typically more than 1 whole work day.

My commute would need to be 45 minutes or less, and even then half the year said commute involves wading through snow, so, no thanks.

Full time WFH is a big yes. Too many offices aren't easy to commute to, to save money on rent. My last job did t even have a sidewalk to get there, the last 2 blocks to it were your choice of walking on the road itself, or wading through knee deep snow.

I would waste more time going to work four times in a week than I would get back by dropping Fridays. I'm never going back to the office.

I simply wouldn't take a job with a one hour per way commute. Takes me 15-20 minutes max, and one less work day a week sounds sweet.

Hybrid work is idiotic. Remote all the way. Why do I need to travel two hours both ways to work at the same computer I can access from my bedroom? Even in office most meetings take place on teams anyway.

Work from home for me. 4 day work week would be nice, but nothing beats downtime during work at home. Playing a video game doing some chores or even a quick shower all things that get looked at strangely in an office but at home

"hey I'm just waiting for this thing, lemme hit the shower right quick to refresh myself" " Sounds good"

10 minutes later something else to do or someone to help out.

Plus. I'm not the biggest fan of wearing clothes. Those are optional at home.

I will never go back to commuting for free

I'm fully WFH right now. Company policy leaves office attendance to each team, although almost no one is expected in full time as they've shed a significant number of desks. The pandemic is the reason it went that far but they were headed for hot desking and partial WFH in late 2019 anyway.
Personally, I'm not expected in at all except for monthly (local) team briefings, because the scheme I'm working on is based in an office at the other end of the country, and so I'd be remote working regardless of visiting "my" office.

WFH suits me, but to be honest I do sometimes wish I could go in. I miss having people to idly chat to, but I can't. The office I want to return to isn't there any more. I used to have my own desk, set up my own way, with neighbours from my (discipline) team, co workers and friends.

Now it's a sea of souless hot desks, each identical to the next, same shitty misaligned monitors plugged into the same cheap hub, no dividers at all (it wasn't quite cubes before, but there were half height dividers that absorbed some of the noise) resulting in an almighty din. Those friends who didn't retire, quit or transfer might be sat near me, but probably won't. I can't even get a coffee unless I plan ahead because they no longer stock non-dairy because apparently it's too much trouble now they don't know who's coming in when.

Eventually I'll have to give up my home office because it will be needed as a bedroom, and I'll have to go in, but until that day I'll stay where I am.

In your scenario? WFH. I like my work and hate traffic.

If I lived five minutes away from the office like I used to? I'd go in, assuming they'd let me be flexible with my time. I like being in the office. My coworkers are great and if I get burned out on what I'm doing I can go play with the hardware in the lab.

In real life? I live 100 miles from the office and work from home. I miss the comradery and being able to just walk down the hall and kick a piece of malfunctioning equipment directly though.

First of all, thanks for the question, I think it's really interesting and I'm sorry that some people are responding with so much hostility.

If I commute 2 hours a day and work 5 days a week, that works out at 10 hours, which is more than a single day's work - so for that reason alone I think the question is a little flawed.

However, the company I used to work for was a 5 minute or so commute for me. So if I could have a short commute like that and work 4 days from the office, I'd totally go for it. More time for me! If it was even as much as 20 minute commute (4.5 days work equivelent) then I'd rather work from home.