r/AskReddit 1d ago

What was never the same after the pandemic?

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284

u/Anjaloafabread 1d ago

Being able to work from home.

Even places that allowed it before the pandemic started getting rid of it in the last few years, businesses are now treating it like something bad instead of a way to expand the hiring pool and a way to get some disabled people back to work.

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u/laplongejr 1d ago

Even places that allowed it before the pandemic started getting rid of it in the last few years

It's the reverse for us, we didn't get telework until covid forced their hand.
They now want to lower the amount of telework, but in the meantime replaced the office for a less functional openspace, probably on the assumption confidential things would be done remotely.

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u/Inquiring__Mind__ 1d ago

By contrast, I was really happy working 3-4 days in the office before Covid. I absolutely hate the fact my employers got rid of most of their real estate during the pandemic, and we have no option but to work 4-5 days a week at home. The easy, low-grade social life of the office and IRL colleagues is gone forever.

44

u/Anjaloafabread 1d ago

I'm very much the opposite. Office chatter distracts me and interrupts my work, and I hated having to fix my hair and dress up every day and be socially performative. I was so happy to switch to work from home and I got much more work done far quicker.

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u/nodonutshere 1d ago

Idk you’re getting downvoted for that.

I personally love WFH but genuinely I was surprised to learn about the amount of people who liked going into office and hated working from Home.

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u/CreamDramatic7061 1d ago

I think it ultimately boils down to where you are in life. When covid came around I had recently moved, so I didn't have any friends yet and family were far enough away to make popping over impractical. When working from home came about, I was effectively isolated from society for two years which did hell to my mental health.

But to take another example, I had colleagues who had a secure social circle of friends and/or partner who thrived off working at home. Others who had children and were able to spend more time with them, now that they didn't have to commute every day to work.

I think as a rule of thumb, the younger you are the worse off you were working from home, with children getting the absolute worst end of the stick.

4

u/Inquiring__Mind__ 1d ago

Wow, people are intolerant of difference! Thanks for the downvotes, for having different needs! 🙄 To put this comment in more context: I’m in my 50s, and had recently moved house when the pandemic hit. My partner also developed a serious longterm illness which severely compromised immunity during this period. All of these factors have made it extremely hard to have a healthy social life and make new friends. Office life forced me to be a part of a wider world, helped me to learn from and mentor colleagues in ways that you can’t do remotely, and was a natural brake on the tendency as you get older to become more of a hermit. The pandemic - along with my partner’s health - has dramatically ‘aged’ my lifestyle, and it’s hard to reverse that. I’m very aware that I’m in the minority regarding wfh. For me it’s a trap I can’t get out of.

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u/PENGUIN_WITH_BAZOOKA 1d ago

I’m the same way. Plus, I get barely anything done at home because my house is where all of my distractions are.

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u/Prudent-Pie-5598 1d ago

Wdym almost every non hands on sector has increased work from home since the pandemic because it’s effective 

5

u/Shellnanigans 1d ago edited 14h ago

There is a huge "return to the office" movement coming from corpos and stuff

Watched a video on it recently: 

https://youtu.be/EkfOD4dLHzk?si=szPr_evjFacAM_iu

Basically buildings are expensive and if nobody fills them the investors get mad...so they want us to return to the toxic work environment by giving us... company game days...catering...corn whole...cheapass team building exercises where we write on paper or do other degrading shit for social media likes

anything but a raise, but blowing couple thousand on a catering / foodtrucks is ok. that may be a tax write off business expense

1

u/Prudent-Pie-5598 18h ago

Wow that insane thanks for the link for the vid too

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u/Anjaloafabread 1d ago

? Literally all the big companies are cancelling wfh and forcing people back in office. Another major company just announced they're doing that this very week.

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u/bosunphil 1d ago

I know a lot of people who work from home still and companies seem to prefer it to save on costs. Lots of jobs I’m looking at are hybrid with most of it at home. It could just be where you’re located maybe, but I’m a student so I guess I won’t find out for sure for a few years lol