What’s New: A lighter look in defense of WFH (Working From Home)

By: David New

Few things are brought up to me more than the fact I am young. I could be talking to a colleague about some recipe I made up and without fail, an older, much wiser human being for no real reason will point out how young I am. Like it's the final point in an argument no one is having with them. It's an argument as old as time (ironically). Perhaps a lazy argument, but an argument, nonetheless. I could quote Scripture. I could pull up numerous examples of young people doing amazing things. But it will always exist.

Maybe that's why the idea of allowing workers to do their work from home scares people. This is perhaps a topic that takes up 40% of my mental power at any given moment. After all, that is certainly NOT how it has "always been done." To be honest, I am not one to throw out tradition for the sake of it being old. In fact, I consider myself fairly old-fashioned. Regardless, this idea of someone daring to work while simultaneously not being in a fluorescently lit, perhaps less cost-conscious office building has become just so much fun to talk about. Like admitting you listen to rap. Or talking about the latest episode of Game of Thrones.

"So… did you hear [so-and-so] left his job for that remote position?"

"SHHHH!!! Pipe down! My boss might overhear us and think we're plotting a revolution to take over this business and eventually the world!"

This is the part of the column where I list the various reasons why WFH could be awesome.

1. You get to sleep in and not do any work ever again.
2. You get to trash-talk the company you work for AND pet your dog at the same time.

I lied. This is actually a list that I imagine a boss terrified of their employees being happy would make. This is even funnier for me because I happen to have wonderful bosses. Bosses that would be open to this idea.

Which brings me to my final point…

We must tear down the systemic oppression of making employees show up to work! What is this, 1995?? Workers of the world, DISPERSE! To your various homes. Please do not gather in one place. That would defeat the purpose.

I can't help but think about what work life looked like at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a scary time for the country and the world, yet the work seemed to get done. That's what jobs should be about, right? Getting the work done. What other metrics are being used?

I remember seeing emails from various employees and supervisors saying things like "I don't know how we did it, but all the work is getting done! It's a miracle." And although I think miracles happen every day, this was not one of them. We didn't stumble upon a miracle – we discovered the solution, the future.

I want to end this time by saying that I love The Salvation Army and all the supervisors that might read this.