The topic of remote work always brings a lot of emotions and discussions. There are passionate supporters, equally passionate opponents, and, of course, those who became remote workers out of necessity, for example, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I will share my perspective on this topic based on my work in IT. I have experience working both in an office and remotely, so I can judge from both sides.

Let’s briefly look back at how it all started. Remote work is not new and dates back to the mid-20th century. It seems the concept was developed by an American named Jack Nilles, who coined the terms “teleworking” and “telecommuting.” This idea caught the attention of the U.S. Committee for Economic Development, and its head, Frank Schiff, continued the idea by creating the term “flexiplace” and publishing an article titled “Working at Home Can Save Gasoline.” This was a response to the oil crisis, the desire to reduce traffic jams, and improve work-life balance. From there, we saw the development of technologies, computers, and jobs suitable for remote work, and, of course, the COVID-19 crisis. Companies like GitLab, Automattic, Basecamp, and IBM have significantly popularized remote work.

One main argument in favor of the office from managers is that workers are more productive in the office. Honestly, it’s hard for me to support this argument, but I can consider it. From a management perspective, you can see all employees, count them, and easily check what they’re doing. Face-to-face communication is easier, and it’s simpler for a boss to control the process.

However, from my observations, if a worker in the office doesn’t want to work, they just won’t. There will be lots of activity to create the appearance of work, but nothing more.

Another point is the decline of corporate culture and the sense of belonging. When employees work from home or elsewhere, it feels like they’re not part of the company. Communication difficulties are obvious—we’ve evolved to solve problems face-to-face, shaking hands and interacting personally.

Isolation and psychological issues are also concerns. Remote work can lead to loneliness and stress, affecting our social well-being. Additionally, not everyone can work remotely; some roles require physical presence, creating inequality in access to remote work.

Blurring the lines between work and personal life is another argument. Even at home, work can intrude into personal time, just as it does in the office. Technical problems and security issues need consideration, but modern tools largely address these concerns.

Now, let’s look at the benefits from the worker’s perspective: equipped workspaces, nearby teams, easy communication, fewer household distractions, and some perks like meals at work.

For companies, maintaining offices incurs significant costs and limits the geographic pool for hiring talented employees. Remote work offers flexibility in scaling, resilience to crises, and reduced environmental impact. For workers, it provides flexible schedules, time savings, better work-life balance, reduced stress, and increased responsibility.

Both approaches have their pros and cons. If we set aside fairness issues and the inability for some to create a home workspace, the benefits of remote work are clear for most. So why do those who can still push for office work and even call everyone back to the office?

I believe the problem is systemic, not individual. It’s about how companies manage their processes and people. Management often evaluates employees based on hours spent in the office rather than their work results. Time and results are related, but not the time spent under a manager’s watchful eye.

We still struggle with accurately estimating task times. Time estimation has been a long-standing problem, often too optimistic or pessimistic. Even though there are always errors, the key is the process of obtaining estimates. Understanding what needs to be done is essential for any estimation.

Productivity measurements also suffer. There’s often no clear understanding of what constitutes a successfully completed task or if it’s completed at all.

The world is changing rapidly, and businesses must adapt quickly. New generations are growing up with technology as a natural part of life, using gadgets and social media from childhood. While this brings certain challenges, it’s part of life. For new generations, personal communication and corporate culture may become less important.

There’s a lot of talk about how fast life is and the stress it brings. We struggle to keep up with everything: taking care of ourselves and our families. We don’t value our time, spend hours in traffic, spread out tasks to justify office time, and suffer from constant communication stress both on the way and at work. Not to mention ongoing respiratory issues.

Maybe we should stop wasting time commuting and spend it on exercising, being with family, reading something new, or just walking in the park. Instead of sticking to an 8-9 hour workday and suffering from fatigue after lunch, we could take longer breaks to handle personal matters and then return to work. Changing activities is a good way to break the routine and work on self-discipline.

Corporate culture is great, but we come to work to sell our knowledge and skills for a salary. In my opinion, a professional worker should do their job well in any circumstances, and the company should pay for results, not for spending time well in the office.

Or maybe we just need to figure out what to do with all these office buildings and the industry that has grown around them?