After 20+ years of commuting to office buildings, I agree that the case to let people with office jobs, where all they need is a computer and an internet connection, work from home is pretty much proven at this point. Visable results rather than HR logging the time I spend sitting in front of a screen is a much better metric for me. I've been less sick (in terms of mild illness), my work hasn't suffered one bit, I've had more time to exercise and spend with my young family, I haven't been fighting the clock to meet childcare commitments, the mental health benefit was massive to me, the insane cost of train fares in the UK means I've been better off there too. It's been a huge level of privilege in that regard compared to some.
I think that's an upside in my situation of a shift that we've done relatively quickly and out of necessity, despite me arguing for years that I should work from home for various reasons. There is a lack of equity for some others though, for whom the office space is vital human contact, or if they live in a crowded home they share with others and don't have dedicated workspace, or if they prefer being able to really focus away from problems at home, or if they are just starting out in some fields and the training, supervision and contacts are important, that kind of thing. Moving forwards, while the immediate, necessary one-size-fits-all solution has been effective for so many in so many different situations, it shouldn't mean that everyone has to be able to do so. That was part of the problem in the first place with everyone having to conform to a daily commute and a 9-5 grind that meant rush hours, insane fares and stress around making it work with school pickups etc.
Companies looking for policies to have people work from home where they can but not penalise them if they don't want to or can't turn their home into their office is likely the way forward. I think my company is going to end up having far fewer desk spaces but still having us all come in every so often or be able to book meeting and work spaces on an ad-hoc basis, where some may choose to be in the office more than others and some may choose to only be there if needed.
