I think I was the first person to work from home (among my friends and acquaintances and family). May be some other person worked from home before me. I have not yet come across such a person.
I wrote the following comment in Mr. Pradeep Nair’s blog post: Work - home balance.
Interesting blog post. Work From Home. Reminds me of an incident. This was early 90s. Before Cell phones. But desk top computers were there. This was before WFH was ever heard of. I was Executive Assistant to the Regional VP. He said since he is out of the office for 16 days in a month I should work from home. I had a phone and fax machine in my home. I “WFH” for 2 full years. I enjoyed. What was the disadvantage? My wife’s friends started this rumor. Lalitha’s husband lost his job and he is at home all the time.
Why I am writing this post? I just read the following news item:
Mr. Vishal Garg, CEO of Better.com, terminated 900 employees via a zoom call. He said “If you’re on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off”. He slammed the ex-workers for allegedly “stealing from our customers” by not being productive. He said at least 250 of those employees were working only 2 hours a day while clocking 8 hours+ a day in the payroll system.
There is a big controversy for the method he used to fire those employees. There are “for” and “against” arguments. I am not going into that.
I am just thinking – those employees who work from home now (due to Covid-19 Pandemic) – Do they all work full 8 hours at home as they would in an office environment?
I have seen people go for shopping. Attend to personal business. Or, just take it easy and watch television. Or, take a nap in the afternoon. Or, some even go out of town with family and while the family is enjoying vacation, the employee "works" from there.
All you have to do is to keep your laptop connected to your office system.
What do you think?
Quite interesting to note that you had an opportunity for WFH when the concept was not at all there. In the present context, I have seen people slogging for more than 10 hours under WFH concept because of the dependency. Others compensate the time wasted on their personal work by working extra time those who have the flexy time facility. Advantage, saving of transportation cost, food and beverages. Disadvantage, no opportunity to wear different types of dresses and make up. People become lazy
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Gowri. The examples you are writing are very small in number. My personal opinion. This is a free country. You and I can express our opinions freely.
ReplyDeleteInteresting I am covering most of the aspects of your post...in the IT world WFH means u work foe more than 8 hours and are available when ever you are needed.... it does have its advantages....flexibility but in the end...you are responsible to complete your tasks on time .....
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Dee. I am disappointed. I was expecting you were going to ask me “did you work 8 hours a day when you were working from home for 2 years in the early 90s”. I would give the same answer like you. I was available whenever I was needed.
DeleteHave you seen the Maytag Washer advertisement? One of the best. The repairman waits and waits for someone to call him to repair their machine. No one calls him because their machine never needed any repair. He retires after 30 years doing nothing. But he was available.
SG, do you know SAIL started WFH? During Corona. Ha ha ha ha !!
ReplyDeleteSAIL doesn't have any system like in USA. Like documents management system or its own secure Conferencing System.
SAIL just used Zoom from internet.
I am letting out my frustrations because SAIL mistreating me. Basically there is intense rivalry. Salem is the black sheep.
Thanks for your comments Kirtivasan. I am glad you are able to vent your frustrations here. Hope you feel better now.
DeleteThe main advantage of WFH is the cutting of traveling time and efforts. That benefits no one, except the transportation companies.
ReplyDeletePeople could be both more productive or less, depending on the type they are. Office or WFH may not make a big difference.
Destination Infinity
Thanks for your comments Rajesh. You are corrct. It all depends on the individual. But, I think, over all there is less productivity during work from home.
DeleteA shirker is a shirker whether he works from office or home.Leaving them out of reckoning most in IT industries would work for 8 hours and the conscientious would for more hours.i learn the data collected reveal that productivity has not suffered. However, I believe ambitious people would like working from office to get noticed by many seniors ,the interaction with people outside the team,getting to know the happenings and the camaraderie.WFH is sensible during pandemic. Otherwise there is a place for everything and everything has a place.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Mr. KP. I agree with you conscientious people would work more than 8 hours. But do they do EVERY DAY while working from home? Most of them goof off. My personal opinion and experience.
ReplyDeleteIt was sad to see the way the employees got terminated that too just before the Christmas season & after the company has got a fat capital infusion. The tone and style was just not don. The CEO apologized but after the backlash.
ReplyDeleteI feel sincere employees put in a lot of work. Not many devpted ones (like me) take many tea/coffee/cigarette breaks :)
At home, the boundaries blur. But, there are many advantages- viz one saves commuting time too.
*devoted
DeleteYes, WFH does blur the office home divide. It has its advantages and disadvantages.
ReplyDeleteIt's not always possible to keep away from work even if we are working from home, unless the work is one in which you are working alone and not as a part of any team.
In cases where one has sick elders at home, or a woman who has a toddler, WFH is a big advantage.
Technology comes with pros and cons. It all depends on how we make use of it.
There is no point in blaming people who are making use of the advantages of WFH after giving them that option.
Thanks for your comments Pradeep.
DeleteHappy to visit your blog after a long time... and that too to read such an interesting topic... I dont think we worked 8 hrs in office or work 8 hrs at home. In office we used to take coffee breaks.. talk to colleagues... and all that. At home, we go for grocery shopping, watch a show, talk to parents, play with kids, something. But the difference is, no matter what, work used to end in office and very less and only on exceptional basis it was carried to home. Now the day begins and ends with work. We are logged in almost through the day and night. We ourselves have lost track of whether we work for 2 hours or 12 or 20. Its important for us to really assess the way we should manage our work and life
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Satya. Long time no see. Hope you and your family are doing well.
DeleteWhat I see in my house is people are over loaded with work. A relevant topic. Nice.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Sarala.
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ReplyDeleteExcellent post I enjoy reading it :)
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