With the way everything is headed now, several departments have gone full time remote such as complaint handling, some regulatory positions, and even few Quality Engineer positions in my company. I am aware that this question may not apply to everyone, however would you prefer for the role your currently in to be full time remote position or would you prefer to go back into the office? Please justify using pros and cons.
It has been almost a year and a half since the pandemic changed our ways of working and forced the world to adapt to a new way of life. I joined the workforce during this time and as a lab scientist, I was introduced to a hybrid working model where we go to site to complete lab activities and associated documentation, analysis, and other responsibilities are completed remotely. I have to say, I found this model to be the most effective rather than full remote or on site. It can honestly get mundane spending hours upon hours in your home (8 hours for work, additional hours for school, cooking meals, etc.) and can blur the work life balance as well. However, I do love the flexibility that comes with working from home as well such as being able to roll over and attend my first meeting of the day or not needing to commute into work. On the other hand, going into work does require more time out of my day but gives me a new space to work in, new visual and auditory stimuli, and just some plain old fashion in person socialization that can't always be replaced with a phone or video call. In my role specifically, lab activities have to be done on site which justifies my travels, however I do know others whose roles are not tied to the site but the change of pace and being away from distractions at home actually helps them be more productive.
That being said, I believe the hybrid model is actually the best for those who have the ability to do so. But if I had to pick one I would go with remote simply because of the increased flexibility.
While I just started my role, I may be premature in saying that I would also like a more hybrid working model. Half of my junior year and my entire senior year of undergrad was entirely online. Coming out of an entirely online semester and starting a position that is fully in person was a difficult transition as I was used to being in the comfort of my home. While I do understand that some roles cannot be entirely online, especially for engineers, I do believe that we can and should have the flexibility of working online and in person.
In my current role, I am mainly doing on research and contacting other companies. Researching and contacting and meeting with other companies is something that can definitely be done online. However, technical responsibilities such as 3D printing and working other machinery to complete parts and projects does require going to the office which I take no issue with at all. While I would enjoy working from home every now and then, the issue of work-life separating does exist. Working from home often means working way past the allotted time due external factors such as distraction and even the fact that there is no end time since your home essentially becomes your office and there is no separation. Working fully in person does give me that clear boundary which allows me to come home and relax.
While there are pros and cons to both working remotely and in person, I would ultimately choose working in person due to the fact that I would have a clear boundary between the office and home allowing me to better juggle work-life balance.
@srp98 I agree largely with the points you have made but maybe for different reasons. I would prefer to have a hybrid work schedule and after my internship this summer I've gathered that almost unanimously people do NOT want to return to the office full time.
This could be due to my internship being my first work experience but I genuinely enjoyed working in the office and found myself far more productive than working at home. From the constant distractions to scheduling an entire teams call on someone's busy calendar just for a simple question was really bothersome to me. I appreciate having structure in my life and having a dedicated work area (the office) really helped me separate work from my personal life, just like you mentioned Snehal. The reason I advocate for a hybrid schedule to allow for WFH is for two main reasons: energy and commuting. In my opinion the typical 5 day work week is too rigid and simply archaic when we consider how efficiently we can work with our computers. The burnout from simply being in a work environment rather than your own home will catch up to you in the 40+ years we have to work until retirement. Something I think is less controversial is not having to commute to your workplace is an amazing perk. Having an extra 1-2 hours everyday to do more of anything is invaluable in addition to not having the wear and tear on your car with gas costs.
Do you think more companies will "cave" and adopt a hybrid work schedule for their employees or simply enforce pre-covid policies with a mandatory 5 days in-person?
I think a healthy in between of going back into full time offices and also remote work would bee best. I do understand several people would go back in full time because it allows those to work collaboratively, see people in person, the ability to have a set work schedule. The cons of going back in would be some people do not need to go into an office full time if a lot of their work is computer based research or does not require labwork. If it is a lot of beginning stages of a research there is no reason to be going into work or a lab every single day when you could do that at home.
But in contrast with remote work some people prefer it because you are able to do work more efficiently at your own pace, in your own comfort, and for some people being around less people is less anxiety inducing and more productive. The cons to doing this, is that you cannot do proper lab work outside of the lab environment, hence why you would need to go into an office space and work.
I think a good blend of both would be most efficient. To begin, when you start research and brainstorming, you could easily do it via Zoom, research at home, put together files that can be shared and looked upon members. This doesnt need to be done in person, which could save time in commuting and other factors. Also having a hybrid blend would then allow for appropriate meeting times during the week, less overworking, more time for a group to prepare individual research and then collaborate on a plan, once this is done, they could effectively work in a lab by having a plan. I felt this worked very well when i was doing a research project because my group used Monday as a at home research day, make a plan, and have protocols down, then Tuesday and Wednesday we would do lab work, see what went well, what didn't, and then Thursday use that as a at home research day, fix what went wrong, and then Friday try again in the lab. Then by having that monday we had an additional day to either write data, or fix protocols before going into the lab again. We found this to be very efficient in the lab because we were overly prepared instead of being stuck having to leave lab to go brain in the office and vice versa. Finally, with this hybrid schedule, i was able to use the days i was home to get all my work done, along with errands, so i never felt tired or exhausted the days i did go in, which made it more enjoyable and less stressful to do work.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the onboarding of a virtual setting for many jobs has permanently changed the way many companies have been now operating. I believe the addition of hybrid model of work has its advantages as well as its disadvantages. I have worked in the lab as an associate scientist and due to the nature of my work, I was forced to go in for work for all 5 days and have largely been unaffected by virtual work. However one aspect of my work that has been changed is how meetings are now conducted, which for the majority of my meetings have been shifted to a virtual standpoint and in my opinion it is for the best. The pros of being online is that the company outreach from upper management is far more practical for everyones schedule. No longer does meeting planner have to consider that employees will have to travel for work or commute from one site to another just to attend a meeting and instead they can attend the meeting from wherever they are, say in the lab or in their apartment. This has allowed me to accept many meetings that traditionally would force me to stay in the office for longer whereas now I am able to take the meeting while on my way to my house or take the meeting from the comfort of my house. However I do believe this convenience does come with its cons.
The primary con in my opinion from my limited wfh experience is that I have seen my productivity in meetings have a decline. I believe that a good old fashioned face to face can convey information far more effectively than virtually. Theres the keen aspect of being able to express your emotions and being able to read other peoples body languages that allows for greater understanding between two people rather on a zoom call where the only social cue is audible information and no visual information. With the benefits and convenience of having virtual conferences, being able to convey a quick deliverable or information from one party to another is far more efficient if done in person.
However, I do believe that large informational town halls and large departmental meetings can benefit from an all virtual meeting as coordinating such effort is possible and being able to listen into a town hall while accomplishing other tasks at hand improves productivity. I wouldn't have to be stuck in an auditorium/lecture hall sitting through an hour meeting when I could have done far more pressing job functions while also listening in to the meeting
All in all, I believe that certain functions of the workday can benefit from the usage of virtual meetings and virtual work from home, but even in our ever growing digitization of the workday, having the option of being able to work from home and going into the workplace is evermore paramount for a successful workday.
I began my R&D role in the company I currently work for in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike many people who began working or worked through the pandemic, I was always required to be onsite regardless of the work scheduled for the day. This meant being onsite even during the onboarding and training process where I was not yet allowed to step into the lab and spent the 8-hour workday sitting at my desk reading training materials and SOPs. I definitely would have preferred the hybrid working model mentioned in the previous posts. I am still pursuing a master’s so during that time, and now, I have to balance work and school. This was definitely made more difficult by the fact that I had to commute to Brooklyn every day (which meant a total of about 3 hours daily spent commuting). It was definitely a difficult adjustment and during the training period where I could’ve read through the training material from home, I certainly hoped for the opportunity to work from home. Despite my long commute, I would choose to work in person for my current role as my job requires me to be in the lab daily. I also find that even if my job didn’t require me to be in the lab daily, I would be far more productive in person than I would be at home. Of course, I would like the flexibility to leave early when my work is done but I also find that being around my coworkers in person makes the work environment less tedious. I believe that being in person forces you to interact with coworkers more than it would if they were just a name you see pop up on meetings through Teams or Zoom.
I would much rather for my work to be from a fully remote position. Much like others, a hybrid (half remote/half onsite) type of setup is not too bad either. As mentioned earlier by others, flexibility is a huge factor as to why a remote location would be ideal. This is especially if your job requires tasks that you can be free to do on your own time with an occasional deadline for work rather than having to log in and work from home everyday. Another reason why working remotely is preferred by me is because a fully onsite work commitment leaves a lot of room for issues regarding transport and tardiness. There should at least be a fall back where if you cannot come to work for a family or house related issue, you should be able to work remotely as a backup. I also think virtual meetings are more effective than in person meetings. To be honest, most engineers aren't the best at public speaking or having a lot of attention on them. In person meetings/ presentations can be kind of dreading for those introverted folk, and lets face it, there's a lot of introverts in the umbrella of STEM majors. A virtual meeting/presentations takes a little bit of that edge off and makes it more effective that way. It is also a bit more organized with less disruptions. (No talking over one another if your microphones are off)
With the way everything is headed now, several departments have gone full time remote such as complaint handling, some regulatory positions, and even few Quality Engineer positions in my company. I am aware that this question may not apply to everyone, however would you prefer for the role your currently in to be full time remote position or would you prefer to go back into the office? Please justify using pros and cons.
I would rather my certain position be full time remote. Mainly because doing analysis of samples does not particularly require for me to be present in the lab. If there are in errors they are already upload on to a shared document that I can access anywhere and if there is something I need redone it simple to send a message to those who need to redo it. I basically do remote work but at work. The pros would be greater availability since I wouldn't have to drive to and from work. Which is also better for the environment. Less social anxiety having to deal with other people. Higher moral. Con would be loss in of social mask function.
A lot of the points made on this forum state that an overwhelming large amount of people do not want to return to the office full time. I understand this desire to work remotely especially for those who have been commuting to work for a long time. My dad has been commuting an hour to and from work for over twenty years. The remote work option has allowed him to have a break from this strenuous drive. Additionally, since he has been working remotely I have been able to spend a lot more time with him. I found that a lot of other families are in similar situations and can spend more time with one another now that there is the remote work option. Working remotely is also a pro for new mothers. For example, one of my colleagues at work just had a baby and she was able to work remotely up until her due date. If she did not have this option and was required to go in person, she would have needed to take time off before her due date. Now that the baby has been born, she is going to continue to work remotely so that she can spend this crucial time at home with her newborn. After her maternity leave is up, she will still be able to be at home with her newborn and simultaneously work remotely. She can even adjust her hours so that she can work while the newborn is sleeping. This kind of flexibility is not possible unless she works remotely. If she was required to go in person, she would need to pay for day care or hire another individual to watch her newborn.
On the contrary, there are also pros to working in the office. Personally, I have genuinely enjoyed working in the office and I would prefer to be in person despite the pros of working remotely as described above and in some previous posts. A commonality between myself and some of the other posts is that I have also found that I am more productive in the office and feel that my work life balance is more defined. Another pro to working in the office is more efficient work as some people cannot do their job as easily remotely. For example, in my current role I work internationally. Thus, it is much easier for me to go into the office when I need to package and ship notarized documents worldwide as I do not have the means to do this kind of work remotely. For those who work in a research setting or laboratory it is also essential for them to go in person. Lastly, for those individuals that do not have the means to have an office like set up in their current living situation it is extremely beneficial for them to have the ability to go in person. Likewise if an individual lives with a lot of people or there is a lot of activity going on during the day at their house, it may be easier for them to go into the office so they can have a defined space to get work done.
Full time online remote positions can work for different fields as mentioned in the question above. However, I personally like to be in the site interacting with people as I come up with my any major decisions and more importantly I work in the lab. Therefore, there's no choice but to physically go to the site. However, online positions make our life easier in many cases like we could save our commuting time if we live far, can work and babysit if we have children etc. However, it could make us lazy and a little bit less social and awkward when it comes to interacting with people face to face especially after getting used to interacting only via emails and team meetings.
it’s hard to say. As a teacher, interacting with students is a benefit. Remote work can hinder interaction and strain teacher-student relationships. Plus, everything being digitized can complicate simply learning lessons. However, being home is nice because I am able to move with being micro managed. I’ll be able to plan at my own schedule with interruptions.
I would prefer my current role to be full time remote. From being moved from an in person to online class setting during my senior year of my undergraduate career due to the pandemic to pursuing my masters in an online setting, I think I have officially adapted to conducting business in a remote setting versus in person. This prompted me to even start applying for fully remote or hybrid jobs, which landed me in a remote position that I will be starting soon. This job will require me to use my skills in a specific software to help clients navigate through it via phone calls, video calls, and/or screen sharing. While in the interview process, I was told that from a recent survey about 90% of the employees voted to continue remote work and I believe there are a lot of commonalities in reasons. One thing that I have enjoyed about remote work is the flexibility in my schedule. Before being introduced to virtual school and work, I feel like everything had to fit into certain time constraints, leaving me stressed, staying up late, waking up early, being stuck in traffic, etc. Now there is more room for multitasking and maximizing my time. During this time in my life, this is extremely important as I am in the middle of completing my masters, starting my career, and planning a move. Living in the metro Atlanta area, this new way of life offers many pros for me such as saving money on gas, spending less time commuting to and from work and/or school, opening my schedule to move throughout the week versus strictly on the weekends just to name a few. One con of remote work for me is the lack of in person human interaction. I believe this is a big con for many, at least at my job and to combat this issue, we have agreed to meet in the office every Tuesday just to get out of the house and talk/collaborate with coworkers. While I can imagine the remote work getting old to me at a certain point, I think the pros outweigh the cons during this particular point in my life. Do you believe remote positions will be of interest to you always or do you think you will want to transition back to in person eventually?
With the way everything is headed now, several departments have gone full time remote such as complaint handling, some regulatory positions, and even few Quality Engineer positions in my company. I am aware that this question may not apply to everyone, however would you prefer for the role your currently in to be full time remote position or would you prefer to go back into the office? Please justify using pros and cons.
I love working in a remote posture! Considering this is my first corporate job after graduating college, I do believe there is some value in going on-site a few days a week. The pros of working from home are increased productivity, flexibility, and wearing sweatpants daily. The cons of working from home are some projects are easier to complete in an in-person setting and it's easier to network. Working from home or going on-site comes down to the lifestyle in which you want to live, I value flexibility so working from home is ideal.
I personally would prefer a hybrid model of work that incorporated both onsite and remote. The pros of this format are that you do not have to spend hours upon hours online and are able to somewhat separate work and home life. You also are able to have in-person work when there are tasks that are not as easily done or impossible to do online. I do not really see any cons to this format. However, if I had to pick one, I would rather have full-time remote work. Since the beginning days of the pandemic, more and more jobs have become remote. Because of this, a lot of people are more used to and comfortable with this format now than ever before. There are so many pros to having remote work. The main one I can think of is convenience. Working remotely allows you to be in other places while also working which can help people get more things done. Convenience and flexibility are very important for those who have obligations other than school (such as children, school, etc). Remote work could eliminate some stressful features of an on-site job such as long commutes (lesser carbon footprint!!), help create a stronger work-life balance, and possibly even develop a healthier diet since there's a smaller chance you will go out and eat fast food. I could also see some of the cons to remote work though such as potential distractions at home, less face-to-face interaction, and the inability to do certain work-related tasks that may not be as successful online. The pros definitely outweigh the cons to me. I am wondering if remote work will continue to grow as the pandemic begins to slow down and years down the line. Do you think many of the companies who had to largely turn to remote work will try and go back to in-person work or will embrace the remote framework?
