Should WFH Be a Mandated Option for All Remote-Capable Jobs?

Question

On average, 37% of jobs can be done from home. https://www.nber.org/papers/w26948.pdfHowever, most companies are reluctant to allow WFH, as they see decreases in productivity.Now that you've had a chance to experience it, what's your perspective? Are you raring to go back to the office? Do you want to stay in your own study for the rest of days?Whatever your personal perspective, should companies be required to offer a WFH option for all employees? Say a 10% paycut for full-time WFH vs commuting to the office.

throwaway713 · Accepted Answer

> Now that you've had a chance to experience it, what's your perspective?
The current situation is not representative of typical remote working conditions. I am fortunate in that I do not have relatives that need care or children that are home from school (yet), and that I have an extra room with a door that I can close, a comfortable chair, and a nice view out the window. Many people do not have these luxuries at the moment; a lot of my coworkers in the Bay Area have 2-3 children home from school, are sharing cramped apartment spaces, and have an unergonomic setup with poor internet connectivity.
If anything, I worry that the current situation may drive the possibility of remote work backwards a bit.

Osiris · Answer

I work at a software company and we had a culture of not working from home very often. The last few weeks, JIRA has shown that we're more productive than ever in terms of closing tickets.Hopefully what we'll see if that employers that we're previously skiddish about letting employees work from home home will see that it's not the distopia they imagined it would be and it'll become more normal.

znpy · Answer

> Ask HN: Should WFH Be a Mandated Option for All Remote-Capable Jobs?
Here in Italy that's the case already. More than that actually:
If your line of business is not vital to the basic functioning of the nation (think of: utilities, grocery stores, journalism, banking, public transport) then you can either work from home or close down.
Basically yes, is a mandated option. The other option is closing down.

shams93 · Answer

A 60% drop in pollution in LA with WFH I think it should be mandated in high pollution zones like City of LA

s1artibartfast · Answer

No. Management should be able to decide if wfh makes sense for a given team based on on their personal situation. Some of my team members are more productive at home, some are deadweight. It is almost impossible to fire or hire someone at my company so I would rather have all the tools available to maximize productivity.

gremlinsinc · Answer

'Mandated' is a strong word... I think we should take away taxcuts and subsidies for a lot of industries like oil - and give it to companies who do WFH as we're seeing a HUGE benefit to the environment as a result.So, not 'mandated' but 'highly encouraged'.

jfalcon · Answer

I did. No regrets. But I always inflate my salary demand intentionally. I'll never be rich working for "the man" so I make sure to run side gigs to get me out of the employee rat race and find my own wealth.

gdulli · Answer

My personal perspective is that I can't wait for things to go back to normal and to have a workplace to go to instead of sitting around the house all day.I'm wired to want to get out into the world and see people. That doesn't mean I'm extremely social, that I consider co-workers my family, or that they're my closest friends. But there are significant intangibles that come from being with them in person instead of being alone.

NonEUCitizen · Answer

In Singapore, "Jail, fines for employers who do not allow employees to work from home where possible"https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/covid-19-work...

hackandtrip · Answer

It's already a mandated option in Italy; there are a large number of jobs that can be done with a little adjustment from home.On the other hand, some jobs (e.g: lawyer reviewing some documents together?) require some tech that it's not there since there was not a necessity. I wonder if some startups targeting specific niches like that will rise.

derision · Answer

No, the less mandated by law, the better

duxup · Answer

Doesn't make sense to me to mandate it.Different companies should be able to find their best structure on their own.

gwright · Answer

Mandated? If you grant government the power to mandate this sort of thing (in the absence of an emergency), you have granted government the power to micro-manage everything. What would be the limiting principle to government power?This is a bad idea.

Should WFH Be a Mandated Option for All Remote-Capable Jobs?

A 60% drop in pollution in LA with WFH I think it should be mandated in high pollution zones like City of LA

'Mandated' is a strong word... I think we should take away taxcuts and subsidies for a lot of industries like oil - and give it to companies who do WFH as we're seeing a HUGE benefit to the environment as a result.
So, not 'mandated' but 'highly encouraged'.

I did. No regrets. But I always inflate my salary demand intentionally. I'll never be rich working for "the man" so I make sure to run side gigs to get me out of the employee rat race and find my own wealth.

In Singapore, "Jail, fines for employers who do not allow employees to work from home where possible"
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/covid-19-work...

No, the less mandated by law, the better

Doesn't make sense to me to mandate it.
Different companies should be able to find their best structure on their own.

Mandated? If you grant government the power to mandate this sort of thing (in the absence of an emergency), you have granted government the power to micro-manage everything. What would be the limiting principle to government power?
This is a bad idea.