Are you going back to the office soon?
Well, COVID cases are dropping and I'm hearing from many friends that they will be returning to the office soon. My work has always had some people in office, but more and more are coming back and it looks like I probably will too now.
I'm curious to know how others are feeling about the situation? Is COVID over for you? Are you going back to the office and if so, are you looking forward to it?
Or are you happy working from home and hoping to continue doing so?
My company is planning on a slow semi return to the office starting in September, if and only if the kids are in school.
Me? I'm not planning on ever going back. I've moved away and will start looking for a fully remote position should the company require me in the office more than a few times per year.
It is NOT over. At our company we had a hybrid model where in each room everyone was able to work AT the company but still had the option to work from home. This way we prevented some psycological issues which some got after working from home to long with wife/husband and kids. I really like it and hope we continue on it. sure everyone had to communicate when where was at the company and home but it works till now! Btw our company is near Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Homeoffice isnt something thats common here but gets more and more interest (for whatever reason). I personally prefer working at the company and once a week at home.
It's technically optional right now... although currently there isn't an office to go back to for my department. The company decided to remodel during the pandemic (smart, imo), but the construction company ended up having to shutdown during Nov/Dec/Jan due to Covid so they're behind schedule.
New tentative date is September.
Based on what management has talked about thus far... seems we'll be going back to some sort of hybrid model. Though no details have been released yet.
I think it still might take some time before I start going to the office, but things will probably never go back like they use to be here. Working from home results in less distraction for me(it use to be the opposite), even with a baby, and saves so much time & stress. I’m planning on only going to the office, purely for important meetings or social events.
I will fight for WFH and an occasional "office day" once every couple of weeks.
I don't miss the 45 minute commute, the loud open-space, the ~20$ launch breaks...
However, I see the value of an occasional face-to-face, organic flowing conversations, and plain-old watercooler chats.
I will try to stick with remote and asynchronous work in foreseeable future, because for last year I was getting great results at work and at home.
If the company issues "must WFO. mandatory." order , I will comply with it .
Different countries, different waves.
We decided to permanently close our office and all continue WFH permanently. We will save a fortune in office costs. Might do a monthly lunch together if we all continue to live in the region to keep up some face-to-face contact. Around here COVID is probably reduced to just a slow burn into the future, with very high local vaccination rates -- but no regrets in closing the office at all.