Working from Home

Long before the Covid pandemic led to more people working from home, I wrote about the benefits of working from home. The gist of that article was that working from home can lead to increased productivity, better work-life balance, and more efficient time-management. You can read the original here.

When I wrote that article, I was working as a journalist and editor. I was responsible for managing my time and meeting deadlines. I could work at my own pace, take time out when I needed to while putting in a few extra hours where I could. Since then, I have worked at an ordinary office job. A job that requires me to be at a desk for a set amount of time on a set number of days. When I started the job, it was based in an office. As per government instructions that said anyone who could work from home should do so, I began working from home as of March 2020.

While I appreciate that some jobs can't be done from home, that I am lucky not only to work from home but to have a job at all, my job has continued throughout the pandemic. The job I am doing at home is exactly the same as it would have been at the office. In fact, there has been a lot more work to do as a result of Covid. Admittedly, I do sit on my bottom all day but, again, that would be the case wherever I worked. It's not a physically demanding job, but it can be a mentally challenging one.

The main thing that led me to write this today was someone who had tried to compare working from home with benefit cheats. I've even read people saying things like "everyone should go back to work and stop lazing around at home". As I explained above, the job I do from home (as I am certain is the same for many) is exactly the same as I'd do from the office. Suggesting going back to work would imply that those working from home have not been working, which is simply not true. I have read comments claiming that home-workers have the TV on while speaking to people on the telephone. I'm aware that there are some who do this, which I believe is rather unprofessional, but some offices also have a TV on in the background. Personally, I don't have time to watch TV while I'm working. The nature of my job means I have to be available at the times required of me by my employer. If I step away from my desk, there has to be a good reason. I believe that some people miss the "working" part of "working from home". I certainly can't grasp how working for an employer is in any way similar to claiming benefits, let alone being a benefit cheat.

There are, of course, advantages and disadvantages to home-working. There are also preferences that people have. For me, working from home is preferable. I have a space where I can work, my children are grown enough to take care of themselves, I save a considerable amount of time and money by not having to travel into work, and I'm not having to worry about missing a bus if I'm a few minutes late finishing.

Another argument that has surfaced is that any job that can be done from home can be outsourced. This would be a valid argument except for the fact that any job that doesn't need face to face communication can be outsourced. Plenty of office-based jobs have already been moved to other countries. This is not a new concept, nor is working from home.

One more thing that has been said is that workers who go into the workplace should be paid more than those who don't. Unless the employer pays for your travel, this doesn't make a lot of sense either. Whether you're doing the job from home or commuting to it, you're being paid for doing the job during working hours. I wouldn't suggest that my employer should pay me more because my commute is longer or more expensive than that of my colleagues.

Some of these arguments seem to come from the same people who would suggest you find another job if you don't want to stop working from home. If my employer said I had to go back to the office then I would. I'd prefer not to as it is far more advantageous for me to work from home. It also makes no difference to the employer whether I work from home, from the office, from a library, or anywhere else as our software is all cloud-based and the majority of my work is recording information. As for finding another job, that's easier said than done but that's another story.

My specific circumstances have changed since I wrote the original article but I still believe that, where possible and practical, working from home can be an advantage for both employer and employee. There are multiple jobs that can be done from home, many that have been that way for years. It certainly doesn't mean you're doing nothing. If your job is, say, 8:30am to 5pm taking calls in an office, it doesn't make any difference if it's done from a different space. You're still doing the same job whether your commute is a two minute walk from one room to another or an hour stuck in rush hour traffic.