Behold, ’tis the age of ease and convenience! You can now access everything from the comfort of your home! Food? Delivered to your door. Entertainment? There is an array of streaming services for that. Craving human connection? Hop on a Zoom meeting with your friends and family. ‘But I still have to go to work.’ No, you don’t, not anymore. You can now wear pyjama pants under your shirt and tie while you write your progress reports, and no one will ever know!
Working and studying from home has become increasingly common, especially since the COVID pandemic, when everyone was trapped inside but was still trying to retain some semblance of order to their lives, which led to improvised methods of doing so, namely Zoom meetings and virtual workplaces. The concept of working from home has since soared in popularity. It is much more efficient and flexible, more time saving, less stressful and an overall great deal. I mean, you don’t have to travel to and fro, you don’t have to go through the arduous task of ‘putting up with people,’ and you have more control over your schedule and, consequently, a better work-life balance. Everyone’s happy and content! What more could one ask for? Right?
Working from home sounds good in theory, but it has a catch. Not stepping out of the house and interacting with the community of people at work has deeply isolated and disconnected our generation. There are no greetings exchanged, or getting coffee together during your break, or gossiping about the boss at lunch. The tradition of pretending to work while your supervisor hovers around has become a dying art. Workplaces offer community and social interactions that build connection and trust among employees. These informal moments and casual bonding strengthen teamwork and create a supportive atmosphere, and when this is taken away from people, what’s left behind is a pile of dull work and a message from your supervisor stating to only contact them in case of emergency and that too, through email.
Without physical presence, employees may feel emotionally disconnected from their teams, reducing empathy and, consequently, consideration among them. One’s perspective may become narrower; they may see only their own work, efforts, and accomplishments in front of them. The vision that all the employees are working towards similar goals vanishes, and it becomes harder to feel as if one is part of a team. The only time you hear from one of your teammates is when Hamza from marketing sends an email to complain about the font size or when your supervisor holds an unnecessarily long Zoom meeting, which could have been an email. Not to mention how you probably don’t recognise some people in the meeting, but try to pretend that you are in this group of equally exasperated workers.
This doesn’t just affect one’s social life but also has an impact on career growth. Younger generations, particularly, miss out on the chance to receive mentorship and learn the trade directly from experienced seniors. They miss out on hands-on experiences and an office culture that builds character, resilience, and professionalism. Working from home and in such a casual environment may lead to youngsters not knowing how to carry and present themselves in professional situations. There is no reality check for such situations until it’s too late. We have all seen the ‘office siren’ trend on TikTok, where people wear entirely work-inappropriate clothes to meetings and are shocked when faced with retribution. Because why is Susan from HR not letting me slay in this pencil skirt?
This doesn’t just apply to workspaces but also schools and universities, which have been increasingly relying on online classes and virtual learning, which, while amazing in multiple respects, have similar drawbacks.
I happen to be a living, breathing example of this. I am an accounting student and have been studying mostly virtually for the past year, and boy, do I have no friends. Okay, maybe a few, but I’m less socially active than most people in their early 20s. Yes, it has been extremely convenient not to have to wake up for 8 am classes when I can just take the recorded lectures later, and God knows I am thankful for not having to worry about the teacher picking me to answer a question. However, the lack of society becomes increasingly evident. It started as sunshine and rainbows, knowing that I have control over my day-to-day life, but we forget that it’s places like these where one can participate in society, meet new people, and form new connections. The daily shenanigans are the nectar of life, if I daresay.
Virtual work and study can, therefore, have long-lasting effects on one’s career and character. It rids us of a community and casual bonding. The little moments of having quick chats over desks, making jokes over tea breaks and helping the new guy with the testy printer are a part of a world that is foreign to so many people. Working from home definitely has its advantages, many of them, but are they worth it? But again, going to work physically has its own complications and conundrums. So what’s better? And how do we know? Or do we ever?
I suppose there is no one right answer to those questions. Working physically and from home both have their own separate advantages and issues. It may depend on every person on which approach they think is best, based on their own unique priorities and ideals. Attempting to determine which approach is superior is futile, as there is no definitive answer. I presume the two ideologies will live together in harmony in a sort of symbiotic relationship with one another. And even if we can never conclude for ourselves what method is the best, maybe we can strike our own unique balance between the two.