Montreal, champion of working from home?
A La Presse writer says Canada leads the world in people working from home, and Montreal is the least office‑bound city of all. He weighs various pros and cons. This time of year it’s hard to remember that one of the best things about not going to an office is that it’s so much nicer staying home in wintertime.
Blork 11:16 on 2023-07-26 Permalink
Yeah, exactly. This time of year WFO is kind of nice. “Hey, it’s 5:00PM and I’m not at home. Yay!”
Tee Owe 11:29 on 2023-07-26 Permalink
Raises (for me) the question ‘What is work?’ and, ‘Why do we need to do it?’ – hoping to provoke discussion
Ephraim 12:09 on 2023-07-26 Permalink
@Tee Owe – I work from home, but it’s physical work, not online and I work 7 days a week from late April through the end of October. I do it so that I can pay bills and travel…. 😀
Ian 13:06 on 2023-07-26 Permalink
The only thing I miss about my old office job in summer is AC … but I can get AC at my local library, which is much nicer – and closer – and I can walk there.
Kate 13:37 on 2023-07-26 Permalink
Tee Owe, I think a fair chunk of office jobs are “bullshit jobs” too, but what are you going to say to someone who needs an income and is prepared to spend their days analyzing spreadsheets to make ends meet?
steph 14:21 on 2023-07-26 Permalink
WFH is wonderful. No more useless exchanges with extroverts justifying their existence wasting my time. No more sitting at my desk pretending I’m busy. Time for hobbies is flourishing and I’ve never been happier.
Blork 15:51 on 2023-07-26 Permalink
WFH is definitely a mixed blessing and its effects are not universal. For someone like steph, I can totally see why WFH is great, and I share that perspective to some extent.
I’m also glad to not have the daily commute.
But I live in a pretty sleepy neighbourhood, which is great most of the time but sometimes it’s nice to have quick access to bars and restaurants and the 5à7 scene right after work instead of just the sofa. It’s also nice to have downtown lunch options instead of just your own fridge. (Weirdly, the lunch options around my downtown office are better now than before WFH.)
I would hate to have to choose 100% one or the other, which is why hybrid arrangements are my preferred option. That said, I did not go to the office once between September and June, but I went twice in July and will again tomorrow, making it three times. I suspect I’ll go a half a dozen more times before summer is out.
I also wonder about people who are in the very early stages of their careers. There’s nothing better for learning your industry and your job than having lots of contact with peers and more experienced workers every day, both casual and formal. Mentoring doesn’t happen nearly as well over Zoom as it does F2F.
In the early days of the pandemic there were many reports showing increased productivity from WFH people, but that has apparently come around. I can’t cite sources other than “a podcast I listened to recently” or “an article I read” (but I tend to only listen to and read reliable sources), but apparently WFH is now showing a decline in productivity in most cases, plus those initial “increase in productivity” studies have been re-evaluated and found to be erroneous in many cases.
That said, it’s great for people with young children or elderly parents to take care of, and for people who simply don’t need the company of other people, or who are well established in their careers. But for people just starting out? Maybe not so much.
qatzelok 18:39 on 2023-07-26 Permalink
I am so happy to leave my apartment and go to my job every day. People who “work from home” will soon be experiencing the psychological trauma that stems from social isolation.
Especially the young who are still building their personalities based on their social circles. For most adults, new friends and social contacts are made at the office.
Chris 19:17 on 2023-07-26 Permalink
qatzelok, we hired 2 interns this summer, and figured both would want some WFH fraction, but both practically pleaded for 100% in-office, they we so sick of zoom from university and wanted to actually interact with humans. (Who knows if they are representative, but they are out there.)
Kate 19:26 on 2023-07-26 Permalink
I’m on steph’s team WFH-wise.
I’ve worked in a lot of different places over the years. I’m still in touch with the boss from my first serious job, but I wouldn’t call him a friend in the sense of someone to hang out with. He’s an excellent dude though and I’m glad I know him. But I only have one friend remaining from any workplace. Take away the shared circumstances involved in a workplace and often there’s little remaining to sustain a friendship.
MarcG 09:25 on 2023-07-27 Permalink
In 2014, when I was 36 years old, I told my employer that I wanted to work from home because spending 2hrs a day commuting was a waste of time, energy and money. He refused, so I started freelancing. I’m not sure what kind of psychological trauma I’m experiencing after almost a decade of this but it sure is delightful.
Tim S. 10:14 on 2023-07-27 Permalink
First of all, we’re all different personality types and respond to things like WFH in different ways. This might seem obvious but I feel like some people still don’t get it and are trying to impose their personal preferences on everybody.
That said, if WFH means that instead of commuting you spend an extra two hours a day being social (broadly defined as anything from talking to your family to shopping in a local mom-and-pop) , then it’s the opposite of isolating.
JP 10:24 on 2023-07-27 Permalink
I personally like going into the office and like the occasional WFH day. That said, I get why people really like WFH. It depends what type of work you do, your personality etc.
Tee Owe 11:36 on 2023-07-27 Permalink
My comment was intended to promote debate, glad to see it has – what I propose for further debate ( if Madame la Blogeuse allows) is whether much of what we call ‘work’ is directed towards generating tax dollars and would make no difference to the functioning of society if we never did it (I am not qatzelok)
Kate 11:45 on 2023-07-27 Permalink
Tee Owe, I take it you’ve read Bullshit Jobs?
Orr 13:05 on 2023-07-27 Permalink
I’m an introvert and I absolutely hate wfh.
Mainly I want to keep home life and work life separate, for the work-life balance thing.
Tee Owe 14:25 on 2023-07-27 Permalink
@Kate – yes, sorry for not acknowledging it – OK and all that – also acknowledging Ephraim who gave a real-world reason for working, but can’t we do better – ? Some countries (Finland?) have instituted a minímum wage regardless of employment status, with apparently positive results – people did not collapse into dependency, even found new jobs – I’m just exercised by the meaninglessness of much of what many people do
Tee Owe 14:27 on 2023-07-27 Permalink
Sorry for ranting
JP 15:33 on 2023-07-27 Permalink
I don’t know….I don’t think what many people do is or has to be meaningless…
I don’t think my job is extremely important to society but I honestly don’t feel like it’s meaningless. In fact, my role was created around my skills, so I get to do something I’m good at and enjoy. I understand that’s not true for everyone but I just don’t think it’s fair to deem what “many” people do as “meaningless”. Maybe “some” or a “few”.
Tee Owe 11:33 on 2023-07-28 Permalink
JP – OK, that’s fair, I didn’t mean to imply that any one person’s job was meaningless. But I feel there is a sort of a vicious circle where governments need the taxes that come from employment and so they promote employment in order to increase the tax base. I am not missing the fact those taxes benefit all of us. Sorry, ranting again. BTW I also enjoy my work.