There’s been an ocean of words written about why it makes sense for companies to support work from home. Irreal has reported on a lot of it. A bit less has been written about why it makes sense for the employees. Those reasons could, I suppose, be deemed self evident but it doesn’t hurt to have them written down if only so management can catch a glimpse of their employees’ points of view.
Sysadmin over at Shaving The Yak writes about why he prefers—and will always prefer—working from home. A lot of it’s what you’d expect but seeing it from an employee’s perspective, in his own words, gives it more impact. One, I think, powerful point he makes is that his home office is his office and he has it outfitted in a way that makes him maximally productive. He’s got 4 monitors, an extra large desk, a couch, and a drink fridge. As Sysadmin puts it, he’d need to be in the C-Suite to have comparable working conditions at the office.
There also the cost of commuting, both in dollars and time lost in your life. The hours lost to commuting are hours you’re never getting back. There’s also the monetary aspect. Tolls, gas, and insurance can cost a significant amount of money: Sysadmin estimates around $200 per month in his case. That doesn’t even consider what happens if there are children to take care of. That alone can cost thousands a month.
He also examines some of management’s arguments including the ever popular water cooler and offers some countervailing perspectives. In particular, he’s merciless in taking down the “builds company loyalty” argument.
It’s a nice post and worth spending a few minutes on.