Posted on 09/04/2025 2:09:22 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
NEW YORK (AP) — When Kate Smith worked a 9-to-5 office job, she was burned-out, suffering from daily migraines and thinking, “I can’t do this for the rest of my life.”
She didn’t have to. For her next role, Smith landed a remote, full-time marketing job that enabled her to travel the world.
Her laptop lifestyle took her to Bali, where she lived and worked for a year-and-a-half. “Every day, I was riding my scooter through the rice fields and thinking, ‘I love my life, this is amazing,’” she said. “And that feeling never fades. ... I feel so grateful for the freedom and flexibility.”
While Smith, 36, has worked remotely for more than a decade, the trend of ditching traditional office spaces to work from living rooms or beachfront shacks accelerated in 2020, when the coronavirus hit and workers who could began performing their jobs from home.
Many people grew accustomed to the lifestyle change once they tasted the freedom and flexibility a home office afforded. Working parents enjoyed meeting children at the school bus. Others found more time for exercise, socializing and basking in nature once their jobs did not include long commutes.
But after the pandemic subsided, many large companies began calling employees back into the office, creating fierce competition for jobs that could be done from anywhere. Many positions advertised as remote attract hundreds, if not more than a thousand, of applications, experts said.
“Fully remote is very rare now in the U.S.,” said Mark Ma, associate professor of business administration at the University of Pittsburgh. “It is getting much...”
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Remote workers squandered it by traveling, meeting their kids at the bus and being unreachable.
Walking dogs, car washes, pumping iron.
Only Fans, whoring, shopping……
Everything except being in front of the workstation doing actual work.
The women are the very worst offenders. I’ve seen it.
For this reason alone, remoters should be paid only half as what those who come to the office every day.
I don't need to go to the office but a time or two a month.
I get more done at home with zero conversations in the room. At work, the cubicle walls stop at my hip and the room has 70+ people in it.
I guess we were just used to ignoring all the talk, but what's funny is that every meeting is required to be online to let the other locations take part. So I go to the office to telework, but get less done.
Workers not painfully young suffer when remote work is villified.
In-office work is unavoidably anti-family, a drawback the painfully young accept without hesitation.
It’s just another way to discriminate against three-dimensional people. Full-fledged people. People who are old enough to have initiated and developed worthwhile family relationships, such as with wives, with husbands, with children, etc.
“For this reason alone, remoters should be paid only half as what those who come to the office every day.”
Every WFH person says their quality of life improves when they work from home. Why? They don’t have to get ready for work/drive to work, they can do small tasks around their home, they can take care of their pets during the day letting them in and out. So employers should justify those reasons when paying WFH employees less... they are getting more time to do things so less time is required by the employer. Conversely, office workers should be paid more since their QOL is lessened by being at the office.
I’ve seen it, too. Chatting with kids after school, online shopping, etc.
Most people don’t work at a job that enables them to travel the world, riding their scooter through the rice fields. Some jobs are a grind. But the responsible person goes to work and gives his pound of flesh.
Jobs were not designed to be fulfilling, or to let you be you. Be thankful you have a job, and go to Bali during your vacation time.
You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow, so shut up.
“In-office work is unavoidably anti-family”
Not if the office allows the kids to accompany their parents to the office. Some families “home school” at the office ... or store. The kids learn how to function in the business world.
In summer ‘68 I took kids along on insurance inspections. They took Polaroids of houses, filled out multiple choice forms while I drove, or did the more skilled interviews. It was better than them standing on the Chicago inner city corner waiting for something to relieve the boredom.
Office work “not in the office” has a long history.
Getting you AZZ back to work is now considered a bad thing??
Well, that did happen. He has never been a morning person, and his fellow employs gave him a bad time by saying it actually improved his productivity.
If you first prove your integrity and competence, there may not be a problem.
I get three extra hours of work a day, because I’m not commuting to and from the office. My “commute” in the morning is about one minute, and that’s only because usually I have to ‘drain the dragon’ on the way to my office first. ;)
😂
>> It’s just another way to discriminate against three-dimensional people.
Goodness! That sure sounds victim-y. Fight and Sue for your RIGHT to 3-D Personhood!!!
And you carpenters, plumbers, truck drivers, cooks, airline pilots, soldiers, auto mechanics, ER doctors, meatcutters, etc. — ABANDON ALL HOPE of EVER having a meaningful 3-D family life! You poor non-screen-attracted losers.
Give me a break.
lol spintreebob has a long history 😉👍👍
Ageism is rampant in the “company” office environment in certain cities.
Ever seen Logan’s Run?
Blink your eyes and you’re on the outside looking in at a bunch of kids.
The market will decide.
A lot of jobs will be performed online because it can be much more efficient.
It does not have to be more efficient. It can be.
I know two people who seldom go to the office any more - and their bosses have no problem with that. They were too valuable not to accept their wishes.
Anyone who thinks the Federal Government operates this way is an idiot. Elons idea is very good. Make all remote Federal workers submit a diary of what work they did every day last week. Refuse to submit this, you get fired.
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