Working from home – do most people prefer this arrangement? In a lot of jobs you find the employees given the option and opting for the choice to work from their homes either all the time or a few days in a month. And by these I mean normal jobs which are done in an office and then later given the option to work from home. With a telephone/cellphone connection, a desktop or laptop & a reasonably fast internet connection being the only criteria that you need to do the work from home.
Among my friends, relatives and online friends – I know of about 10 people who work from home all the time and around 8 who work from home a few days a month. Like my cousin who lives in Aluva and who has worked from his house from 2008 onwards – his employers are in the US and they don’t have offices in India. All their Indian based employees work from home, converse through internet chat, Skype, G-chat, their own online chat option and occasionally on the phone. He has a wife, a young daughter & his mom living in the same house. Plus recently he also got a Rottweiler puppy (about 1.5 years old) â total distraction! But he has set a nice comfortable routine which works out well for him and daughter, wife & mom get plenty of quality time. Oh puppy does too! Whereas I have a friend from my school days and he says it didnât work out once he & his wife had kids. They already had two dogs who demand attention all the time, meaning he got distracted way too much. He now works in an office.
Now on the other end, I have a close friend who works for a huge MNC and they have given her, and several other employees depending on their profile, the option to work from home 2 out of 5 days a week. In fact they even encourage this behaviour! I think rather than working all the time from home, I would like this option that my friend has. It seems like the best compromise. I personally would miss the banter, the jokes, the coffee breaks, the long lunches and leaving the office in groups. I wouldnât mind working from home on occasion, maybe on certain days if the option is provided but not always.
If I was healthy enough to have a job – I would MUCH rather work from home.
I have been working from home for a few years and recently started back in an office one day a week. This will sound silly, but the only thing I miss about going in to an office is getting dressed up. Working from home, it’s mostly ponytail and no makeup, t-shirt and jeans. I have to admit I like cute suits and heels… no one to appreciate those in my home office, especially not my toddler LOL!
No it’s not silly. I know a lot of people, guys & gals, who can’t wait to model their new outfits/shirts/shoes or accessories to their co-workers – me included! But I miss the team lunches – in this place where I am I don’t have that kind of interaction and I mostly eat lunch alone by myself.