Okay, so I was mulling over and speculating why Work From Home is getting so much backlash from companies (that aren't Google, Apple or others that prove WFH can be a vital asset to the company) and after seeing cubicle culture, real estate insights and viewpoints from admins, I think I see a grander picture.
Many businesses thrive on the footwork and commute of the metropolitan/big city working class. Partly why masses of workers are concentrated closer to the center of those cities, since more pedestrians = more potential customers.
On the way going to and from work, you pick up meals, hit up the gyms, get some shopping done, check out events, drink at bars, etc.
Now imagine if a massive amount of jobs made the workplace your home. Not every single job, mind you, but enough to make a significant cut of pedestrian and vehicle traffic.
SUDDENLY, those businesses that depended on your commute to work take a heavy loss in profit because… well, you're not going to where you used to work at anymore.
Buildings go vacant, restaurants lose the size of their usual intake of customers, other businesses are less busy throughout the weeks… you see it now?
Beyond the real estate market and companies mandating work in headquarters, cities start to lose the droves of people that kept it busy. And over the months, the identity of the city starts to change.
Now, does this mean I don't support work from home? Not at all. On the contary, if working from home proves that you can contribute better to a company and your own home life, 100% do it, and don't look back. But the market has a funny way of changing life around us.
We went from flying people overseas for face-to-face conferences, to using cameras and software to make those same conferences possible from afar, and using that same technology to fix things from the same distances.
That being said, I would be lying if I said I didn't have mixed feelings about my city changing in the face of this movement. I live in Chicago, and I don't go downtown very often, but every time I go… I don't know, I feel at home, liberated, and amazed by the flow and energy of the city at work.
And if this movement picks up in good enough time, the Chicago of today turning into the Chicago of 5 or 10 years later… well, I don't know if I'll be able to have that same feeling about it.
But what do you guys think or speculate? I'm trying to stay optimistic about it, because I don't want my personal vision of Chicago to get in the way of the happiness and livelihood of workers ABSOLUTELY DONE with the way businesses have been going recently. Even if we disagree along the way, I really want to know how you think things are gonna play out.