So to preface, I don't want this to at all come off as a “work from home bad! return to office good!” because thats not it. I feel anyone who wants or needs to work from home and can should be able to. No negotiating on a hybrid thing at best. If you can and want to, you should be allowed to.
That said, I have been doing it for about a year now combined between 2 companies. The first one wasn't bad, its just how they handled their staffing wasn't great, so I moved on after getting a call back from the first company I tried to get in with early last year. I started in their 'marketing services' team which, while not a fan of, isn't terrible. Before I even finished my training for that, they asked me to move to a new team with a new client which I was all about. Better schedule, only one group to answer for rather than the hundreds across the country.
Then 2 months ago they opted to have me move back and do a 'blended' system, back into the marketing services while also doing scheduling. Its not a punishment for anything, rather I think because I already consistently do well in the company, they feel I can handle more. With no pay increase.
The real kicker though, is in marketing, you can sometimes get what is known as a 'crisis call'. They are…traumatizing, at least to me. But we were assured they were very -VERY- rare. So of course I got one my 2nd day after being back into taking these calls. It was 23 minutes of not being able to do anything other than barely get a word in on the side. Then after a final screaming fit and demanding we call them back, slammed the phone down. Protocol was to call them back, especially since they asked us to, but when I did, they didn't remember me or what it was they asked for, so in a much faster than 23 minute time frame, the call rapidly descended back into screaming.
And I am not talking just raising a voice. I'm talking screaming so loud that the phone couldn't register words, it was just loud noise. It has stuck with me for the almost 2 weeks since it happened. I'm dreading having another one of those calls to the point I feel physically ill at the thought of coming into my work room.
As such I have been applying to anything and everything I can. I don't even care, I'll go back to where I worked at years ago (that I left on good terms with) and throw freight, even if that is not what I did before. So long as it isn't a pay cut after factoring in no longer working from home and the vehicle gas/upkeep.
$16/hr isn't enough for this. My cost of living is low which is why I stay where I do, but I can't let anxiety or stress burn me down. Not for any amount of money.