Here at The Hub we are convinced that delays in getting back to the office and now the rise of so-called “quiet quitting” risk having significant consequences for individual Canadians, the economy, and our broader society that need to be better understood and debated.
We recently ran an editorial that made the case for getting back to the office, but we don’t want to have the last word on the subject. We put out the call for Hub readers to respond with their own experiences and are delighted to share the latest sample of comments and feedback. We will continue to share your feedback as it comes in.
If you would like to tell us about your own empty office experience or contribute to this discussion, please email us at [email protected] or contact us anonymously via our online submission form.
Don’t ignore the benefits of working from home
Most people like working from home, it’s convenient, better for the environment, can save you money, and is less stressful. I don’t think we should move the entire society to work from home but if people can and want to they absolutely should.
It’s time to compromise
At some point, employers and employees have to meet in the middle. Work conditions need to recognize workers’ dignity and autonomy, but organizations don’t function well if everyone maximizes their own benefits.
Productivity matters most
My only hope for Canada is that the churches empty out quicker than the offices. This article also makes inaccurate claims regarding productivity which has actually increased in the era of remote work. Time for employees to work where they are comfortable and productive.
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution
I have been a civil servant for 14 years. I am an analyst so was able to function from home, but it’s also clear that presence in the office is essential for sharing ideas effectively, etc. Coming into the office at least two days a week is essential, even if it’s simply to enable those serendipitous moments where someone overheard your conversation in the hallway and contributed something amazing. That is why our department (and most others) is mandating at least two days in the office.
This is not the case for everyone’s job. There are thousands of public servants who just process files. For them, working from home works fine (at least until the process changes). Many of my friends are IT support workers who spend all day on the phone with clients—their job is exactly the same whether at work or at home.
In other words, there is no one-size-fits-all. Why mandate a universal return to the office five days a week if it’s not necessary? It has the potential to save the government money (less office space) and can result in better efficiency (happy employees, etc.). The chief problem is figuring out which jobs can stay remote (it will not always be obvious) and how often everyone else should be in the office. The secondary problem is public perception; most of Canada (including the panel at The Hub) disparage the work, work habits, and dedication of civil servants and will support only measures that go back to the old status qho, whether it makes sense or not, just to stick it to civil servants.
That is not to say the civil service does not have its share of whiners. No one likes the commute and some people just like the convenience. Some people feel entitled to anything that’s best for them but potentially negative for the civil service itself—but that sense of entitlement is hardly restricted to the civil service, and in my experience, is actually rare (as usual the loud minority makes more noise than the silent majority).
Everyone has an instinct for universal, one-size fits all solutions. That’s almost never the case. The real challenge will be in judging what is best for each individual position (note: position, not person).
Work isn’t everything
I read your editorial with some interest. Yikes. Do you have any non-white, disabled, or otherwise marginalized people on your editorial team? I’m disabled and remote work has been the biggest boon to my health since I’ve been in the workforce. Queer and racialized people have reported better working environments due to less opportunity for harassment as well.
You need to understand that the idea of an office being a good place for people’s “souls” is a highly privileged one. For many of us, offices have ground us down, hurt us, and replicated existing systems of injustice. You cannot find a true, safe community in a place that is devoted to white, abled supremacy if you are not those things.
Beyond that, work is not a key source of meaning, purpose, or identity for many of us. If it is, that’s a bonus, not a requirement. I find meaning in service to my community, which is not in my workplace, nor is it many of my colleagues who have repeated the lines about COVID only being an issue for the vulnerable. As one of the vulnerable, I hardly find that reassuring, or in community spirit. I am paid to do work, which I do well, and take pride in, despite a hostile working environment. But the idea that I should find purpose or identity in it is breathtakingly absurd.
We don’t need to be micromanaged
Pull your head out of your butt. People don’t need to return to work, they have been working effectively from various locations. The only ones who need them back in the office are lousy managers who don’t know what to do without micromanaging their people.
