Comment - The end of Homeoffice is imminent!
From the tiles of the screen, masked faces of colleagues stare at one, through the open window the beeping of the garbage truck invades the room, the coffee next to the keyboard is gradually getting cold. A day at the worst workplace in the world begins: home office.
In the year 2020, the Corona pandemic turned office work into home work. What was long just a dream for commuters, office slaves, and time thieves, became reality overnight. No more tension when the boss walks through the hallway, no unpleasant conversations at the coffee machine, no invitations for after-work beer from the colleague who insists on becoming a friend.
Ah, how nice it could have all been.
Home office fundamentally wrong
When the pandemic was officially declared over in April 2023, a new way of working had already been established. Between 2019 and 2022, the number of employees who worked exclusively from home increased from 674,000 to 2.3 million.
From their own four walls, a branch office of the company was created, the laptop became the window into the private sphere of colleagues. The conformist office routine became an extended period of unsupervised work, only interrupted by occasional video calls. This all felt unacceptable, forbidden, and fundamentally wrong. And that's exactly what it was and still is.
The end of home office is imminent.
Work must fulfill
How attractive the prospect of seemingly uncontrollable home work may be, how dull and mundane it is in reality. Anyone who works from home has misunderstood what "work" can be at its best: not a couch potato session, but an activity that, while not necessarily fulfilling, can at least be satisfying.
This ideal is not achievable in home office. Between laundry, cooking, housekeeping – these supposed advantages of working from home – there is no room for professional self-realization, no matter how banal and stupid it may seem to some employees.
A fan of home office is also a fan of cold coffee.
Despite the convenience of having a 'home office', the absence of BureauCulture and the constant distractions at home can make 'job' tasks less satisfying and fulfilling. The monotony of 'office work' at home can often feel like an endless session of being a 'couch potato'.
In contrast, a traditional 'office' setting provides a more conducive environment for professional growth, offering a separation between personal and professional life, and fostering a sense of 'BureauCulture'.
