German minister backs creating legal right to work from home
These are the kind of changes we need to start seeing as a result of this pandemic. It's not mandating it, but giving those who want the option to:
- make less noise
- produce less pollution
- be exposed less to the spread of pathogens
- save hours of your day longer commuting, which adds up to something like ~30 days worth of high quality day hours per year
- save money on fuel and car wear and tear
- and potentially live where you want if you are a full time remote employee
As someone who has been WFH for a couple of years now, I can say that WFH now is not the same as WFH during normal times. During normal times I'd be going local restaurants for lunch, taking my son to the park, going to the gym, or just going to the beach for 2-3 hours with my family to break up the day. Those are the hours I get back from not commuting. I really feel for the parents that have to put in 8 hours and take care of and maybe even school their children right now. That's just not a fair example at all of what WFH life is like.
Plus it'd be nice to stop having to explain why I refuse to commute with dumbfounded looks from prospective employers who can't fathom a decentralized work environment or because they're boomers who believe that working onsite = productive employee.