I find this kind of debate can be polarizing because people have such different mindsets and perspectives on the world. If you view the office as just a “fine layer of snot”, I can only imagine what you think of the subway, or a mall. But people sneezing and fighting traffic aren’t critiques of the office, they’re critiques of leaving your house and going outside…
We have immune systems for a reason, and fear of illness (without it coming from your doctor) is not a good reason to be against RTO. People get sick all the time, it’s a normal and necessary process to build our natural immunity. I worry about the damage covid did in making people still paranoid about going in public (e.g. people who continue to feel the need to wear masks today without a medical reason).
You imply there’s no value to being in person, but would you really rather catch up with friends over zoom rather than over dinner? Call someone over FaceTime rather than get coffee and go on a walk? Work relationships matter, sharing 3D space allows people to be more creative and collaborative, and companies are recognizing that. Google seems like the last company that would make people come back to the office without doing their homework, there’s clearly data showing that fully remote employees are falling behind.
We have immune systems for a reason, and fear of illness (without it coming from your doctor) is not a good reason to be against RTO. People get sick all the time, it’s a normal and necessary process to build our natural immunity. I worry about the damage covid did in making people still paranoid about going in public (e.g. people who continue to feel the need to wear masks today without a medical reason).
You imply there’s no value to being in person, but would you really rather catch up with friends over zoom rather than over dinner? Call someone over FaceTime rather than get coffee and go on a walk? Work relationships matter, sharing 3D space allows people to be more creative and collaborative, and companies are recognizing that. Google seems like the last company that would make people come back to the office without doing their homework, there’s clearly data showing that fully remote employees are falling behind.