Waking up whenever you wish without the stress of rushing back to the office, brewing a refreshing morning coffee before busting up your computer to start your working day… these all seemed to be the privilege of working from home. Nowadays, working from home has been a rising trend, and every comment about it seems to be all praises, but is it really the case? In my opinion, working from home has a long term detrimental impact on the lives and work of employees.
Some claim that working from home increases one’s efficiency as they are driven to work faster so they can have more time to themselves. It appears to be entirely reasonable, but this mindset also applies to in-office working as well. Just because the employees are now closer to home and it sounds easier to switch to relax mode without much transport does not mean that it will drive employees to work faster. The statement actually applies to all forms of work so it is not exclusive to working from home.
Some also say that working from home increases productivity as employees are not disrupted by office chit-chat and they can often focus on their project for a longer period before a colleague offers their unwanted opinions to halt progress. However, it is terribly false as this results in a lack of communication between employees in a team and thus will only stir up more troubles and conflicts. Not all colleagues are troublemakers that have inferior motives to hinder the progress of a whole project, and most oftenly they provide opinions and suggestions that are objective and beneficial to the team as a whole. The above claim is shaping the workplace into a toxic one where everyone does individual work and no communication is used, which generates greater conflicts and clashes as employees cannot sort the conflicts out in an earlier stage.
Some believe that working from home grants more flexibility to employees, such as allowing the employees to run personal errands in-between working times. However, this flexibility confuses the work hours and removes the physical separation between work and one’s own leisure time. Employees thus do not have a set definite working time and thus they cannot shift to post-work leisure relax time to truly enjoy themselves as they feel like they are still at work.
This also brings out a detrimental effect of working from home: employees are hence more easily exploited. Employees that work from home cannot apply for overtime pay easily as they have no definite working hours. Setting boundaries of working hours is extremely important as it protects labor rights and ensures one can have a reasonable amount of work that does not overwhelm their own lives. Working from home seems to be flexible but in truth, it allows employees to be exploited as their employers will give them more work but not give them overtime pay as they ‘do not have definite working time’ and may be ‘doing other things in working time’.
Working from home also creates unnecessary expenses to switch home equipment into office-level ones. Home office may sound comfortable as employees now stay in their home, but home equipment often lacks the suitable functions for office-working. Sure, the company may be able to offer suitable softwares for the home computer, but for the hardware, more often than not, they are not compatible and not compensated if replacement is necessary. As a result, additional expenses is generated to adjust and replace house equipment, not to mention the additional house electric bills due to internet connections, which adds to the burden of an employee’s living stress.
Moreover, working from home reduces the social circle of an employee, which poses great mental concerns as the employees are now more oftenly isolated from their work partners and peers. Isolation is notoriously known as a main source of stress and mental health issues, for example, anxiety, and depression. Employees now have to rely on themselves more, and it is harder to reach out to colleagues for help or assistance. They are less likely to communicate with colleagues outside of work, and thus they cannot socialize effectively and will hence be isolated in their own social circles.
Overall, working from home does sound tempting and great, yet beneath the short-term benefits, worse detrimental effects lurk behind and are more long-lasting.