Work from home is the future, despite corporations’ insistence. And they’re doing everything they can to make it seem like a bad idea, including pushing propaganda pieces showing what a “work from home” employee will look like.
The Original Article
You’ve likely seen the original piece. It showed a hunched-back, overweight older woman with claws for hands. The headline captured the essence of the image, cautioning work-from-home proponents to beware: this could be them if they insisted on staying home.
Folks Not Having It
If the internet could collectively laugh in someone’s face, they would have after this ridiculous piece.
“Are they not aware that we can buy office chairs and desks for our homes?” asked one baffled Reddit user, showcasing that working from home is no different on our bodies than doing the same work at an office.
Any Office Job Can Lead to Physical Problems
Others pointed out that any office job can lead to problems showcased in the image, whether from home or elsewhere.
“I find this funny because, as a middle-aged accountant. I notice most other accountants retiring have turned into hunchback clawed-handed trolls,” said one user, adding, “I don’t think it’s the chairs that is doing it. I’m pretty sure it’s the never-ending work.”
Anyone who spends their whole lives hunched over a computer will have ill health effects. Whether the computer is at home, in an office, or a coffee shop doesn’t matter.
Manual Labor Causes Similar Problems
Any casual observer will notice that many older folks already look like the woman from the image, and most of them didn’t work in an office their entire lives.
“What I find odd is their model looks exactly like every woman over 60 in my area, where everyone works in a factory or farm or construction,” One Redditor pointed out, baffled that designers think sitting in a chair all day will have the same ill effects as hard days of manual labor.
To be fair, neither is good for your body, but the user showcased that they’re bad in different ways.
Working from Home Allows You To Be Healthier
Many scoffed at the notion that working from home leads to unhealthy lifestyles. When home, you eat out less and tend to cook healthier meals. Some folks use the time saved from their commute to work out. Others take walks around their neighborhoods during their break time.
The work-from-home model gives people far more options to pursue healthier lifestyles than the return-to-office model.
The Truth About Return To Office
Companies want employees in the office. It’s not just productivity, though that’s what they’ll claim (even though many studies suggest the opposite!). They also claim “networking” or “collaboration,” but with the suite of online tools available to complete this work, that’s not true either.
Companies want employees in the office for financial reasons. They’re leasing these giant spaces in high-cost locales and need people to fill them. Vast swaths of their portfolios contain commercial real estate, and they’re worried the value will plummet if folks continue to work from home.
Governments push it for the same reason. Small businesses like coffee shops, bars, and restaurants suffer when employees work from home. Governments lose tax revenue, and companies go under.
The push to return to the office isn’t about productivity; it’s about the economy.
But There’s a Better Solution
Unfortunately, everyone wants the easy answer. No one wants to do the work to make our system better for everyone.
There’s a better solution than “return to the office,” but it takes time, money, and foresight. We could transform the empty office spaces downtown into housing.
Doing so would ease the burden on young folks needing homes, increasing the supply and thus reducing the price. It would provide a new customer base for the swath of businesses downtown, so they wouldn’t have to close. Governments would get their tax revenue from property taxes and increased business activity.
The Losers
Large corporations with considerable investments in corporate real estate would lose out in this scenario. Their property would lose value, and they will fight tooth and nail to prevent that, even if it means a worse quality of life for everyone else.
Source: Reddit