We Can't-Wait for You to Return to the Office

And here’s why…

So, You Want to Make the Physical Office Extinct?

If you’ve read any articles arguing the reasons to make the physical office extinct, I doubt you’ve read this thought.

There are millions of people without jobs, and you’re whining because you don’t want to go back to a physical office. Cry us a river, we don’t care.

The healthcare workers, the hospitality workers, and everyone who has worked on-site during the pandemic really don’t want to hear it. Did they have a choice to work safely tucked away at home? Excuse me for a moment, I need to move so my husband can finish the Jeep he’s building in our living room.

Oh, wait, he had to go on-site to work too, I forgot.

Here are the reasons we disagree with your premise:

Your Reasons are Selfish

Yes, that’s how we feel when you say you don’t want to come back to the physical office. You get more done working remotely from home? We get less work done because we have to stop what we’re doing and go check on something for you. Every. Time. You. Call.

If you were here, you could do your own work.

Of course, you want to continue working remotely from home. We would too if we could get others to do our work.

You Don’t like the Commute?

Live closer to work. You don’t like the cost of housing? Live in your car. There are people who don’t have a choice, and you’re complaining about having to make the decision that they can’t.

I know someone who got permission to park his RV on-site so he could keep his job. If you want to work badly enough, you’ll find a way. Your entitlement attitude pisses the rest of us off. There are millions of people without jobs, and you’re whining because you don’t want to go back to a physical office.

Sudden Interruptions

Did you really just complain about sudden interruptions? Can you wait just a moment, I have another call coming in: Oh, it’s from you asking me to check on something again.

Are you really complaining about a co-worker stopping you in the hall or plopping down in your office wasting your time? It’s called social interaction. These are soft skills that you need to learn to work with people. Acceptance of people who differ from you, inclusion, not exclusion.

Spontaneous Meetings

Wait, what? You’re calling to let me know we’re having a virtual meeting in five minutes? But I’m still working on the last thing you just called and asked me to do two minutes ago?

Can you still use this as an argument to make the physical office extinct? Doesn’t work for us. Meetings are a waste of time anyway, and we’ll just have more virtual meetings.

Spontaneous meetings, emails, and phone calls can all be a distraction. Suck it buttercup, that’s life. When you work with people, that’s what you get. Don’t think of it as a distraction though, think of it as part of your job!

Catered Lunches Not to Your Liking?

Boohoo, again cry us a river. Should we cater to your every need? Grow the hell up! It’s not about you. No plants, no tofu, no almond milk? No five-star organic meal?

Go to a food bank and voice your concerns there. Never stood in line at a food bank? Then show your gratitude. Better yet, give your free lunch to the hungry instead. Someone who will appreciate kindness.

You don’t appreciate the gesture your company is showing you, anyway. We’re sorry the overworked office assistant didn’t go around and take your order.

We’ll change that when you return to the physical office.

Not a chance, dude.

Let’s make everything virtual

The more we think about your arguments, the more we think we’d like you to continue working remotely. That way we can turn the camera off and roll our eyes at the crazy ideas that are coming out of your head.

What? Oh, my camera is on, sorry about that.

We’re Still in the Middle of the Pandemic?

Wow, I didn’t realize that. Especially since we’ve been busy working on-site and risking getting the virus. And for what? Oh yeah, to feed our families, that’s what. We’re grateful to have jobs, and the ability to go to work.

Yes, some of us went to work and tested positive. Do you know what we did? We quarantined and then went right back to work! Why? Because we had to.

Business is constantly changing through this pandemic. Everyone said January is a slow month, well not this year! Orders continue to pour in, and we work more and more hours. We go home tired and exhausted and then turn around and do it all over again the next day. And the day after that.

Do You Still Want to Make the Physical Office Extinct? On second thought, stay home.

We Can Wait for You to Return to the Office

You know what? Maybe you are right, maybe we don’t want you to come back. We’ve gotten along just fine without you, and we can do so in the future.

Perhaps you demand too much in return for the honor of your presence. We need co-workers who work with us, not against us. Whose goals are the same, and not their own agenda?

Look, we only want to get along. In this hostile work environment, we work in, it’s one against the other. Let’s be the first to change that. We don’t need co-workers who whine and complain about having to go on-site to work.

If you still feel that way, do what matters and step out of the way and let the unemployed take your place. They’re ready to work on-site, even if you’re not.

The Takeaway from this?

Do you have to ask?

Okay, we get it. You like working from home and that’s great. But not everyone can do that and suggesting that we should do away with all physical offices is ridiculous.

If we all worked in a bank, maybe. (But banks aren’t doing us a favor. They use your money to loan to someone else at a higher percentage and pay you pittance in return, but I digress.)

With a click, you can order pretty much anything. You order it online, from someone working remotely at home. But where does it come from thin air?

No, it comes from a physical building. With physical offices, with actual people. Who manufactures it, packs, and ships it to your door!

Some of us work in manufacturing across all industries, we don’t just provide services to one another. We produce products like the food you buy, and the sanitizer you use on your hands. Hell, we even produce the tons of toilet paper you panicked and bought up so no one else could get it! (And don’t forget the gazillion layers of mask you use when you go out.)

Brick and mortar physical offices are here to stay.