The workplace isn't really going to get back to the way we were

Step by step, discarded mask by discarded mask, people are starting to come back to the office. Or starting to think about starting to come back to the office. Most of the people I know will be heading in after Labor Day, and most of them don't yet know exactly what it all means.

Sample of four (all scheduled for some type of September
return):

• Small tech consulting company: work from home (WFH) policy is up to individual managers. If you've got a manager who wants to be in the office 5 days a week, and wants you to be in the office 5 days a week - and you don't - you're in a tough spot. Negotiations ongoing with face-to-face craving manager about doing at least some WFH days. 
• Mid-sized law firm: lawyers can work from home - yay! support staff needs to start coming back in - boo! Support staff are trying to negotiate some flexibility. There may be some give in the system, at least for those who demonstrated that they were productive WFH. 
• Larger tech firm: Still working out what the model will be. People hoping for either 2 in/3 home or 3 in/2 home. It will likely be one or the other. Many employees are high-level, highly-experienced professionals, and had already been working virtually with colleagues in other locations.
• Corporate training firm: Generally looking at a flexible schedule, with 2 days of WFH. Maybe more, depending. Global organization, with employees/offices - not to mention clients - all over the place. 

In each of these situations, WFH seems to work out just fine, so no real reason to insist that everyone come in full-time. 

But the stories are all over the map.

I saw an article on folks who are now living and working out of vans. Not souped up RV's, mind you, that are as large as my condo and come with splosh kitchens and king-sized beds. Nope. We're talking regular old mini-ish vans that have been tricked out so you can Eat-Pray-Love, and get your work done, while driving around. Many of these workplace vans even have toilets and showers. But others are more like the go-in-a-bucket van Frances McDormand lived in in Nomadland. 

Most of those quoted in the article were freelancers, doing project-based work, rather than traditional 9-to-5ers. For those who need to keep regular hours, the need to stay in one place with good Internet access for 8 hours a day removes some of the romance of the road. And whether you have a "real" toilet in your van or not, maintenance is not trivial. 

Then there's the Boston-based tech startup that's giving up on a having office space entirely. But, knowing that people actually do benefit from seeing each other up close and personal on occasion, they've been renting space in a nightclub every few weeks. Obviously, the space is available during the day - they don't call them nightclubs for nothing - but I can't imagine the lighting is great, even if we're not talking strobe or disco ball. Plus I'm trying to picture a nightclub with windows... And working at high tops or banquettes doesn't seem all that conducive to productivity, either. But, hey, if you find yourself in need of mouthwash or a condom during the workday, you'll find what you need in the rest room. So I guess that's a perk. Plus just rolling right from work to a drink after work...

I did freelance work for many years for a tech outfit that specialized in software that enabled folks to WFH. Despite this, the company was very down on their employees telecommuting. They thought everyone should be around. And to make the place more hip and happening for everyone to be around in, they moved a while back from the boring old standard cubicle environment suburban office park thang to open floor plan, standing desks, etc. in the Seaport District of Boston.

Since the pandemic forced their workforce into WFH mode, they've embraced it. They're setting up for a post-pandemic world in which employees can pretty much work things out on an individual basis with respect to how often they'll come into a central office, starting with the CEO (an excellent one, by the way) who says he only plans to be in the office once or twice a week. They're not sure how much office space they'll be hanging on to, but it will be retrofitted to have minimal personal space and more places to collaborate and hang out.

It'll be interesting to see what things look like a year from now. 

I'm betting that most folks who've been working from home will be coming into the office 2-3 days a week, which seems like the most common number I'm hearing. Companies that force people back in full time, or let each manager decide for their team (which will raise all sorts of internal equity issues) will lose employees. 

I'm all for it. 

Cuts down on commuting wear-and-tear. Makes it a lot easier to take care of "stuff." Just in general contributes to a better work-life-balance and quality o' life. While also recognizing that facetime is important - for everyone, but especially for newer employees, especially for more junior new employees. 

For those who want to work remotely 100%, there'll be tradeoffs, and a lot of those tradeoffs will be climb-the-ladder ones. I'm guessing that, when it comes to promotions, workers will be better off if they're spending time in the office, managing up by walking around as it were. But, hey, there's nothing grand and glorious about being a "people manager." (And, yes, this is the voice of experience talking.) Individual contributors who could give a damn about clawing their way to C-level positions, or even jobs well below C-level, will be just as happy making the tradeoff. 

As for working from a nightclub, this is truly a case of glad I'm not young anymore. Or working. 

Whatever ends up happening, I really don't foresee most professionals who spend the bulk of their workday sitting in front of a screen and/or on the phone happily rat-racing back to five days a week in the office. People are going be demanding/expecting flexibility, and until "they" figure out how to replace everyone with AI and/or a robot - including those who write AI code and build robots - businesses are just going to have to accommodate these demands and expectations.

Anyway, it'll be interesting!