For many working from home might be a dream scenario, but for others it might just be a nightmare. If you were to take into account a recent study called New Technology, Worth and Employment by Cardiff University which talks about how employees who work from a remote area tend to be happier than ones who work at the office, it might change your mind. We explored this work-home conundrum and whether it is really doable? Or does it come with its own set of disadvantages? We also asked professionals whose companies offer them the option of ‘WFH’ on what they thought.
It is definitely emerging as a way of working efficiently, and has been adopted by a cross-section of companies. Companies in Bengaluru like Infosys, Apple, SAP, Verizon, IBM, Xerox, Dell and many more, according to a business news website, give their employees such an option.
“I agree that working from home can be great for employees. However I’m not sure that WFH makes me work harder than when I’m in the office,” says Chris Perumal, a 24-year-old developer associate at SAP Labs.
Although he feels, “I personally prefer a combination of the two. The company I work for has a policy of four WFH days a month. So that’s once every week.
That’s good enough for me. Personally, I prefer working in the office, in terms of productivity, however every once in a while, WFH becomes extremely necessary.
I am more efficient and productive when I’m at the workplace. It also depends on the kind of work one does. If you have the kind of job which doesn’t involve too much teamwork, then it doesn’t really matter. However my work is highly collaborative, so we get more done when the whole team is together.”
Mubeena Majeed, a technical escalation specialist at LinkedIn agrees, “When I work from home there are fewer distractions, fewer breaks, and maximum productivity in a way that I can get my work done in no time in my own comfort zone. It also cuts the travel time. Work from home is good only once or twice a week or else the work becomes boring if there is no interaction with the team.”
Yes, WFH might have benefits of its own but it can become quite a task to balance your life at home and work. Mubeena adds, “I have set up a workspace at home that helps me definitely work better and not end up working from bed.”
“People working from home try to mix their home and work lives together. I try to do some personal work during the office hours due to flexibility, and end up working at night. We need to keep both our work and personal lives separate but that’s hard as the flexibility tempts one to mix the two,” says Mani Deepak who works for Deloitte and would rather go to office as home has its own set of distractions.
