2020 brought about a huge number of changes that no one saw coming. One of the most significant consequences the pandemic had on the world of jobs was that millions of office workers found themselves having to work from home. It’s now early 2021 and though many have been able to return to the office, home working is now the new normal for a significant percentage of office workers.
But is working from home better than working in an office? Does one have more advantages than the other? In this post, we’ll compare the two and see if one stands out from the other.
Advantages of Office Working
Though working in an office doesn’t always have the best of reputations, it does have some advantages that you just don’t get when you’re at home.
One of the main ones is the fact that your colleagues are there with you. Not only do you get to interact and socialise with people, you also get to learn from them and develop your own skills in the process. You may not be best friends with everyone you work with, but whether you realise it or not, you can benefit from having other people in your workspace with you.
When working in an office, it’s easy to get into a productive state of mind. When you get to your place of work, your mind tells you it’s time to be work-ready and to get things done. Sure, you may slack off from time to time, but it’s easy to become motivated again, especially if you have work to do before your hours for the day are up.
Another point to make is that working in an office gets you out of the house. You get a change of scenery and whether you walk, cycle, drive or take public transport, you can spend your commute doing things like reading or listening to music, podcasts or audiobooks. Some may find commutes boring, but they can be enriching.
Advantages of Home Working
Then there’s working from home. Many people who never thought home would become a workspace have had to make the adjustment and adapt to working in a different, albeit familiar, environment. So what are the advantages of working from home?
A key benefit to doing your office work from home is that there’s no commute. You don’t have to spend time (and, in many cases, money) getting to your office, so that’s a lot of extra time each week that you have to yourself.
Some people find working in an office dull. They have to interact with people they don’t necessarily like and have to conform to the office’s rules and regulations. If you’re at home, you’ve got more freedom to do as you please. You’ve still got work to do and virtual meetings/conferences to attend and whatnot, but you’re free to relax in your home environment and can take it easy a lot more.
When you’re in an office, you may not necessarily be spending all of your set hours working. At home, you can use some of this free time to get household tasks done, whether it’s sorting things out or doing some general tidying up.
Other advantages are the fact that you can spend more time with whoever you live with, and, depending on your job, you may be able to work flexibly and not necessarily stick to the set 9-5 hours.
Which One Is Better?
In April 2020, during the UK’s first lockdown, nearly half of people who were in employment did some or all of their work at home. Of these, a staggering 86% had been forced to do their work at home because of the pandemic.
Is working from home better? It’s all a matter of personal preference. Many enjoy the benefits it has to offer and don’t miss the office, while others like being able to leave the house and have their workspace separate from their home. Some companies seem to be keen to get people back into the office as they believe it boosts productivity; some have adapted to having people work remotely and accept it as a possible new normal.
What’s clear is that until the pandemic’s over and things well and truly do get back to normal, many offices will be left empty or will have capacity limited. Even when life is able to go back to how it was pre-pandemic, there may well be many companies that require that people work from home, or give them a choice of the office or home. Whatever happens, it will be interesting to see how the home vs office subject develops.