Work from home: an elusive oasis!

Since covid pandemic, work from home has gained momentum and importance. It was the need of the hour. But what is the wisdom in sticking to the same thing when it is no longer the situation? To some extent, the travelling hurdles and travel time are eliminated, the energy of employee is saved. But is it worth sacrificing other valuable benefits of working from office just because your travel trouble is saved? 

Initially, an Indian employee gets overjoyed of the idea of working from home because he had seen many Hollywood movies where the lead actor or actress is talking to boss over phone, making sandwich with another hand. They have a baby sitter who takes care of their baby throughout the day. But in my opinion, when we talk in terms of India, the 95% of Indian families, houses and mentality are yet not suitable for work from home concept. And let alone their families, the employees themselves are not competent enough for the work from home mechanism.

In 85% cases, the spouse (home maker or working) is not from the same field of the person who is working from home and may not be generous and understanding. While in office, we release our stress and work pressure by talking to our male or female colleagues by taking small coffee breaks. Now imagine a scenario where a person is working from home and doesn't have a separate room specially for work and he is using bedroom for his work. His work hours have been increased up to 12 hours a day. Why? Because since there is no travelling, his boss (who is also at home) is asking him to attend meetings at any time during 7 am to 9 pm. The boss is also giving him an example of himself that he is also working 14 hours as day. Odd time calls and other office work. So won't the employee feel over stressed and over worked and over exhausted? 

Now suppose the employee finds some free time during breaks to talk to his colleague (who may be of opposite sex and at her own home). Will he be able to talk freely to her? (And vice versa). Due to work from home, there is no face to face interaction, so for everything, everyone has to call the other person on mobile phone or on official app. Will the spouse of the other person at home be generous enough to understand that its just a normal talk between colleagues and not an affair? Won't it create a space for suspicion? Yes, it will create!

The problem worsens when both husband and wife are working from home. Who will go to school to drop kids? Who will do home chores? To some extent house help (maid) will do. But house help (maid) can not do each and everything for you. What about the rest of the work? Then let us divide the home chores. Let us make a time table and blah blah starts happening. 

Situation becomes more problematic when there are parents at home. Depending on their age, the employees will have to attend to their parent's needs immediately. This is a big advantage and big disadvantage also. Advantage is that you will be able to take care of them. But the expectations will increase to such extent that you will not be able to work properly. Where the same generation spouse can not understand your work style at home completely, how your parents of older generation be able to understand it?

Besides, kids will see their father (or mother) in front of their eyes but what's the use if they are not able to talk to them? 

Superficially we feel that women get benefited a lot by working from home. But no! When it comes to Indian houses, there are mostly in-laws present in the house. There is joint family. And though women are working from home and doing same and equal work like men, still the household work is expected from women like making tiffin for kids, making breakfast, lunch and dinner for all the family members, doing other household chores which traditionally are "supposed" to be done by women and not men. In very few homes, I have seen that the in-laws help the work from home woman. Otherwise, woman is exploited to the limit.

I am not saying that work from home doesn't have any advantages. It has its own benefits like below but a pitfall is hidden in each benefit.

1. Flexibility: Remote work allows you to create a customized schedule that suits your lifestyle and daily routine. You can adapt your work hours to your most productive times, whether that's early morning or late at night. 

Reality: But this is not possible in most cases where customer demands availability of employees which suits their schedule and not the company or employee's schedule, which creates disturbance to the other people at home.

2. Commuting saved: The rush-hour traffic and crowded public transport is eliminated. Working from home eliminates the daily commute, saving your time and reducing the stress.

Reality: But avoiding contacts of outside people will affect employee's sociality. They will start developing symptoms of Enochlophobia. A person with this phobia experiences high levels of anxiety when they're in a crowd or just thinking about being in a crowd.

3. Cost Savings: Working remotely can lead to significant cost savings. You'll spend less on transportation, work attire, and eating out. Plus, no need to buy that expensive daily coffee!

Reality: You will save your company's cost but it will increase your own cost and you will not even realize that.

4. Comfort and Personalization: Your home office can be tailored to your preferences. Choose a comfortable chair, decorate your workspace, and create an environment that inspires productivity.

Pitfall: This is possible only when you have big home. What about people having small flats? 

5. Increased Productivity: Some people find they're more productive when working from home. Fewer distractions, quieter surroundings, and personalized setups contribute to better focus.

Reality: Fewer distractions and quieter surroundings at home is a myth, at least in India. How can you stop a drilling and carpentry work going on in your society? How can you stop any processions and DJs and Dolby systems on roads? Not every employee has a sound proof rooms.

6. Health Benefits: You have more control over your surroundings. You can take breaks to stretch, exercise, or even cook a healthy meal. Plus, fewer sick colleagues means reduced exposure to illnesses.

Reality: You can not control your surroundings but people at home will control you. Imagine, when guests come to your home and due to your important meetings, you won't be able to entertain them. Will they be generous enough to understand your situation? No. They will speak about you to other relatives later that you are not enough hospitable. They will spread rumours and gossips about you. 

7. Work-Life Balance: With remote work, it's easier to strike a balance between professional and personal life. You can step away from work to spend time with family or pursue hobbies.

Reality: Achieving a healthy work-life balance can be tricky. Separating work hours from personal time becomes crucial. When you work from home, the work hours increase from 9 hours to 12 to 13 hours. In that case, you rarely find time for yourself, forget about family. Then where is work life balance?

Besides this, the work from home has below additional drawbacks:

1. Isolation and Loneliness: Working remotely can lead to feelings of isolation. When you're not physically present with colleagues, it's challenging to develop bonding between team members.

2. Lack of Motivation: Without the structure of an office environment, some individuals struggle with self-motivation. The absence of external cues (like coworkers working diligently) can impact productivity.

3. Technology or Equipment Issues: Technical glitches, slow internet, or malfunctioning equipment can disrupt work efficiency. Troubleshooting becomes your responsibility.

5. Audio/Video Meeting Fatigue: Constant video calls can be draining. The lack of face-to-face interactions and screen fatigue can take a toll on mental well-being.

6. Harder Collaboration and Relationships: Collaborating with colleagues becomes more challenging when you're not physically co-located. Building relationships and trust may require extra effort. When you do work from home for longer period, a time comes when you loose and forget all the office etiquettes, you loose the professional touch. And if one day you suddenly are called to office to meet client, you will not be able to meet and greet the client properly.

7. Risk of Overworking: When your home doubles as your office, it's easy to blur the boundaries between work and personal life. Overworking can lead to burnout.

Work from home causes a greater risk for information and data breach or data leak. Working from home also comes with cybersecurity risks. 

• This malicious software locks or blocks users' access to their own data or devices. Cybercriminals threaten to delete, destroy, or publish sensitive information unless a ransom is paid. Ransomware often spreads through phishing emails containing malicious attachments.
• The ongoing use of weak, insecure, or recycled passwords poses a significant threat. Hackers can crack account passwords and gain access to sensitive corporate information. Secure passwords are crucial for effective cybersecurity.
• When employees use unsecured networks and devices, such as free Wi-Fi, they create gaps in security. Sharing files over vulnerable channels can expose sensitive data.
• Connecting to public Wi-Fi networks without proper security measures can lead to data interception and unauthorized access. Always use a virtual private network (VPN) for secure communication.
• Using personal devices for work can be risky. These devices may lack proper security configurations, making them susceptible to attacks.
• Remember to stay vigilant, follow security best practices, and use reliable tools to protect your work-from-home environment.
• Accidental sharing of passwords to guests or family members can create bigger threats to security. 

In critical situations where the employee is not feeling well or family members of employee are not well, but there are important tasks to complete and if employee is willing to work for few hours, then only work from home is beneficial but employee should voluntarily accept it and not forced by company. 

There are some jobs available, whose nature itself is suitable for working from home, like graphic designer, vdo editor, data entry clerk, writer, blogger, translator etc. That is okay but still question remains that, the situation at home should be favorable enough for working from home.

Remember that at one side we talk about segregation of work life and personal life and at another side we are mixing both things by working from home. 

There is no comparison of the joy a child experiences when his father (or mother) comes home after office and the child runs into their lap.

There is no comparison of the coffee break conversations which happen in office for relaxing the mind with colleagues with anything else.

There is no comparison of the first coffee or tea which you drink after reaching office with your favorite colleague. It starts a fresh day. 

There is no comparison of attending meetings in conference rooms with real people sitting around you.

There is no comparison of the joy when colleagues bring cake for you and celebrate your birthday in canteen and you enjoy samosas and chips together.

There is no comparison of the healthy gossip you do in office.