Is WFH dead?

A Flash in the Pan or a Future-facing Model?

Why did the largest WFH beneficiary, Zoom, call their employees back to the office?

Working from home peaked during the pandemic. As offices shut down, our makeshift home offices became the new normal. For a while, it seemed like WFH was here to stay. Three years later, many companies require folks to be in the office more strictly than ever.

So, is WFH dead?

Before COVID-19

The roots of remote work can be traced back to work measured by performance, where output matters more than time spent at the desk. Consultants have benefited from flexible arrangements. Most of their time is spent out in the field — researching, meeting clients, and making deliverables. WFH enabled them to do more with their time. Many often work longer hours than the normal 9-to-5 time frame.

Companies with strong remote work cultures, such as GitLab and Automattic, operated as fully remote organizations long before the pandemic. Stripe also recognized the potential of remote work early on, allowing them to tap into a global talent pool to build world-class teams.

Most tech companies have been flexible about when and where work gets done. As long as the job is done well, many managers will give you the freedom to choose when and where to work. I worked with several Google engineers who woke up at noon and worked until midnight. Since they were high performers, no one questioned the way they worked.

WFH Pros and Cons

WFH promised many potential upsides to employees. The flexibility to work from anywhere — whether a home office, coffee shop, or beach cabana — leads to greater work-life balance. Eliminating commute time frees up hours that can be used for both work and personal priorities. Cozy sweats replace business attire. Video calls supplant airtight conference rooms. 

WFH also introduced challenges. Collaboration can suffer without impromptu office run-ins. Accountability is harder from afar. Loneliness and lack of social contact may reduce morale. Boundaries between work and personal time blur. Without the commute that primes our minds for work, some roll out of bed five minutes before their first meeting. Folks got too relaxed, and productivity suffered without the structure of an office environment. Some even took advantage of WFH to secretly take on multiple jobs, a practice known as r/overemployed.

Employers also get benefits from having a WFH policy. They can tap into a larger talent pool and hire the best without geographical constraints. They don’t need to pay for office space and can lower operational costs. They can even achieve better tax efficiency by having more folks from international teams and lower-tax states.   

People who started their careers during the pandemic might take WFH for granted. Thus, when companies ask employees to return to the office, they feel their rights are being taken away. While an employee can choose whether to join a remote-first team, it’s ultimately an employer’s call to decide where employees can do their work. Employees can always ask for permission, but it’s up to the company to approve their requests.

Does WFH Work?

WFH provides the greatest benefits for self-motivated employees in roles with clearly defined deliverables. For example, a software engineer can more easily work autonomously. Results and productivity are measured by the code and technical documents they produce. Those who require deep focus and minimal collaboration also tend to thrive remotely.

Self-discipline is quite an amazing trait, but most of us struggle with it from time to time. We’re not robots, and the occasional bout of laziness is perfectly human. When there’s no one around to hold us accountable, our standards can take a bit of a dip. This is especially true for knowledge workers, where gauging productivity isn’t always straightforward. In the tech industry, managers invest months in performance reviews and calibration meetings every year to get a handle on it. It's no wonder that some employers find solace in having their employees physically present in the office—at least, they can visibly witness their hard work.

Strong remote work cultures enable successful WFH. Companies like GitLab and Automattic have honed distributed workflows. The tools they use, like Slack, Zoom, and Notion, have improved significantly over the past few years. 

Jobs requiring creative collaboration, spontaneous brainstorming, and hallway conversations tend to suffer more when remote. It's harder to replicate the energy and pace of whiteboard jam sessions online. The physical proximity is even more critical for hardware teams—as Elon Musk recognized in sitting Tesla teams together on the manufacturing floor.

Since the pandemic, the novelty of WFH has worn off.  Productivity dropped. Unstructured WFH makes it easier to waste time. Without the fear of a manager looking over your shoulder, deadlines can lose urgency.

Where Are We Now?

As companies chart return-to-office plans, how can they tap the upsides of WFH while leaving its downsides behind?

• Create clear SOPs for handling meetings, expectations, and deadlines.

• Define clear individual goals aligned with company KPIs. Measure what matters.

• Build trust through accountability tools, like daily standup, progress reports, or co-working time.

• Leverage personality assessments to understand how to use each team member’s strengths best.

• Optimize team collaboration through creative sessions, hackathons, and quarterly offsites.

While the pandemic propelled WFH into the spotlight, it highlighted its limitations. However, the rigid return to the office isn't necessarily the answer either.

The future of work lies in a balanced approach that leverages the strengths of both WFH and in-person work. It's about creating a flexible hybrid style that allows employees to thrive while addressing the challenges of isolation and accountability. This hybrid model should be guided by clear SOPs and goals that can maximize productivity.

The office can be overwhelming and stressful when it’s packed back-to-back with meetings and work. The ideal environment intersperses areas for focus with opportunities to recharge—spaces to grab a cup of coffee, take a quick nap, or chat casually. Likewise, working from home requires diligence in setting boundaries and maintaining dedicated spaces that separate work and personal life. Achieving work-life balance, both mentally and physically, will be key as we navigate the hybrid future.

As we move forward, companies that can seamlessly integrate remote and in-person work will be at the forefront of this new era. It's not about declaring WFH dead or promoting it as the ultimate solution, but rather recognizing that the future of work is about blending the best of both worlds.

Looking further into the future, a world where holographic projection becomes as common as household TVs could change the WFH landscape. Picture this: virtual meetings where you can interact with life-sized holograms of your coworkers right in your living room. What's more, this could pave the way for creating virtual offices, where you and your colleagues are in the same workspace, maintaining constant visual contact while working remotely. Will such innovations reshape the WFH landscape? Perhaps, but we’re still years away from witnessing this reality.