After a year and 3 months, here I am, still fighting about remote work. The ever-changing decisions of this company give me nothing but looming sense of uncertainty. Germs too shall pass. No more lockdowns and all. Most companies are now telling their employees that happy days are over. It's time get back to work. It's time to get back to the office and pretend you actually work for 8 hours straight. Just when I thought I've already made the deal with the boss, being one of the "select few", some people in our local HQ are making our lives difficult. Ugh, what a pain these villains are. They need people to occupy the seats. They say it is "the government" thing. I mean I get, if there's more movement in cities, then there's more money to be spent around. More profit for all at the expense of our overall well-being and happiness. There's no escape, I suffer, you too.
Okay okay, I know remote work is not for the social butterflies out there. Some people do enjoy seeing people lol. But not me. I mean especially now that I've gotten used to the comfort of my own home office, isolation can be a blessing in disguise. Why can't they understand that some people are more productive and focused in this set up. My work can be done remotely anyway and even if I do work on site, I will still be communicating remotely with my remote clients and bosses. I just can't imagine being contained in a cubicle for 8 hours, constantly conscious of people walking around checking to see if I'm just fooling around. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful. So very grateful that I have work, a good work. So good that I actually got promoted in less than a year. Got a raise too. I did a good job. I'm not complaining but sure I prefer WFH benefits more the office chitchat or free coffee or the sickly feels of centralized AC... I love my peace more than anything else. It sucks that I have to fight a bloody fight just to attain it though.
Over the last couple of months, I've proven myself to the bosses. But I guess my best wasn't good enough? lol. My manager offshore keep reasoning it's my government. Geez, I know my own government more than you boss. This government doesn't care about 1-3 people. WFH set up long existed before COVID so I know it's the tax thing or the corporate having to follow some vague rules to avoid getting penalized or something. After all, it's an international company. But anyway, I know there are ways somewhere out there. Two people in my team already left for the same reason of not being able to work fully remote. Isn't that a sign that something isn't just working anymore? Maybe we are all just replaceable cogs here.
I read a tweet sometime ago about this guy complaining about people not wanting to going to the office anymore. He said that we've become "entitled". And then he cited the benefits of going through the hard work of getting up, commuting/driving then feeling "accomplished" after lol. Geez this guy is probably the owner of the company because I don't see many people actually agreeing with him. See, we have different circumstances in life, some things don't apply to most people. For example, remote work is life-changing for us here. Can you imagine having to go through floods during heavy rains (which is most months of the year), or wait for hours in traffic, or get stranded somewhere? Wet, hungry and miserable. And everyday, all you wish is to get home safely. The next day's the same. Some people don't know what others have to go through just to food on the table. A bit of empathy won't hurt. So yeah, people better think about what they're posting about being pro office work because they might just be speaking from their own privileged point of view.
Sometimes I feel like damn, should I just stop fighting about this? It is exhausting to be honest. Either you want me to work for you or you don't. Either you see my value or you don't. The Man's letting me down man. There are things I just can't control in this big machinery. Is it time for me to find a real remote work? I know I can but there are so many pros for me working for this company and I've already been through a lot. Just a few more years and I think I can achieve some stability, if there's even such a thing. It's also a risk to start over not knowing what kind of management I have to put up with next. See, it's not always about the money, there so many things I have to factor in when changing jobs. My thoughts are conflicted, sigh. Anyway, I'm gonna end this rant now. I just hope that my work stop focusing on my location and instead focus on the value I deliver.