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Hi there,

Pack your briefcase, put your finest shirt on, and prepare yourself for your daily commute… approximately five steps away to the kitchen counter, where you flip open your laptop for your first call.

The “new normal” of working from home may no longer be new—but has definitely solidified itself as normal. In these post-pandemic times, over a third of us who can work from home do! We’ve become accustomed to structuring our day with back-to-back Zoom meetings and expressing our deepest, most sincere emotions with an array of Slackmojis. For many of us youngins, it’s hard to imagine a workforce that’s not remote.

That is, until now (dun, dun, DUN). Just this month, Canada announced that federal workers will now be required to come into the office three times a week. The news brought on some very understandable pushback. Employees took to the streets of downtown Ottawa to protest and express their frustration. Many explained that working from home provided them with a better environment, while leadership claimed returning to the office would enhance “fairness and consistency.” 

But governments aren’t the only ones pushing in-person work. Starting next year, Amazon will mandate a five-day workweek for its employees, and other Fortune 500 companies like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs aren’t far behind.

So, as many of us prepare to say goodbye to our comfy sweatpants and canine or kitten coworkers, we must ask ourselves which is truly the superior workplace, at your home or in the office? Spoiler alert: we’re not telling! That being said, we’ll still review the pros and cons of both—and how you can make the most of whatever your case may be.

Until then,
Gabrielle & Charlotte and social butterfly homebodies at TDL

📧 Although we unfortunately cannot mail this newsletter to your workspace, we can still send you a virtual copy here.
Today’s topics 👀
🏡 At-Home
🏢 In-Office
⚖️ Finding Middle Ground
🏡 At-Home

The Pros:

The Cons:

  1. Zoom fatigue is real. Balancing household tasks while being online all day can be absolutely exhausting. This is especially the case when we’re on video calls all day—where the spotlight effect can cause us to be constantly aware of our pixelated appearance (and mistakenly think our colleagues are, too).
  2. Unclear communication. Many employees hesitate to chime in during Zoom meetings, afraid of that awkward silence that follows. But when we stay silent, our managers may mistake this for disengagement, unable to see we are diligently working hard behind the screens.
  3. Not-so-great for mental health. It’s worth stressing that this is an ongoing conversation—but remote work can leave us feeling isolated. (Turns out, that chatty coworker might actually boost your mood!) Plus, unless you have the perfect ergonomic set-up, your at-home office might take a toll on your body as well.
🏢 In-Office

The Pros:

  1. Being more productive. The office streamlines communication—no need to spend time on long emails when you can just pop by someone’s desk. In one study, it was found that fully remote employees were 20% less productive and had to work 30% more hours to reach their goals, largely due to excessive coordination meetings dragging down efficiency.
  2. Compartmentalizing—but in a good way. When working in person, work-related stressors become associated with the office, not your home. This creates both a physical and mental separation between your personal and professional life—a boundary that often blurs when combining the two spaces.
  3. Social connection. It’s no secret that fostering a sense of belonging is easier done face-to-face. In fact, a survey of 700 remote workers revealed that social connection is the number one thing they miss from their in-office days.

The Cons:

  1. Increased stress. Working in the office can make people feel like they’re constantly being watched or micromanaged, which can undermine their sense of autonomy and confidence. This has led to the rise of “productivity theater,” where employees go out of their way to look busy (rather than zeroing in on the work itself).
  2. Give the people what they want. Most people want—or even expect—at least the option to work from home. A 2022 study reflected an astonishing 20% increase in employee happiness when given the choice to work remotely. 
  3. Sharing space. Depending on the office layout, in-person work can lead to many distractions—and these can be costly. If the person next to you frequently takes meetings at their desk, you might find yourself unintentionally eavesdropping, pulling your focus away from your own tasks.
⚖️ Finding Middle Ground

As you can probably tell, the research on this topic is incredibly divisive and, at times, contradictory. It is quite literally impossible to say with absolute certainty that at-home is better than in-office or vice versa. 

Like most things, finding what works best for you or your business is context-dependent. Markers like productivity are influenced by various factors: job type, company culture, and employee work styles, just to name a few. This might look different for everyone—and that’s okay. 

As we’ve been taught from a young age, when we can’t come to a conclusion, it’s best to meet in the middle with a compromise. Hybrid work is quickly becoming that middle ground. Of those with jobs that can be remote, 53% work on a hybrid schedule, and 61% would prefer to do so. Here's why:

  • Blending the benefits. When done right, a hybrid schedule makes in-person work more intentional, with teams using the time to collaborate effectively. While in-office days allow colleagues to dissolve communication issues, at-home days permit focused individual work and flexibility.
  • Ditching the doubts. Hybrid schedules show no major productivity loss when compared to being always in the office. In one peer-reviewed study, hybrid work was even associated with better self-reported mental health outcomes than exclusively in-person or remote work.
  • Hybrid work is the future. According to a survey conducted by EY, 86% of people said they were required or encouraged to be in the office for at least part of the week. While there's a push to get people back in, forcing full-time in-person work could lead to unhappy employees, as most now prefer a hybrid schedule.
  • Don’t knock it until you try it. It’s not uncommon for leadership to have their reservations about hybrid work. Many worry that innovation will slow down—which, of course, is a valid concern. But remember: we can counter the unique pain points of hybrid collaboration with equally unique solutions
  • Take brainstorming, for example. While a traditional setting would require getting everyone in a room to participate, this doesn’t pack the same punch over Zoom. Coming up with a new strategy, like an asynchronous brainstorming session before the meeting, can actually inspire more (and better) ideas.
Graphic demonstrating the recent rise of hybrid work in the US.
According to the Pew Research Center, hybrid work is on the rise. Between 2022 and 2023, hybrid work expanded by 6%, while fully remote work dropped by 8%.
!
Confirmation bias

While reading this newsletter, which argument did you find more compelling? 

Whether by consequence or by confirmation bias, you might have given more credit to evidence supporting what is already your personal preference. But don’t worry—this is something we all do, and there is plenty of research on why.

How do we work past confirmation bias? Check out the full article to find out.

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