If this online poster was looking for engagement, he got it in spades. His almost 400-word attack on remote work brought out a lot of feelings and thoughts from people. The hot take? Work from home is a career killer. And then the people came for him. As someone who works from home full-time, he got my attention from the very first line. I also have listened to this topic kicked back and forth by federal government employees. I’ve heard recruiters bemoan the need for remote options in the SCIF-world, and I have surveyed clearance holders. I know that remote options are a value-add that they want.
Work From Home Hot Take
WFH will kill your career.
Sure, it may be technically possible to do your job from home. And you may think you are just as productive. But by staying away from the office you are inflicting enormous damage on your career which it will never recover from.
That’s because if you WFH, you are basically a worker bee; a labourer who is paid by the hour or by the output you produce. The job you do might be high or low skilled, but either way, your income is determined by the number of hours you work. You are not creating any lasting value for the business you work for, which means there’s no scope for progression. You may be the exception that manages a team of remote workers which do add some managerial value, but generally speaking, if you WFH you can one day be replaced by AI, robotics or cheaper out-sourced labour.
Yes commuting to an office is horrible, and there will be interruptions when you get there, but you will be able to learn from people who are smarter than you and have more experience than you and you will be able to bounce ideas off them. You will discover how to interact with people and how to manage a team. And if you are any good at these things, people will notice and will want to promote you. When I was actively running a growing company I was constantly looking for individuals I could delegate responsibility to.
Contrary to some of the silly comments made about my previous post, I don’t have any personal vested interest in getting people back to the office; I stopped running an office supplies company a long time ago and I sold my telecoms business XLN six weeks ago. I am simply offering advice based on my experiences as a business founder and leader.
WFH is for people who have no aspirations or who are heading for retirement. If that’s you, then fine. If not, seriously, think again because otherwise your career is effectively over. You are not where the important decision-making is taking place; your voice is not being heard and you are not being seen by the people who matter. And one day, far too late, you will realise you have made a very big mistake.
Is Your Career Over if You Work from Home?
Behind every dumpster fire post, there are bits and pieces of truth that should not be completely ignored. The reality is that depending on your definition of career and where you work, going remote can pull the brakes on forward development. He’s not 100% wrong, as many said that he was. So, you have to pull out what’s true and what’s just pot stirring.
1. Career is a personal definition.
To clarify, everyone has a different definition of what will be a fulfilling career. Some are entrepreneurs, and others need constant push from others around them. Some are happy completing fulfilling work for decent pay – never feeling a major drive to take over a country. But what may look like a career killer to some can be exactly the career they personally want. And it’s never okay to tell someone that their work-life balance isn’t good enough. This could be the nerve that this post hit. But for those who don’t have bosses who are able to lead well in the virtual world, working from home could slow down career progression. If you want to climb the corporate ladder and a lot of people are at the office, you may need to join them.
2. Some things are better face-to-face.
Not everything is better face-to-face. I don’t love happy hours, but you know what’s worse? Virtual happy hour. Brainstorming is challenging online. It just is. You can make it work, and often, it works perfectly fine. But, it’s not optimum. Mentoring relationships are also more natural in a face-to-face environment. This doesn’t negate all the useful interactions that happen between people at a distance. You just can’t cancel one or the other – both should be able to exist.
3. National security is worth it.
The federal government 100% needs to figure out what can be accomplished remotely. But the reality is that working as a team with classified information means that there will be gaps in availability when some team members are at home. That means that we either need bigger teams with duplicated efforts or schedules will lag due to availability. Leaning too hard into the work-from-home world slows some teams down and adds frustration to the day for the employees at the office. That’s not a Boomer saying that – it’s just reality. The difference is how you respond to all of that. Do you fight for either/or scenario? Or do you find another way to function that meets all the needs better?
Bottom Line?
If you have to fight everyone to get remote work and leadership is against it, working from home could slow your career. Or if your office has a poor set up for the virtual life, you will have to take steps to overcome it. Working from home requires a proactive approach – one where you look for opportunities and bridge whatever gaps it takes to achieve them. You can’t fight perceptions like this without at least addressing some of the facts.
