WFH Works. Until It Doesn’t
by Geoff Shepherd, Jan 20
Well done, you ruined it for everyone else
See you in the office!
WFH Works. Until It Doesn’t
Some people love working from home.
Some companies make it work.
But here is the truth:
For most people, long-term, remote work just is not natural.
Work is not just about tasks. It is about:
Culture – You do not build a strong team through Slack
Momentum – Energy is contagious in an office
Learning – Juniors and new hires cannot absorb knowledge in isolation
Human connection – No video call replaces real-life connection
Yes, some jobs suit remote.
Yes, people enjoy the flexibility.
And it’s worked well in tech for over a decade
But sitting at home, just isn’t the same: staring at a laptop in your pj’s – with the tv on and the PlayStation fired up ready to go, walking the dog, going to the gym, popping to the shops, taking long lunches, running errands…
People take the piss.
By no means everyone – but enough people have done it to ruin it for everyone else…
And yes, it’s the employees’ fault – if that’s how they lounged around, doing less.
Management consultants would tell you it’s a management problem. But, not everyone has the self-motivation and discipline required to work from home. And many people just feel entitled to slack off.
And the productivity stats show it…
Which leads us to the biggest corporate U-turns of the decade.
JPMorgan, Disney, Amazon, Google, Meta and X all pushed working from home as the future.
Not because it was better, but because it was CHEAPER.
They shut offices, cut costs and boosted profits.
And now they want everyone back at their desks.
JPMorgan has gone full reversal, tracking office attendance and disciplining staff who do not show up.
Amazon is cracking down.
Google is telling people to recommit to the office or rethink their jobs.
What changed?
⛔️ Productivity dropped
⛔️ Culture broke down
⛔️ Leadership got weaker
Now, they expect workers to get back to the office, even if they relocated, even if they structured their life around working from home, even if they were told remote work was here to stay…
Employees are paying the price for corporate ‘wrong think’ and their own inability to self-regulate.
If it were more profitable to have people work from home, businesses wouldn’t be ringing the bell for everyone to return.
So the real question is, did remote workers fail or did these businesses just get it horribly wrong?
(FYI: we successfully operate a hybrid policy and have no plans to change it).
