We can never forget that the world worked remotely for two years
The massive return to in-person work is a clear sign that we are erasing the lessons learned during the months of the pandemic
I challenge you to say the three most talked-about ineffective medications during the pandemic.
Not easy, right?
These days, I also struggled and had to search on Google to remember chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, and ivermectin.
At the peak of the pandemic, we heard about these medications daily. It's almost unbelievable that our minds erased that and other information from that terrible period of our lives shortly after.
At one point, it seemed like we would live forever under death and disease. It felt like the legacies would be eternal. The mask had become an extension of our bodies. Our hands automatically reached for hand sanitizer upon arriving home.
As we got used to that life full of barriers, we adapted even more easily to normal life. And that is a great danger because we risk erasing what came to help us.
I am mainly referring to the advantages of remote work. Entire companies adopted the work-from-home regime and continued to operate normally.Â
Many sectors suffered a tremendous impact on profits, but that was less a consequence of remote work and more due to the economic activity that sharply slowed down because of the pandemic-induced isolation.
Other sectors, also operating fully remote, experienced a boom. E-commerce was one of them. The use of social networks reached an unprecedented peak. We never read as much news as in the first months of the pandemic, which led to an unprecedented audience for journalism.
The massive return to in-person work in almost all areas is a clear sign that we are erasing the lessons learned during the months of the pandemic from our memory. On days of heavy rain or intense cold, employees are forced to face traffic, crowded public transportation (and rain and cold) to do work that could be done remotely. Not just could be, it was done remotely for almost two years.
The excuse is always about productivity. Let's take the example of social networks. TikTok was the fastest-growing platform during the pandemic. With everyone at home, there wasn't much else to do but use the cell phone. People started stimulating creativity to produce relevant content for that social network organically.
At that time, it was effortless to be an employee of a rising platform. The number of new users skyrocketed daily, attracting the interest of sponsors and influencers. When things stagnate, people look for someone to blame. And the blame is always put on remote work, the lack of company culture, and the lack of harmony among teams. When everything was going well, these were not issues.
That's why we need to be very careful not to forget the years of remote work during the pandemic, where for two years it was possible to wake up, have a calm breakfast, read the news, and then turn on the computer to work without having to wake up hours earlier and rush to avoid being late. We cannot forget that companies with thousands of employees expanded by working remotely. We cannot forget that teams from different areas could implement projects together.
That's why we must remember that many who advocate for a return to in-person work have privileges that most don't possess. They live close to their workplace, have comfortable cars, no set time to arrive, no operational tasks to perform, or have exclusive rooms in the workspace. We must remember that many who advocate for in-person work still live with a pre-pandemic mentality and need an excuse to justify the profit drop to investors, which will never result from their mismanagement but rather the fault of lazy remote employees.
Remote work requires adaptations and sacrifices, but it brings a better quality of life. Not all jobs can be done remotely, and not all workers prefer remote work. But there's one thing everyone in this life likes: flexibility.
And this newsletter will advocate, even if alone, so that we do not forget those two years when we lived with flexibility. And may it be a constant presence in the workplace forever. Without flexibility, the best minds will seek more flexible opportunities, becoming a vicious cycle: more flexible companies will have the best employees and attract more qualified workers. The inflexible companies will be left behind.Â