Amazon WFH Policy

My worst 2hr was crossing Dublin city. It's was slower than commuting from Dublin out to Meath or Wicklow.

People don't count the door to door. Time wasted getting to train station early, waiting on the platform. Waiting for the next train because this one is full or late. Or a convoluted parking system for the car or bicycle that adds 10-20 mins to exiting or entering a building.

Used to save chunks of time using a folding bike. Of course can't beat saving 2hrs working from home.

I'm not saying they have metrics.

A lot of companies dont have metrics and its easier for those companies to monitor work in the office.

Not saying its right or wrong, but thats how it is.

Sounds like your place needs a bigger office!

One of our managers pushed hard to get their team in, pushed the whole social aspect, then complains bitterly about the noise in the office. To the point that everyone in that area walks around on egg shells. It's ridiculous.

Go to a train or bus station/stop in Mullingar, Athlone, Tullamore etc and you'll see hundreds of people at a time commuting to Dublin (source I've done it myself).

A commute is not the journey time of the initial train/bus either. You need to travel from your home to the mode of transport. Then in many cases once you reach Connolly, Heuston, Bachelors Walk etc, you still need to travel to your place if work. Many of which are not close to the travel hubs. So you need a second bus, dart etc. For me and countless others the best case scenerio for getting to an office in Ballsbridge for example is 1.5-1.75 hours and depending on delays in public transport (spoiler, happens more regularly than not in Ireland) it can be longer. Then repeat again in the evening and you will not be too short of a combined 4 hours travel time.

Once again I stand by my assertion that there is weak managers who want people under their thumb on a daily basis. I've seen and read all the excuses and none if them wash with me. "Collaboration", "Office Dynamic", "Culture". I picture all these types as the typical Bill Lumbergh types. An impediment to productivity rather than what they would like to think themselves. If you think someone is unproductive at home it's laughable to think they'll be any better in the office.

I find the idea that somebody must be busy just because they are sitting at a desk in an office totally laughable. Someone could be pretending to read an important work document but in reality is day dreaming. But to any line manager they look busy.

Realised this years ago when started putting metrics on things. Quite often the person or manager who gives the impression of being under pressure or busy is the least busy person in the office.

Saying you can't work remotely because you don't have any mean's to monitor it. Is admitting they don't do it in the office either. Moreover that you've NEVER done it in the office.

They said a company doesn't have to justify it's decisions to staff. So they don't bother.

Isn't that the truth.

The statistics on average commute times would suggest otherwise.

The threads are also full of people who think da management haven’t a clue, strange that. Yet these posters aren’t management but amongst some of the most productive individuals in Ireland, I can’t quite square it.

It doesn't make you right either. We all know how averages work.

All you're doing now is doubling down on your position that anyone who says that they have a long commute or can be as productive (if not moreso) at home as in an office, is an outlier, (or a liar). Well, you can believe that if you want.

And yes, I did actually turn down a promotion recently, as I now value my work/life balance - and my physical and mental health - more than a few extra quid in the bank at the end of the month. Something the pandemic opened my eyes too.

Again, you're missing the point.

They can monitor in-office work. Not perfectly, but they can monitor it more effectlvley than if you are working from home.

You can't watch netflix in the office or check out holiday sites for half an hour without someone in the office noticing.

Much easier to do either of the above from home and without anyone noticing.

Not speaking from personal experience here as I am not a manager, but I can understand why managers would prefer the office work in this example.

"... 37% of Americans admit to watching TV and movies at work…"

The stats suggest people aren't being "noticed" at work. There's was even a fraud case that revealed someone taking hundreds of photos of their work screen in an open plan office without getting caught. We used to block the crossword sites at work in the early days of the internet so many people used to be on them.

The people you think are watching others in the office simply are not.

Ultimately you can simply block all these things from the computers then monitor productivity and output. But then you can also do this with remote staff. So that's a catch 22 for that argument.

Not that it's matters. if you are ordered back to the office there is nothing you can do. Other than leave of course.

"Most" posters on this thread have not said they have commutes at the extreme end.

Not much credibility in making personal attacks about mental health.

"…57% of people would be willing to reject a promotion if they believe it will have a negative impact on their work-life balance – which was the top influencer of job satisfaction..."

Meet a lot of people these days who don't want to sit in more meetings, or feel promotion is no longer worth the trade offs.

Indeed when they tried to do salary sacrifice or block or offer promotions to get people back to the office it failed. So now it's the ultimatum of dismissal.