'The new normal': work from home is here to stay, US data shows

I've been remote for about 12 years, but now after getting divorced and becoming an empty nester, hybrid seems like a much better idea for me. Too lonely when you are single to work from home all the time.

I also think it would probably be best for most people, not just for socialization, but because most jobs have some level of both collaborative and individualized work. Even though my job is mostly writing code, it is still beneficial to have sessions with peers to brainstorm, design, discuss, etc.

I work fully remote, so I get a lot of non-close-friend socialization and "shop talk" from local meetups. It's extracurricular (more work), but I find there are often more diverse topics and challenges to discuss outside of just 1 company. So I was recently at a meetup hosted by [pretty large US tech company] in [city pretty popular with tech workers] and some recruiters for the company were there.

They said they were having challenges recruiting tech workers after a mandatory, full, 5-day-per-week return-to-office. When I friendlily asked what sort of benefits they've seen so far from it, they each spoke about how they personally liked in-person collaboration, the sort of chance encounters you get around the water cooler, etc.

Not that there's acting wrong with that, it's just that I was expecting something along the lines of measurably better business outcomes, while it seemed they had internalized an RTO sales pitch to hiring prospects, which consisted of saying they liked it so much that they wanted it not only for themselves, but for others, too.

That strikes me as a common mandatory RTO reasoning from leadership (I doubt the individual recruiters had much say in the decision): Results? IDK, I just want the other people to be here because I want it.

I work 100% remotely and I live in a big city, and I miss the social interactions I used to have in the office.

If I were a junior in my first year of working, I would decline any remote offer.

In the first few years, I was enthusiastic about remote working. Now, I am envious of people who work in offices or have public-facing jobs because of the social interactions.

> Last month, Bloom and a team of researchers published a study ... one group worked from home two days of the week while the other group came into the office every work day.

Hybrid - coming in to an office 3 days per week - is entirely different from 100% remote where all day-to-day interactions are done virtually and people are spread across time zones.

When I am 100% in office, my stress goes up, and my productivity goes down. When I'm 100% remote, the same thing eventually happens, but for different reasons. Having the flexibility to come into the office when I want/need to, or stay home when i need to is a really great middle ground where I thrive.

Surprise, surprise- managers like the hybrid model just as much as everyone else but what about those without a college degree?

Very sad