It’s a big deal when something is given its own acronym, not just on social media but for use in traditional media as well. I got my first taste of WFH back when it was called “telecommuting.” I lived and worked in northern Virginia (the suburbs of Washington, D.C.) from 2004 to 2006 in a corporate job, and the bureaucracy was such that to have these arrangements approved required quite the stack of paperwork. I had to describe what tasks I would do from home, what sort of workstation setup I had, how I would communicate with colleagues, and so on. Once all that was documented, on the requisite Verizon forms of course, I had to get it approved by my immediate supervisor. From there, I have no idea where it went in the corporate machine. It took several weeks to work its way back to me, stamped as “APPROVED.”
After that one day, Tuesdays if memory serves, it was a little easier to get the second day of the week added (Thursdays). There was no flexibility to swap days, however, and if you had to come to the office for an in-person meeting on one of your “telecommuting” days, you didn’t get to make it up on another day. And unlike now, there was no such thing as hybrid or virtual meetings. Sometimes you could participate by being put on the speakerphone in the conference room, but depending on the host, that might not be acceptable. I learned quickly what I could get by with and what I couldn’t.
You might wonder why I moved to northern Virginia only to “telecommute” 40% of the time. It was very expensive to live there, much more so than the DFW area where I had been for almost a decade. Two factors led to submitting this request, the main one being the growing length of my commute. When I first arrived, the commute from my home in Centreville, VA, to my office in Arlington took about 40 minutes each way. Not that much more than the 30 minutes or so for my commute when I lived in Texas, so it was tolerable. But as the area continued to grow, so did my commute time. By the time I left, up to two hours each way wasn’t unheard of.
Fast forward to 2020, and WFH quickly became a requirement for many workers when their physical workplaces closed down but actual tasks could still be performed remotely. Technology (hardware, software and broadband) was the key to making this happen. Those organizations that had robust and well-documented disaster recovery plans in place pre-COVID were often some of the most successful at quick transitions in this regard. If you think about it, working from another location after a natural disaster isn’t that different in terms of work transition than what we experienced during 2020—except for those who also had family members schooling at home.
So many trends were accelerated in 2020, focused on work locations and how we use our homes. You may have repurposed a room as an office as I did after closing down an office and moving my computer equipment home or you may have actually moved to another house. In many markets the residential real estate market took a nice bump. Those who didn’t move to a new house may have done some renovations and remodeling to better suit their needs. That was what I did. On the other hand, the commercial market is in a bit of a slump. That commercial slump is a combination of the retail downturn (except for ecommerce) and the WFH trend. Some of us working remotely may never return to a bricks-and-mortar office outside our homes. Organizations are going to like the expense reductions and may be reluctant to ramp back up with that spending again.
As we begin to approach normalcy later in the year, we will begin to see which of these accelerated trends will continue and which may reverse a bit. We will also see some pent-up demand that will drive economic growth in areas that have been hardest hit by the pandemic. You have your list, I have mine. Some things don’t cost money like time spent with family and friends. Others are travel, restaurant meals, movies, concerts and those things we have missed. The people who make their living in these ways will be happy to see us return.
IN CLOSING
Thanks for reading. Looking forward to your comments and connections, both virtual and in person in the not too distant future. Until next time . . . . stay safe and healthy and remember, this too shall pass. Next up—“X for ???.”
Barb's Boomer Blog 