WFH setup was a blessing as I had time to be my uncle's caregiver and guardian while he was battling C especially during its worst moments. I can't imagine being able to do all those things when I have to go back and forth to the office daily.
I would still agree with a once a week office meetup for better collaboration. Some of my teammates cut off their rental apartments and moved to their homes which is still Metro Manila but just a bit far away.
One disadvantage of having an established wfh setup, zero business trips (free intl travel). We used to have quarterly on site meetings in one location, but since the pandemic, it's already 100% virtual. Not good for Asia folks since it's usually us who adjust from the rest of the regions.
One of the businesses affected by WFH setup alright. I make an argument that some companies do get to save more from leasing office space and less excuses from nonproductive employees calling in sick. But in general, a lot of people not showing up to work physically also means other businesses that profit from getting people present don't get to make money and it's a convoluted string of conflicted interest especially when politicians are part business owners affected by these changes.
The pandemic was really a game change and affected a lot of things, for better and for worse. For sure company maintenance costs have gone down and contributed to savings; however, the bigger concern of management is employee productivity. It really depends on the role though.
WFH normalization is a big win for employees for sure. As for economic impact, it's more of a shift from Central business districts to other areas which I think is a good thing. In business anyway, if you don't adapt, you die. So that's definitely a big adjustment for business owners.
Talking about politicians, they can really just come up with useless policies just to milk its people. One good example is Makati's health certificate requirement taht just started last year. Makati LGU started to require All employees to submit XRays only from select clinics and pay fees. That's generating revenue from scratch regardless of where employees live as long as office is in Makati. Smart.