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Effective URL: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-lonely-office-is-bad-for-america-work-from-home-polarization-professionalism-ambiti...
Submission: On August 01 via manual from IN — Scanned from DE
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WSJ Opinion: Hits and Misses of the Week Skip Ad in 15 You may also like CloseCreated with sketchtool. Up Next CloseCreated with sketchtool. Your browser does not support HTML5 video. 0:00 PlayCreated with sketchtool. Paused Sound OnCreated with sketchtool. 0:00 / 1:46 ShareCreated with sketchtool.Closed Captions InactiveCreated with sketchtool. WSJ Opinion: Hits and Misses of the WeekPlay video: WSJ Opinion: Hits and Misses of the Week The Week’s Best And Worst From Kim Strassel, Jillian Melchior And Mene Ukueberuwa By Peggy Noonan July 28, 2022 6:44 pm ET Print Text 1,133 Your browser does not support the audio tag. Listen to article Length (3 minutes) AD Loading advertisement... 00:00 / 02:30 1x This article is in your queue. Open Queue Where are we in the office wars? I think there’s an armistice between the return-to-the-office side and the work-from-home forces. Perhaps hostilities will resume in the fall. Bosses are hoping the old reality will snap back as the drama of 2020-22 recedes, that people will start to feel they need to come back, or can be made to. The work-from-home people are dug in, believing they’re on the winning side, that the transformation of work in America, which had been going remote for years, was simply sped up and finalized by the pandemic. In this tight job market they have the upper hand. Employers are fighting for talent: Fire me—I’ll get a better job tomorrow, and you’ll get 50 hours with HR onboarding my replacement. The balance of power will change if the slowing economy leads to layoffs and hiring freezes. The benefits of working from home are obvious: freedom, no commute; it’s easier to be there for family, the dog, the dentist appointment. Less time wasted in goofy officewide meetings. I’ve wondered if there is another aspect, that office life was demystified by what began in the years before the pandemic, the rise of HR complaints and accusations of bullying, bad language and sexual misconduct. Add arguments over masks and vaccines, and maybe office life came to be seen less as a healthy culture you could be part of and more like a battlefield you wanted to avoid. Subscribe Sign In CONTINUE READING YOUR ARTICLE WITH A WSJ MEMBERSHIP SUMMER SALE €2 PER MONTH FOR 1 YEAR View Membership Options RESUME SUBSCRIPTION We are delighted that you'd like to resume your subscription. You will be charged $ + tax (if applicable) for The Wall Street Journal. You may change your billing preferences at any time in the Customer Center or call Customer Service. You will be notified in advance of any changes in rate or terms. You may cancel your subscription at anytime by calling Customer Service. Please click confirm to resume now. 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