By Christopher Back

There is no other perspective I can have but my own, from my throne of beans behind the counter at my coffee shop. I am a barista by trade and see many sides of the current war being waged about whether people should work from home, work from an office, or some hybrid of the two. While my own working location might not seem to be currently affected by the results of such a debate, my business and my customers are. At the cafe we see a microcosm of the debate come through our doors every day. The work week for us has long persisted of customers coming and going to work or school in the mornings (the 9-5ers). After the rush of the morning subsides the cafe will collect customers who will hang around and either work from the cafe, or take meetings or calls (Hybrid workers). Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic we’ve seen workplaces adjust the ways they conduct the typical work day. Obviously initially prompted as a safeguard against the spread of a contagious virus, but as life has “opened up”, some workplaces have adopted more remote work alternatives, allowing people to work from home and sometimes even changing job descriptions to accommodate remote work more easily. Others have only returned to the office part-time or on designated days. Some, full time back to the factory. Others like me have never had the option, and our work depends on being there in person.

Now three years after the initial try-out of remote work, the debate is still raging on whether or not to fully commit to the office life once again, but I think that the question burns hotter for some rather than others.