[ilyanep]

Who's going to pay for me to upsize my apartment so I can make a home office? Working from the same desk I use for my personal computer / gaming is really taking a toll on the ol' mental health? Also who's going to pay for my extra electricity use, etc? I also used to get free food at the office, would I be getting a raise to cover that as well?

My commute was a pleasant 25m bike ride I could use to listen to podcasts (which is exercise I've now lost, so losing the commute didn't exactly give me a bunch of extra free time). Seeing coworkers in person was a really nice way to not only get some social contact every day but also build a rapport with my teammates. The office was also going to be a great place for my dog to get some socialization with other dogs.

Yes, I was annoyed at the moves to more open spaces and with regular frustrating interruptions, but with those mitigated, an office with my actual coworkers (with at most 1 day a week at home) is vastly superior to what I'm doing now, regardless of how much processes change. Not to mention, employers sort of implicitly assume that any time you gained back from not having to commute or whatever are just going to doing extra work.

[kelnos]

> My commute was a pleasant 25m bike ride I could use to listen to podcasts (which is exercise I've now lost, so losing the commute didn't exactly give me a bunch of extra free time).

You can still do that, though. Get up, do a 12.5m bike ride out, and 12.5m bike ride back home. Then start work.

Or do anything else. Maybe you'd prefer to go for a run some days? Great, you can do that. Maybe you want to lift weights? Great, you can do that. Maybe you stayed up late the night before doing something fun and want to sleep in a little? Great, you can do that. None of this other stuff would have been possible when you were fixed into the required, inflexible commute routine, but now you can do any of these things, or just keep doing your same commute routine, just with a different route that returns you home.

> Not to mention, employers sort of implicitly assume that any time you gained back from not having to commute or whatever are just going to doing extra work.

They only assume that if you allow them to by working longer hours. Set your boundaries, and assert them.

[throwaway2245]

If you still value spending 25 minutes on a bike ride, then you still have those 25 minutes to go on a bike ride.

Or, you have the choice to use that time in a way that you prefer.

[kabacha]

> Who's going to pay for me to upsize my apartment so I can make a home office?

Your company. Offices are pretty expensive, if the company goes remote they have extra capital to distribute during yearly review or whatever policy your company has.