In the past several months I have read an increasing number of on-line posts in which people complain about their employer's return to office policy.
I might sound like a crusty and ornery old geezer but during my career which started in mid-1980, working from home was not an option. Quite frankly, depending on your field of work, working from home was never even a remote consideration. In all fairness, however, the technology at the time was not conducive to working from home.
As technology has evolved, many of the tasks performed in the office could be performed from home. The NEED to be in the office was no longer always essential. Being in the office, however, was integral depending on the employee's role, the company culture, and the need (and frequency) with which to interact with members of various departments within the organization.
Some roles within an organization may make 'in the office' presence essential. Other roles...not so much. Many such roles, however, will likely be fully or partially replaced by artificial intelligence so give some serious consideration to the probability of you becoming redundant within the not too distant future if you choose to work 'out of sight and out of mind'.
Depending on your goals and aspirations from an employment perspective, your presence in the office might work in your favor. Working from home likely has little bearing on how amazing you may be as an employee. The issue with working from home is that not everyone higher up on the organization chart may be able to readily witness your 'people skills'. As you move up the organization chart, soft skills play an increasingly important role in your success.
I fully appreciate how the daily grind of commuting to work can take a toll on one's physical and mental well-being. At various times during my career, my one-way driving commute was 1+ hours. In the later stage of my career, my train commute was 2 hours round-trip (when the train was on schedule).
While catching a 7 AM train and returning home at 7:15 PM was exhausting, I would regularly remind myself that my 5 days a week commute paled in comparison to that of many other people. Gazing out the train window I would often see cars crawling along various highways. I knew of some people who commuted 2 hours each way to work!
I also know someone whose career was in human resources in the oil and gas and mining sectors. At various stages of this person's career, the work schedule was 2 weeks ON and 2 weeks OFF. Sometimes their one-way commute to/from remote areas in Canada was typically 1 - 1.5 days (much depended on weather conditions) and often involved 3 different flights.
Based on my observations and experiences, I have little sympathy for people griping that they can no longer work from home 5 days/week.
Anyone who is displeased with their employer's return to the office policy to the point where it negatively impacts their work performance should seek alternate employment. Let your employer replace you with someone who has a positive attitude.
Don't broadcast to the world that you are unhappy with your employer's return to work policy. Nobody 'gives a rip' that you think you have been wronged.
Anyone so hard done by their employer's return to the office policy should use this as motivation to make employment optional.
This might be easier said than done and getting into such a position typically does not occur overnight. For anyone at a relatively young age reading this, however, think about the ramifications of your financial decisions as you go through life. Making financial decisions that lead to spending money you don't have to impress people you don't know will most likely place you in a predicament where your options in life are several restricted.
What are your goals and objectives? If you are in your teens or twenties, try to envision your life when you are 50+. Given how the world is evolving, do you want to still be working when you are 50+?
It is not my place to judge how one should lead their life. I just know that long before the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) lifestyle and financial strategy was popularized, my mindset was to focus on accumulating enough wealth to retire well before the traditional retirement age. The very day I started full-time employment in July 1980, my mindset was to 'get off the work treadmill'. I witnessed people still working in their 50s and 60s and what I saw was not pretty. My thought when looking at some of these people was to not let life pass me by. Were these people truly living their life to the fullest and actively participating or experiencing the opportunities life has to offer? I think not. In all probability, they were merely existing rather than truly living.
At a very early age I realized life would pass me by if I followed the 'typical' plan. I, therefore, made it a priority to start investing in my mid 20s. My thought process was to invest in great companies managed by far brighter people than me who were willing to work harder and longer than I desired and whose interests were aligned with mine.
I have certainly made my fair share of errors of omission and commission. Fortunately, I have made far more great decisions that poor decisions.
Despite having retired in mid-2016, I still invest in great companies. I do so because I never want to re-enter the workforce for financial reasons.
One reason for launching this blog in December 2016 was to make myself accountable for my investment decisions. By publicly disclosing them I felt that I would put more thought into my invest decisions. It is humbling when you disclose what turn out to be less than stellar investment decisions!
I try to provide the timely disclosure of my purchases/sales. This, however, is not always possible as evidenced by the trades made on the following dates.
- 75 Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) shares purchased @ ~$421.96 on July 7
- 50 Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) shares purchased @ ~$511.18 on July 11
- 50 Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) shares purchased @ ~$508.98 on July 16
- 100 Accenture (ACN) shares purchased @ $281.5887 on July 11
- 100 Ralliant (RAL) shares sold @ ~$48.268 on July 16. I received these shares when this entity was spun-off from Fortive (FTV)
Final Thoughts
My purpose for writing this post is to impress upon much younger readers to think long and hard about where they want to be at the later stages of their life.
It is not my place to tell anyone how they should lead their life. Furthermore, circumstances in life sometimes require us to do what we don't necessarily want to do. This could mean having to work well beyond the time frame we envisioned when we were much younger.
There is nothing wrong with working into your mid 60s and beyond IF you are doing something you love. Having to work because of financial necessity or because you would not know what to do with you time, however, might mean the need to revisit your plan.
I wish you much success on your journey to financial freedom!
Note: Please send any feedback, corrections, or questions to [email protected].
Disclosure: I am long TMO, ISRG, and ACN.
Disclaimer: I do not know your circumstances and do not provide individualized advice or recommendations. I encourage you to make investment decisions by conducting your research and due diligence. Consult your financial advisor about your specific situation.
I wrote this article myself and it expresses my own opinions. I do not receive compensation for it and have no business relationship with any company mentioned in this article.
