That is interesting! I have a younger coworker who recently joined the team because he wanted to physically go to work and interact. I would guess that he's gen z, or at least very close to it. I'm also a millennial (and met my partner at work) and I like the idea of having local coworkers but not so much that I want to see them for 40 hours each week
.
That's me! I met my husband at work 16 years ago, and we've been married almost 11 years.
Oh yes, to be clear I understand that it can and does work and work well for many people. It was simply something that never appealed to me, which also was and continues to be a prevailing thought among my co-workers as well. The impression I got from the article I read is the younger generation sees the workplace as a
primary place to expand their social and dating networks, whereas I always considered any lasting friendships that came out of work to be a bonus. And I promise I'm not one of those guys sitting at home in the dark complaining that no one wants to play; I just met all my friends through means other than work and I choose to spend my free time with them rather than co-workers.
I'm also the manager encouraging employees to come back to the office, not because I think they'll perform better, but because I believe it's important to develop the more informal work relationships. Being on Teams 100% of the time is not the same as seeing each other in person. But yeah, we plan when we'll be in the office so more of us are at work. I won't go into the office to telework, it makes no sense.
"Improving collaboration" has been cited as a key reason why we need to return to the office. As predicted, that has gone exactly like it did pre-pandemic, where people spend various amounts of time talking to others about their weekends, their kids' weekends, their kids' partners' weekends, gossip about who's dating who, the latest sports news, the weather, the traffic, politics, religion, the traffic (they
really hate the traffic!). And while I can see the rationale that office chatter does improve interpersonal relationships, my question has always been - are we there to make friends or are we there to work? I view work as a place to work. They don't call it going to "fun." I have a job to do, and I receive money for doing that job. By your own admission and by my own observations, I don't perform any better by talking to people about everything other than work. I actually perform worse. Ever since we started going back in the office in April, I've had to compress 5 busy days of work into 4 because my in-office day has become a wasted day. I'm more tired because I have to get up way earlier. I'm annoyed because I have to commute and of course I just missed a train. It's summer in DC so I'm a mess by the time I get to the office. My back hurts because I have to haul all my equipment to and from home. Then do all that in reverse at the end of the workday.
So I guess that's my burning question - is the workplace supposed to be social hour or a place of business? If it's not making staff perform better - and in some cases perform worse - then what's the point?
And hey, I totally get you're the manager and these are hard questions. I get to sit here from my worker bee position and complain about it. My goal is to work my way to management within the next 5 years and be the change I want to see in the world. I'm a believer in work-life balance. I'm a believer that one size does not fit all. It never has, and the pandemic gave us proof of that. And I think people should be given the freedom and controls to perform to the best of their abilities - because after all, that's the point of work.
Glad you enjoyed it!
That really sucks
