Offices exist to trap people.

I had the privilege to work remotely for the past 11 years. But with a recent job change I noticed, why it will be tough for offices to continue to exist.

The center of gravity changes

Most of us still have to choose their home according to where they work. We make our lives dependent on the workplace. Appartements, cars, schools, friends, basically everything evolves around that decision.

Working in an office means that our life's center of gravity is our work. Remote work adjusts that center of gravity to whatever benefits our life as a whole. And that is the beauty of it.

Refocuses on what is important

While changing jobs, I realised that it was pretty straightforward. I closed one Slack and opened another the following week. This makes it really hard for companies to retain people. Nice offices are great, and maybe cool to look at. But table tennis or a snack bar won't be enough anymore.

Remote work brings the focus back on what is important, like “treating you well” and “paying you well.” Instead of building a new office building, companies should focus on that.

Not to say that collaborating and working virtually has many more advantages. I will be touching on some of them in the next essays. Follow along 🙌

What about you - Do you enjoy offices or not, and why?