The Choice To Work From Home Or Office Should Be With The Employees

For women, work-from-home options is a blessing because they allow us to manage office and home responsibilities in a better way.


I have been hearing a lot of chatter about “back to the office,” and it is great that the world is returning to normal after the pandemic restricted our free movements severely.

When the pandemic started and corporate organizations decided to have people work from home, it was a necessary move for health reasons. As time went by, and the pandemic lingered for not one but almost three years, this situation continued.

Corporates realized that people could and would work from home and business could continue as usual without physical presence at office premises.

IT industry had effectively used work from home policies before the pandemic 


In the IT industry, working from home was prevalent even before COVID-19 changed things. Globally, USA, Canada, and Europe have allowed remote working while countries in Asia, allow it partially or do not allow it.

I have worked in organizations where it was not allowed at all except for emergency situations, as well as in organizations that allow their employees a lot of flexibility.

When jobs started appearing for remote workers in India, I became hopeful that we had embraced a free and trusting work culture that would allow everyone to choose where they wanted to work from.

Terms like “workplace of the future,” floated around raising hopes further. However, this year the pandemic is under control and that is fantastic news. The world is finally healing.

Corporates have slowly started asking people to return to work. That is fine too!

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It is not fine to force people to work from certain location

What is not fine, is any kind of mandate or deadline which forces people to work from a certain location.

Now, allow me to speak as a woman. For women, work-from-home options is a blessing because they allow us to manage office and home responsibilities in a better way.

It can be a curse too when boundaries start to blur and either work or home encroaches on each other. Still, I would say, married or single, young, or old, the benefit of choosing where you can work is just great.

It applies to men too, as I am sure many men will agree.

I can give you a personal example.

Today, I am feeling rather unwell and if I had had to go to the office, I would have taken a day off.

However, since I still have the luxury of logging in from home, I can put my feet up and do my work at the same time. Both I and my organization benefits from this setup. There are many other examples and situations that come to mind.

Remember that I am not saying that working from the office is bad or should not be done.

On the contrary, I fully understand the benefits of working and socializing together and networking face to face. All I would like to see is an option for employees to choose what they want to do.

Trust your workforce and I am sure it will prove beneficial in the long run!

Image source: DEMEphotography via Getty Images, free on CanvaPro

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About the Author

Indrani Ghosh

About Indrani Ghosh nee Chaudhuri In the fourth decade of my life, I decided that I needed something more. I needed to tell everyone my story, but in a way that people would read it. read more...

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