Remote work | “This is no life at all,” said the IT expert after seeing the change in everyday work and quit his job

The withdrawals in the story are answers to HS’s telework survey. Answers have been condensed to improve readability.

Knowledge workers suitable for remote work, sounds like a self-repeated mantra.

Now someone who has had a long career in IT management challenges the argument: those who do computer work should invest in nearby jobs.

“People innovate as a team. It works when you put everything together, for example, for a coffee. We’ll get someone in half an hour cool thing time, and then let’s go and do it”, says Mervi Lampinen to HS by phone.

Lampinen has worked abroad since 1994 on the IT side of several companies. He was one too Of those who responded to HS’s telework surveywhen we inquired about the experiences of returning to the office.

According to Lampinen, remote work, which became more common during the Corona era, removed an important spice from meetings: humanity. When people get together, there is talk of family life, for example.

“Everything that made working fun disappeared.”

of HS more than a hundred people from all over Finland responded to the survey, and the messages show very mixed hybrid work practices. In many places nowadays you have to come to the office on Mondays and Fridays.

The answers show that many are happy to go to work nearby for part of the week, but the respondents are annoyed that strictures are imposed without discussion.

“Mandatory close work days have been added by the management’s decision. The top manager repeatedly raises the issue in the media, i.e. the change is justified by what certain companies do internationally. The actual facts about the benefits of the change have not been presented.” Woman, Joensuu.

“In September, I had to work in an office, 3–4 days a week. It doesn’t matter what kind of role it is or how long the commute is. None of the employees are happy about this, especially when our company is trying to profile itself as a pioneer and has even written social media publications about the benefits of remote work.” Woman, Helsinki.

Working methods are internationally popular because the web giant Amazon is ending remote work. Mervi Lampinen understands Amazon, as he has collaborated with the giant in his career.

“I understand their philosophy very well. […] I know how much all the new things in data processing require it to be there.”

Lampinen’s last job was a pharmaceutical company in Germany, until he was fired. Lampinen describes himself as a social person, so the root cause of his departure was found in the strain of remote work.

“I only had a relationship with my computer, and I had a big team of people. I had also recruited new ones that I had never met before.”

“Yes (remote work has been tightened) and so it should be. In my own work, I notice that the problems of the people in the office are solved quickly. The problems of those who are remote remain unaddressed for several weeks.” Man, Porvoo.

“The pressures of telecommuting are just right. I personally don’t like remote work at all, it makes me passivate and distance myself from the work community. Not good!” Man, Kouvola.

Lampinen as the pandemic subsided, the pharmaceutical company had a rule that half of the time should be in the office. The attraction was the recently renovated premises, where certain rooms could be equipped with personalized air conditioning for the user.

HS has also said this autumn that companies are trying to attract workers back to offices with the help of comfortable premises.

At Lampinen’s workplace, people could still decide for themselves when to come. As a result, there was occasionally a crowd at nearby jobs, and because of the remote workers, the meetings were on the screen.

As if we came to the office to do remote work.

“I talked to my boss that this is no longer a life.”

He quit two years ago, and is now transitioning to retirement in Spain.

“The situation suddenly changed to having to go to the office three days a week. It simply doesn’t make any sense, because a large part of the work is done among teams distributed in different countries using, for example, Teams. So in the future I will go to the office to ‘remote work'”. Man, Espoo.

“It saddens me what the office compulsion does to families. The pandemic allowed me to get to know my little boy better when he was little. I believe that a very strong attachment relationship has been able to develop partly due to the extra time, when I wasn’t in unnecessary commuting traffic jams.” Man, Helsinki

Especially coding is considered suitable for remote communication. A rough stereotype is of an employee who alone and independently taps the keyboard at home.

Lampinen admits that it can be “just fine” for some, but a new angle opens up from the management tip.

“We had a joke about the customer wanting a hammock, but they get something completely different when there was no communication.”

In Lampinen’s opinion, a good coder understands his solution and doesn’t just do what he’s told. That understanding requires communication, meetings face-to-face or over coffee.

Lampinen especially criticizes Microsoft’s Teams program, which has become one of the standards for holding remote meetings. In the Teams meetings that Lampinen experienced, few kept the camera on.

Co-workers turned into characterless initials.

“Now in the hybrid model, where there are more office days than remote days, I have experienced a tightening of the distance with other coworkers. There will be no rush at home with small micro-breaks. The increased pressure in the office consumes more of the social battery, when you have to be “present” all the time, laugh at colleagues’ bad jokes, and work is interrupted more easily.” Woman, Espoo.

Lampinen in my opinion, there is no need for a complete ban on remote work like Amazon.

For him, it depends on the company and the industry. Expert work can require days when you focus on something in your own circumstances.

He thinks that companies should make strict rules of the game. This eliminates the gray area between work and home.

How many days should I visit the branch as a minimum?

“Even two days of shared time at the office, where everyone would come. I think it’s more efficient than when we had 50 percent at home and 50 percent remote, because nobody was in the same place at the same time.”