The Great Debate of 2021: WFH or RTO?

Matter of Opinion

New York Times Opinion

Society & Culture, Ross Douthat, News, New York Times, Journalism

4.2 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 28 July 2021

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You might be someone who has spent a majority of the past year working from home. A survey from October 2020 found 71 percent of American workers turned their apartments into office spaces. But starting this fall, companies are opening up their offices again. The C.E.O. of Morgan Stanley made it clear that its employees have to be back by September. Amazon is hoping for the same. But is returning to in-office work the right move for everyone? Over the next three weeks, we’re going to be focusing on what work could and should look like as we begin to emerge from the pandemic. This week, Jane Coaston is joined by Sean Bisceglia, the C.E.O. of Curion, a consumer insights company, and Anne Helen Petersen, the writer of the newsletter “Culture Study” and the author of “Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation,” to debate the pros and cons of returning to the office. Mentioned in this episode: Sean Bisceglia’s interview with CNN: “Why Some Companies Want Everyone Back in the Office” “Imagine Your Flexible Office Work Future,” by Anne Helen Petersen The Slate podcast episode of “What Next: TBD”: So, What Happens to WFH Now?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today on the argument, is the office dead?
0:14.0	For millions of Americans who have been working from their homes, apartments, basements,
0:18.6	or closets for the past year, there's been a lot of talk about going back to the office
0:23.2	and whether remote work is over.
0:25.6	The past year has made a lot of us wonder.
0:28.0	Do we really need to return to our offices?
0:31.0	Do we work better in an office?
0:32.6	Are we happier or more productive?
0:35.2	And most importantly, does working from home just work for us?
0:41.2	I'm Jane Kostin, and I've been working for my apartment for more than a year now.
0:45.6	Not only that, but I live in DC while most of my colleagues are in New York City.
0:50.0	So I'm always remote from them.
0:52.4	But we're still getting stuff done, like the podcast you're listening to right now.
0:57.2	And so are millions of others who were forced to work remotely.
1:00.6	And now, some of them don't want to go back.
1:03.7	Today, my guest disagree about whether you need to go back to the office.
1:09.4	Anne Helen Peterson is a journalist who studies work culture in Burnett.
1:12.8	She writes the newsletter Culture Study.
1:15.0	She also hasn't worked in an office since 2017.
1:18.8	Sean Baschelia is the CEO of Curian, a consumer insights company that's trying to get people
1:24.0	back in the office currently 50% of the time.
1:33.2	Thank you both so much for joining me.
	...

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