One positive thing that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic is the large transition to remote work. Of course, a lot of jobs just simply cannot be done remotely such as warehouse, manufacturing, retail stores, etc. But it showed most corporate jobs that you typically imagine the setting of large, open room with cubicles with meeting rooms at the edges, to be largely unnecessary when it comes to doing the job.
During the pandemic, I finally got a break in my job search and got a new job. Moving from retail to corporate IT. I sort of started retail just to make money and it was my first job. Retail during a pandemic was pretty fucked up. Rudest most entitled people you have ever met.
Shit like that. People refusing to wear masks and stuff. Other people who knew they were sick, refused to stay home or wear masks, and then get all super offended when you ask them to put on a mask or leave. They also get super offended that you dared to protect yourself by wearing a mask and want you to remove it. ‘Bunch of grown ass babies.
Anyway…
I left that shit and started my new job as a corporate help desk contractor for a major company. This company already had remote work policies even before the pandemic but went fully remote when COVID hit. I was told we would possibly go back to the office at the end of the year (didn’t happen). Everything I would need was sent to me. Computer, large monitor, docking station, headset, keyboard/mouse, and even a surge protector.
Working in a corporate environment is such a massive difference compared to retail. Never any cutting of hours. Fixed schedule. But the biggest change was the remote work. I started saving a significant amount of money from not driving or buying meals on my lunch break. I didn’t have to spend money on work clothes. It also felt like I had more time left in the day since I no longer had to drive anywhere. I also could work anywhere that had internet and was quiet for me to focus.
There are some downsides…
Unless you have an active social life, there is a large chance you will become more isolated. Especially if you live alone (like I do). This can lead to depression or other mental health issues. Coming from retail, I no longer was doing any physically engaging activities so this required me to start working out to stay in shape. Especially since I was sitting down most of the time now. Related to living alone, normal meal schedules turned into constant snacking which lead to potential eating disorder of either eating too much or too little in an effort to control weight gain/loss.
However, the positives still outweigh the negatives. What’s the point of building your space, your room, your home when you are constantly away from it? Now that I am at home all the time, I can really make my apartment feel like my home now rather than that place I go to when I’m not working. Less driving means less gas, less pollution… which why would I give a shit about that but then that makes you think that things such as rush hour and smog probably would be significantly reduced if remote working was more accepted and utilized.
A few last things I could mention about remote working is the horrible companies that are forcing their employees back to the office despite no performance loss and in many cases, performance improvements. They can just straight up go fuck themselves. In my experience, the majority of corporate jobs can be done remotely with no issues. Almost all of IT can be done remotely with a small team on-site for hardware troubleshooting and maintenance. People that push to return are pretty much the same people that constantly post on LinkedIn about dedicating your life to the job, working 80+ hours a week, using the word hustle, “no one wants to work anymore” or thinking everyone is lazy and they are the hardest working person ever. All while they always worked from home and have tons of free time to shit post online (like Elon Musk).
I guess I’m just trying to find something to talk about to keep my mind busy. This was probably a mess of a post. Is a mess. Okay, Whatever. Done.
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