4 years ago today, the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization

[just444]

4 years ago today, the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. pic.twitter.com/D26U6vbFkd
- Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 11, 2024

source 2On March 11 2020 the WHO declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic

Comments

[barbaraplease]

this feels so long ago

it was my introduction to permanently working from home, and it made me realize I never want to be in an office again

[cstoffer]

Time since 2016 (the year we went off the correct timeline) has been super weird.

I’m the opposite. My first month of full time wfh made me realise that I will never ever take a remote office job.

[swissbeauty23]

if anything, I am grateful for WFH being normalized

[krystiocracy]

I wish there weren't so many managers trying to revert back to pre-pandemic office culture. especially when they try to claim that they embrace the hybrid model. make up your mind

[barbaraplease]

I just got a new manager, and I'm lucky she is totally cool with me not being in the office at all

like she said, it doesn't make sense to go into the office just to be on Teams all day

[krystiocracy]

I broke down in tears in a review with my boss on Friday because I have a slew of mental health issues that make certain time and task management things difficult for me. it felt very much like he was trying to guilt me into being in the office as much as possible bc they spent a fuck ton of money on a new office and they want people there. all while their policy is 3 days/week in office which is what I agreed to but just because I struggle with some things he wants to be able to lear over my shoulder as much as possible. it just made me feel even worse about myself bc bosses like this do not know how to be compassionate about these things like at all

all while we already learned during COVID that hybrid work helps people who struggle like I do??? like idk I kinda hope he feels bad about it bc he should lol. anyway sorry for the rant I just needed to get it off my chest <3

[pseudonygma]

Can you maybe speak to HR about it? Ask what type of improvement they're looking for if your manager is serious about changing the work environment from hybrid (what you sign up for and what everyone initially agreed on) to full time in-office. What exactly does management expect to get from you that they're supposedly not getting now? If this is just your manager starting drama over nothing, HR is going to tell them to back off. HR is more likely to be on your side if they sense that your manager is directly impeding on your ability to do your job if you've been consistently delivering results

[la_loony]

*hugs*
I'm so sorry your boss is an idiot like that and instead of figuring out how to help you making things worse :(

[sarahvma]

"The hybrid model" just feels like an excuse to punish/hold back people who WFH.

[krystiocracy]

no but for real

[pseudonygma]

It depends... I think if you're angling for raises and promotions, it's probably easier to get it if you work in office since you'll no longer be just a name on the screen.

My current job was suppose to be hybrid but it completely switched to being remote now since people are concerned about Covid (my city has great public transportation so a lot of people would be coming in by bus and subway instead of driving). Every meeting managers would have to tell people to please turn off their cameras because everyone is desperate to make an impression--and you know what? Turning on their cameras when they popped into a meeting a few minutes earlier helped because other than the 3 who kept doing it, no one else knew what anyone looked like so it was incredibly awkward going into our department's Christmas dinner, lmao.

[nyse]

A lot of it is both pushback towards and reasserting control over employees - a mindset of “Employees shouldn’t be dictating to their employers” and also the more material aspect (which they’ll never volunteer this info) of the fact that they hold multi-year leases on office space or own entire buildings/lots/garages and they are losing money because they are obligated to keep paying for the rent, utilities, upkeep and without “enough” revenue generated to cover the costs

Open to being corrected on this if anyone else is more knowledgeable on how this works for companies!

[almostlawyer]

They tried making me go back and I just quit. I ain't nobody got time for that

[sarahvma]

I have to go in-office on Wednesday and I'm acting like it's the single biggest imposition in the world. Yet I used to do it five days a week?

I mean, not to downplay the endless horror of the last four years, but I can take that one scrap of niceness (WFH) out of it and I will.

[hardto_remember]

Same! It was such a strong realization. I was always 100% in person, even when given the option but since the pandemic it's become unbearable to be in the traffic, the office, to have so many hours of life stolen like that.

[weighty_ghost]

After locking myself in my office today trying to block out my chatty AF coworkers, I dream of wfh days. People have lost all social awareness