The risks of working from home

I was reminiscing about this long-since disappeared institution with a Canberra public servant who was toying with the idea of taking up smoking as an opportunity to stand around outside the building to catch up on the gossip (and receiving early warnings of office scheming).

Informal conversation and coincidences are important.

It may be that working from home is more efficient if the worker already knows who are in the rest of the team. Personal contacts have already been made. The problem will increase as the isolation continues and new teams are formed. A stranger may have difficulty fitting into newly formed work teams

Third, networks represent net worth. Working diligently from home in splendid isolation, even with LinkedIn, Zoom and email, may not provide the opportunity for developing the social capital that comes from being in the right spot at the right time. Increasingly work is found via informal contacts and networks. Social capital is vital.

Finally, there is the larger social impact of COVID19 and social distancing. This taps into the broader trend of working from home and buying goods on online to have them delivered at home (rather than indulge in meeting people while shopping).

Isolation has many downsides. It is contributing to mental health issues. With all the improvements made in physical healthcare (better food and water, sanitation, cleaner air, and people taking more exercise), the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that mental health will overtake physical health to be this century's main source healthcare issues.

The UK now has a minister for loneliness to address this risk. (US late-night TV comedian Stephen Colbert satirized the appointment and attracted huge criticism for his trivializing the problem that the UK government is seeking to address). Perhaps Australia should follow the UK example?

In short, working from home has some advantages but we also need to be aware of the risks.