Is WFH Really Worth It?

As folks hurry back to the office amid the ending of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are asking the question you might be thinking already… “Why even go back to the office?”

In the past 1.5 years since I graduated college in May of 2022, I’ve worked in a virtual workspace as well as an in-person workspace. With my past experiences, I think I can help answer the booming question that has arisen from this pandemic.

My experience working from home

Not long after I graduated college, I started working at Zoom as a BDR (Business Development Representative), and was given the option of working remotely at my apartment in Scottsdale, AZ.

As a past student whose grades rose as a result of working online, I quickly and excitedly chose the option to work from home. I was happy at the idea of not having to wake up and get ready to go to work, and the convenience of working from wherever I please was very attractive.

…Then onboarding came along.

I soon realized that I had more questions than I could find answers to and had little access to the coworkers who could help me answer them. Don’t get me wrong, my Zoom colleagues were very helpful where they could be, but the barrier of online communication made it more difficult to communicate efficiently, ultimately causing it to be harder for me to learn productively.

I can only bug someone so much to get on their laptop, log on, accept my meeting invite, join the call, and help answer my question, just for me to have another question 10 minutes later.

Alongside my problems learning in an online environment, my ability to collaborate and socialize was stunted by meeting everyone through my laptop. Making great connections and networking is often much easier and fun in person, as you really get a sense of the people you are working with. While I enjoyed my time at Zoom and made great connections, something about the experience felt missing.

Shifting into office work

Along came Statsig during the month of April. When I got my job offer to be an SDR (Sales Development Representative) I was told that many employees were highly encouraged to come into the office to work. A stark contrast from Zoom where all employees had the option to work remotely.

I was faced with a similar choice once again. Do I go into the office to work? Or do I find another career where I can work from home like Zoom? I figured I’d do what Statsig already does—A/B test it—and a few short weeks later I was reporting to the office in Bellevue for my first day of work.

With no experience working in an office before, I had some nervousness coming in to work in person. Would I make good connections with my co-workers? Would I learn productively and efficiently? Would moving to Washington be worth it for my career?

As I began my career at Statsig, all my fears were dispelled within the first two months.

For the onboarding process, I realized that being in the office was crucial for me. Having a wide variety of co-workers to consult, ask questions, receive advice from, and interact with allowed me to learn a lot of information, very fast.

Nobody had to go through their laptop to hop on a call with me to help teach me about a subject or answer a question. They were right there, in the same room as me. This easy and convenient access to my co-workers and colleagues allowed me to learn very efficiently while also having fun.

Alongside my productive learning in person, I was also able to easily collaborate and connect with my co-workers. Within the first month, I had already made friends in a way that just wasn’t possible in a virtual environment. We were able to interact beyond just work on a daily basis in between meetings, at lunch, on quick little coffee runs, etc.

Those little interactions helped me form connections with people that I couldn’t do over a Zoom call.

If you’re going to spend time with friends, would you want to hop on a virtual meeting to hang out with them? In the same light, making more meaningful connections with your co-workers is much nicer in person. It’s what makes coming to work every day actually fun.

Working from the office also helped me form a good habit that translated into a daily routine: The fact that I have to get out of bed by a certain time, dress presentably, and drive to work is a form of daily discipline that working virtually never allowed me to have.

The power of human connection

The underlying characteristic that makes working in person better than virtual work is the human aspect of it.

You get to meet people, spend time with them, collaborate, learn from them, or learn with them all in the same room. This is what made school bearable in our youth (for all the folks that also weren’t the biggest fans of going to school), because after all the awful assignments, and boring lectures, there’s a chance you might actually get to meet and make friends with someone. And once you do, you realize that you’ve been on an experience together that would’ve felt quite different had you not met or interacted with them in person.

So if you want to ask the question, “Why should I work in person?”, you’ll have to answer this question first: “Where will I have the most fun?”

Because unlike school, work is supposed to be fun. And if you’re a young 23-year-old like me, that’s a big factor in your career. I want to spend the next few decades before I retire having fun.

I can’t speak for you, but for me, that means spending time with human beings in person. Learning, collaborating, engaging, and making memories with folks that will last you a lifetime.

Thank you to Sami Springman , Jack Virag , and Daniel Wathne for helping me with this post!