Professional and Career Topics

When the pandemic started we had a sudden shift to working from home.  Because I work in transit I was not part of that, with the exception of two weeks.  

We are currently experiencing a big push to return to the office.  Unlike the start of work from home it is taking longer and workers have somewhat more say in how it is happening.

 As someone who always had to go into work I am curious about how people are feeling and if there were any surprises in returning to the office.

• Were you against returning to the office?
• If you are back in the office are you finding that there are some advantages? 
• Because you worked from home are you doing more work at the end of the day at home than you did before working from home?
• How have the hours worked changed, now that you are spending more time in the office?
• Has your employer allowed you control of where you work?
• Is there some aspect of this change that you did not expect that is either good or bad?
• What can we learn from this latest change in work expectations?

I remember after working from home for only for a week that I had trepidation in going out and returning to work, but as the time went on I was actually grateful to be going to work because I did not experience the isolation that I heard some people talk about.

Thank you for your input, I look forward to finding out more about other people's experiences and perhaps learning something that will help me in my own work experience,

Best regards,

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Sarah Halsey P.E., M.ASCE
New York NY
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Haven't worked from home in over four years. I still have some staff work from home two days a week. We've capped it at that for some time now. There are a lot of hidden costs in wfh; utility costs, and creating functional work space. I have a nice desktop setup at work but using a work laptop at home doesn't cut it and I would not use my home pc for anything work related. I have an ergonomic workstation at work that is comfortable for a full work day. Not so at home. No access to files, printers, plotters hobbles what can be done at home. Easy ability to contact or impromptu meet with colleagues to handle issues at work can't be overstated. Working from home tends to give the impression that one is disconnected.

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Yance Marti P.E., M.ASCE
Civil Engineer IV
City of Milwaukee
Milwaukee WI
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Getting back to meeting without zoom and eye to eye contact is happening. In my opinion faster the better!

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I had been taught by my father it's better to be silent and anything expected from above your seniors colleagues or general manager. They're clear thinking and solved all problems already. Nothing being prestigious issues, no pain in the inner self you doubt that the heart the layers above are more flexible I got it from father when similarly happened to me at the age of 67. I may not be grasped for CO2. 

Vr. Er. Alex Thomas FIE MASCE FIV PEng 

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Alex Thomas R.Eng, C.Eng, M.ASCE
Senior Site Engineer
Geo Structurals Pvt Ltd
CochinAlexThomasR.Eng, C.Eng, M.ASCEIndia
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-15-2025 11:30 AM
From: Len Andersen
Subject: What is your experience of the current shift of returning to the office

Getting back to meeting without zoom and eye to eye contact is happening. In my opinion faster the better!

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We have always been hybrid. It works best that way.  

1) We have access to team members that live across the U.S. Given the specialized nature of what we do, we can have the experts we need regardless of where they want to live.

2) After spending 30 years going in to an office, I find that I can communicate more effectively through Teams, Zoom, Skype. I don't get bothered and distracted by people coming to my cubical thinking I'm a secretary, or asking me questions that distract me from my focus.  (Even when I have my head phones on)

3) The team gets more complete answers to technical questions.  If someone need to understand something or get a standard or references, a quick question on Teams will usually get them to the source or answer much faster. This allows for more efficient use of time.

4) We don't waste valuable time commuting to and from work. During my office time, many of my collegues had hour + commutes each way. This lead to obesity and heart disease. Heart attacks and significant health issues were prevalent in these colleagues. With a few unfortunately dying before their time. Resulting in many cases huge loss of expertise. If you spend 2-3 hours in a car everyday.. that is 10-11 hours out of 24 hour day.  Then if you work out to try and offset that, it is 11-12 hours. Now add 8 hours of sleep time (if you even do that) and your life is now cut down to 4-5 hours.  But we all know we work more than 8 hours a day.. so now what is your life?  You had better hope you love your job, because that is all you have.

Where you do have to make concessions is in "raising" new engineers.  It is important to make sure they have quality time with good mentors. That is why any new engineers need to be close to one of our office locations. Even then, 5 days a week in the office is not necessary.  But people don't typically mind going to the office to help with young engineer development. 

The point is... if you have a purpose, other than just "being there", then people thrive in the office.  However, if you have serious work to do, listening to someone talk to their spouse at a large decible or josh around at the water cooler isn't helpful or productive.

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Amber Kasbeer P.E., M.ASCE
Civil Engineer
Lorton VA
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• Were you against returning to the office?

Not at all.  It all depends on one's assignments.  In my case, I can do most of my work on my own.  I think it should be on an individual basis.  

• If you are back in the office are you finding that there are some advantages? 

No advantage for me.  Mostly disadvantages.  I go to the office only to hold virtual meetings with collaborators.  WAT? In my case, our department switched us all to laptops with docking stations at home and office. The only advantage that I can think of is the ability to print at the office.  However, we are moving more and more into electronic signatures.  Those make printing unnecessary.

• Because you worked from home are you doing more work at the end of the day at home than you did before working from home?

If you mean more work preparing for work the night before?  Then, yes.  Otherwise, I am far more productive at home than at the office.  My bathroom is a few steps away and I do not need to use a card key when I return from a trip to the bathroom.  No distractions from co-workers.

• How have the hours worked changed, now that you are spending more time in the office?

At home, I can wake up at 5:55 and log in by 6:00. At 4:30, I log out and am I already at home. Easy peasy.  At the office, I have to wake up at 4:00, to leave at 5:00 so that I can log in by 6:00.  Then, at the end of the day, I leave at 4:30 and navigate traffic, getting home around 5:45.  

• Has your employer allowed you control of where you work?

Yes.  I can "hotel" at one of the many of our offices around the city.  

• Is there some aspect of this change that you did not expect that is either good or bad?

Sadly, pandemic changed many things.  One of the more permanent changes was the commuter buses canceled some routes.  Pre-pandemic, I could ride the bus.  The bus stop was across the street from my office.  Now, I have to make a transfer in downtown.  The schedule also changed.  Previously, I could start work at 6:15, now, the earliest I can start, when/if I commute, is 7:00. 

The good part is when I go to the Yard to work from that office.  I find that the face-to-face meetings have helped me push my projects along.  

• What can we learn from this latest change in work expectations?

That our bosses tend to use a one-size fits all approach.  That inflexibility does disservice to some.  In my case, I was on a hybrid schedule before pandemic.  Regardless of the policies, we will make it work.  It's not THAT bad.

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Sergio Mendoza P.E., M.ASCE
Engineer C
City of Austin
Austin TX
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When Covid hit hard, we all left the office and worked from home and it lasted around 18 months. The new CEO was old school and liked to see butts in seats. I got used to the 50' commute vs the 25 miles one way from home to bus and bus to work downtown. We seemed to get the work out. Some people could not handle all the family interruptions and came back after a month or 2. I brought my reference books home that were not online. I brought home the 2 work monitors and paired them with my 2 home monitors and had four 27" screens to move windows to. We did miss the personal contact and created a daily virtual coffee break among the people we used to go to coffee with at the office. 

When the CEO wanted us back, they only brought 25% to maintain the 6' rule and staggered days. After a month or 2 of that, we all came back when the rules were relaxed but had to wear masks. Masks on the bus, masks at work. I put mine on a lanyard so I could mask up in a few seconds. When someone was Covid positive and we were exposed, we returned home for 10 days to work.

It is funny that since we were all used to virtual WebEx/Zoom/Teams for 18 months, 90% of meetings now are still virtual even though we are all back at work. 

The company has a flex work schedule, and we can work from home 2 days with 3 days in the office. We also do 9/80 with every other Friday off, but you cannot blend the 2. After over 50 years with the company, I get 6 weeks' vacation so I start taking the other Friday off and only work 4 days a week starting in March.

I think we got more work out when WFH because the PC was only 50' away and I can work much more than my scheduled 9 hours when needed. 

It depends on your personality. If you are task driven and want to do a good job and finish projects, you put in the hours. If you goof off and play solitaire 80% of the day, you are going to goof off at home.

I didn't mind going back to the office too much to talk to friends I had not seen for 1.5 years, but getting up at 4:15 am to take the 5:30 bus and be in the office at 6am does get old. I do get back home around 5pm and repeat the process.

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George Watson P.E., M.ASCE
CenterPoint Energy
Houston TX
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Thank you to everyone who has responded so far.  

There are so many variables that change our experience of whether WFH or office is better. 

Part of the reason I started this thread is I have a friend in publishing who is glad that there is mandatory hybrid work at the office because the newer hires were not as effective due to not having met and established relations with the other people who are critical to getting things done but might not be in the same meetings.  The kind of peripheral relationships we have by seeing people in the office.

I manage 2 locations and find that I need to show up at both because people tell me things when they see me that they don't if the only communications are electronic.  However, I work with tradespeople, not engineers.

People keep mentioning printing, I hate printing because it wastes paper, but I have found that when I or others completely don't print out drawings mistakes can easily be missed.

Of course, so many responses also hinge on the employer and how they accommodate their employees.  Workplace satisfaction and retention comes down to how supervision/management treats their people, a small amount of flexibility and support has huge benefits for employers.  It seems that many employers are unable to see this and engage in calculations that over estimate the cost of supporting their staff and underestimate the benefits that come from making people happy.

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Sarah Halsey P.E., M.ASCE
New York NY
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Hi all - wanted to chime into the discussion as I've always been a proponent of working at the office, but that's for myself and I recognize that it's not necessarily suitable for everyone.

• Were you against returning to the office?  Definitely not, in fact, I made the case to my company to come back to the office earlier than my colleagues during the pandemic as hardly anyone was in the office, so the potential for cross-contamination was quite minimal, but we had disinfectant available all over the place.  My commute has always been 20 minutes or less, so I didn't have that as a concern.  I actually find the commute beneficial in transitioning in and out of "work mode".
• If you are back in the office are you finding that there are some advantages? I like the random conversations that spur new ideas on project and find it easier to ask people face-to-face or point to an actual drawing or sketch and come up with solutions that way.  Plus, I live alone and the isolation during Covid was definitely difficult for me.
• Because you worked from home are you doing more work at the end of the day at home than you did before working from home?  I do more work at the office because I usually don't leave after 8 hours, I extend my workday until my brain tells me to stop.  I also don't work on Fridays, so it all evens out.  At home, I did find myself working Monday through Friday and doing exactly 8 hours as there were more distractions around the house, like cleaning, laundry, pursuing my hobbies, that aren't distractions if I am at the office.  I find that I consider my home my relaxation space and prefer to keep it that way, although I do have a separate room that is an office, but I only use it when I need to be at home for a delivery or contractor.
• How have the hours worked changed, now that you are spending more time in the office? see above, I work until my brain tells me to stop, sometimes that's 8 hours, sometimes 10 hours, sometimes 12 hours....
• Has your employer allowed you control of where you work?  Yes, but my employer is in the office full time and so it helps for their employees to be in the office sometimes.  However, we also have junior staff and I think in-person interactions to coach and teach younger staff is essential for engagement.  I wouldn't be in my career (26 years now) where I am now if I didn't have that one-on-one training early in my career.
• Is there some aspect of this change that you did not expect that is either good or bad? one that I can think of.
• What can we learn from this latest change in work expectations? I think it's more advantageous for senior staff to work from home as long as they are not mentoring or training younger staff as it probably allows for less distractions; however, it is nice to see them in the office every once in awhile.  We have a staff member that works primarily from home, but she does come to the office as necessary for meetings, field work, or to train younger staff as may be needed. I believe jr. staff need to be in the office and often it is necessary as we go out in teams to do field work.  

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Angela Hintz P.E., M.ASCE
Senior Project Engineer
Buffalo NY
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My experience is similar to yours.

I hate working from home alone, but I appreciate the ability to do so when necessary (waiting on a contractor to get to the house, feeling better but still within a window of being contagious, etc.) I like for home to be a place of relaxation, not somewhere I associate with working. I enjoy my job, but I don't want to do it at my house. Even on the very rare occasion that I need to handle something for work on a weekend, I'd rather go over to the office to do it.

I learned so much in my early career just from overhearing those around me solve problems together. I would have never been on that call or in that chat thread if we were remote. By simply sitting next to a PE and project manager, I heard how he handled challenges. I could not have learned those same things from a PowerPoint presentation on project management; some things you just need to observe firsthand. 

Another benefit of being in the office is that when someone asks a question, sometimes a third person will jump in with another solution, and both the question asker and the question answerer learn another way to do something. This happens a lot with CAD questions but sometimes with engineering questions too.

I do get interrupted frequently at the office, but most of the time those interruptions are beneficial overall even if it means I may have to spend a few extra hours of concentrated time later. The interruptions are usually questions about resources, code interpretation, design, etc. By helping answer the question or pointing them to a source, I've saved the overall group time. At the end of the day, I'm here to contribute to the growth and success of those around me, and that means I'm going to be interrupted. 

The final benefit I'll mention is cross-department interpersonal interactions. If I were remote, I would have very little reason to interact with many of the people I see on a daily basis in the office. Having lunch in a conference room with accountants and members of the human resources team in which we don't even talk about work builds a sense of community and office culture that I don't believe can be cultivated remotely. Some may not think there is benefit in that, but there's something about feeling connected to your colleagues that shouldn't be discounted when looking at the work environment and employee satisfaction. 

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Heidi C. Wallace, P.E., M.ASCE
Tulsa, OK
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-24-2025 09:55 AM
From: Angela Hintz
Subject: What is your experience of the current shift of returning to the office

Hi all - wanted to chime into the discussion as I've always been a proponent of working at the office, but that's for myself and I recognize that it's not necessarily suitable for everyone.

• Were you against returning to the office?  Definitely not, in fact, I made the case to my company to come back to the office earlier than my colleagues during the pandemic as hardly anyone was in the office, so the potential for cross-contamination was quite minimal, but we had disinfectant available all over the place.  My commute has always been 20 minutes or less, so I didn't have that as a concern.  I actually find the commute beneficial in transitioning in and out of "work mode".
• If you are back in the office are you finding that there are some advantages? I like the random conversations that spur new ideas on project and find it easier to ask people face-to-face or point to an actual drawing or sketch and come up with solutions that way.  Plus, I live alone and the isolation during Covid was definitely difficult for me.
• Because you worked from home are you doing more work at the end of the day at home than you did before working from home?  I do more work at the office because I usually don't leave after 8 hours, I extend my workday until my brain tells me to stop.  I also don't work on Fridays, so it all evens out.  At home, I did find myself working Monday through Friday and doing exactly 8 hours as there were more distractions around the house, like cleaning, laundry, pursuing my hobbies, that aren't distractions if I am at the office.  I find that I consider my home my relaxation space and prefer to keep it that way, although I do have a separate room that is an office, but I only use it when I need to be at home for a delivery or contractor.
• How have the hours worked changed, now that you are spending more time in the office? see above, I work until my brain tells me to stop, sometimes that's 8 hours, sometimes 10 hours, sometimes 12 hours....
• Has your employer allowed you control of where you work?  Yes, but my employer is in the office full time and so it helps for their employees to be in the office sometimes.  However, we also have junior staff and I think in-person interactions to coach and teach younger staff is essential for engagement.  I wouldn't be in my career (26 years now) where I am now if I didn't have that one-on-one training early in my career.
• Is there some aspect of this change that you did not expect that is either good or bad? one that I can think of.
• What can we learn from this latest change in work expectations? I think it's more advantageous for senior staff to work from home as long as they are not mentoring or training younger staff as it probably allows for less distractions; however, it is nice to see them in the office every once in awhile.  We have a staff member that works primarily from home, but she does come to the office as necessary for meetings, field work, or to train younger staff as may be needed. I believe jr. staff need to be in the office and often it is necessary as we go out in teams to do field work.  

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Angela Hintz P.E., M.ASCE
Senior Project Engineer
Buffalo NY
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Many carefully listed items and thoughtful discussions on this thread. Hope, all will see the benefit of being back in an office work environment.

There was also a relevant thread about a year ago – in the banner of Communication as part of the engineering skills set. As part of the importance of chatty or informal communications, I have shared my thoughts on the benefit of working in an office environment: I always benefit from chatty exchanges (. . . ) – during coffee and lunch breaks in office. This is where we get energy from and give energy to colleagues and friends.

Dilip

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Dr. Dilip K Barua, Ph.D

Website Links and Profile

Our experience following the pandemic was that we all learned how to work remotely, using the tools available (zoom, chat, text, email, and the like).  But interpersonal problems developed to a greater extent due to the communication limitations.  Emails and texts were misunderstood, people weren't sure what others were doing (were they working?, why haven't they responded?). From the perspective of the team and work production, working from home was good, but working in the office was better. So we all went back to the office.

But we lost a few employee who wanted to work from home and were able to find employers that would accommodate them.

We also decided to equip all employees with laptops (no more desktops) and docking stations and monitors at their homes.  This was so that we could all work from home on short notice (snowstorms, future pandemics, whatever).

We also let people work 9-hour days Monday-Thursday in the office and 1/2 day on Friday from home.

Just this year when recruiting new employees we heard feedback that candidates wanted to work more from home, so we now allow an additional day working at home. The criteria now is 3-full days in the office as a minimum.

Personally, I work at the office everyday, living only 4-miles away, and finding the resources in the office to be useful. Of the 12 of us in this office, four prefer working in the office and the other eight take advantage of the 2-days at home.

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Renee Kimball A.M.ASCE
K2N Crest
Oak Brook IL
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