Letters | Coronavirus pandemic: why home office may not work for everyone

Name: Five positions to help you release tension while working from home: advice from a physiotherapist
Uploaded: 2020-10-10T05:00:08.000Z
Duration: 3 min 29 s
Description: Five positions to help you release tension while working from home: advice from a physiotherapist

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A woman works from home in Noida, in north India, after the Delhi government directed non-essential sectors to work from home. The demands of children and elderly relatives can make working from home challenging for some employees. Photo Illustration: LightRocket via Getty Images)

Letters

Published: 1:00pm, 10 Oct 2020Updated: 1:00pm, 10 Oct 2020

I am writing in response to Peter Kammerer’s “Why I’d happy to work from home post-pandemic and I’m not alone” (September 22). With the fourth wave of Covid-19 looming or perhaps already under way, this takes on added significance.

One line from Mr Kammerer’s piece resonated with me: “Of course, every firm and industry operates differently, so what works for one is not necessarily a formula for another.”

Indeed, from the standpoint of family and social interaction, working from home allows for more flexibility, with no time lost to the daily commute. We can manage our day as we wish and achieve that much-prized work-life balance, spending more time with family members and enhancing interpersonal relationships.

However, if there are small children or dependant elderly relatives at home, we may find them taking up a great deal of our attention and focus, distracting us when we should be concentrating on work meetings, for example. There can also be technical issues, given that most people do not have got a printer, fax or photocopier at home, which can affect efficiency if that equipment need to be used frequently.

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Five positions to help you release tension while working from home: advice from a physiotherapist

Long-term working from home could also impact pay and perks for the employee. The life balance or transport cost savings offered by such work conditions may inspire bosses to offer lower pay in exchange for the convenience. Also, as owners of companies are always profit maximisers, they may buy less in-office equipment and reduce headcount further to cut costs. With so many jobs lost to the pandemic already, this is another risk to look out for.