Further Discussion on Working From Home in the Long Term

Thanks for the input. Many underestimate the expenses of WFH although it is very much related to the nature of the work and one's work habits.

You are welcome. In my case it was a result of cost/benefit analysis. The beneift home office give me versus the associated cost (monetary and non monetary) I assumed are good for me. For example, in my case, I am paying for the internet service but I do not have to go to the office (25 km from my home) and I can manage my work/life time using the time available for not going/returning to the office. In my personal evaluation internet service is something I had in my home and I have to have it no matter I work from home or not. Other example is I do not have an exclusive space in my home to use as an "office". But it does not matter for me because I use a notebook then I can move to the space I consider the best for making my work "happy" and confortable. And the basic thing: nobody in my company can take my time and space. I mean, while I am open to exceptions, I manage my time and space no matter I am involved on programs where the top, top, top management in the company are key stakeholders. At the end, as other things in the life, is up to you.

My concern would be for the less senior employees who cannot dictate their working conditions and may have tighter space at the home front. It costs me about 5000$Can per year for gross home office expenses and I get to deduct it from my income so its quite manageable. But for someone starting out with little capital it may be a bit more of a challenge.

I see the future with more and more professional people going the independent contractor route providing more flexibility for the individual and company advantages with reduced payroll benefits. However, the individual takes on greater employment risk.

Understood. As I tried to pointed out, it is a matter of each person. If you ask me, people must be aware than if they accept to do teleworking (is not the same than home office) there is the ancient strategy that is used by companies which is known like "translate the back-end to the front-end" which is driving by reduce company operation costs. Companies costs are reduced thanks to put people on teleworking. So, we as emplyees must be aware on that. Then, we need to negotiate the conditions. In my company, my position, is consider as a Senior Employeed. No matter that, in my personal line of thinking, that´s not matter for me. There is a cost/benefit relation which is what driven my decisions in my relation with my actual employer, In my cost, cost and benefits are not monetary only, but just the way I think about this.

#3 is quite important in 2 respects- firstly the question of employer contribution towards the expenses such as office furniture, power and in particular heating, also here in the UK part of the home could become liable for business rates too, say if I convert my garage.

The other respect is the portability this enables. If I am working from home it matters little if my employer is a local organisation or one from further afield, the financial comparison becomes much more important.