COLUMNIST
Work from home?
Really?
By Charles Tan
The new norm needs to be adopted,
but not all of it.
Since the MCO was announced several
months ago, we have been hearing a lot
about the ‘new norm’. The new norm
of leaving your home with a bottle of
sanitizer in your hand and a face mask
on your face. The new norm of taking
your temperature before entering any
premise. The new norm of no shaking
hands. Most of all, we have heard many
people talk about the new norm where
most companies will now abandon their
offices and push for employees to work
from home permanently. Why not right?
After all, if no employees are needed in
an office, the employer doesn’t need
to worry about overheads such as
rental and utility bills. Furthermore, the
employee too saves money on petrol,
toll and parking.
My personal opinion on this matter is
that the new norm in this circumstance
is not that everyone needs to abandon
their offices, instead I believe that
flexibility is now compulsory.
Here are my main reasons why I feel that
the new norm does not mean everyone
will work from home permanently.
Hello… is it me you’re looking for?
If you just smiled to the title of the
above song, you are that of my
generation. That means that you are
probably like me. When you need a
quick confirmation from a colleague,
instead of using zoom (or any other
online meeting software), you prefer
reaching for the phone. However, more
often than not, the person you intended
to call didn’t answer the phone. Then,
two hours later, he returns your call
with the most common excuse. “Sorry
bro, I left my phone somewhere and it
was on silent mode”. A very convincing
lie that you know you aren’t going
to fall for. However, you just accept
his excuse and move on because you
no longer need his opinion. Imagine
the situation if you did ask him for his
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