# Will you go back to the office? **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Tags:** poll\ **Created:** [December 7, 2020, 3:42pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417 "2020-12-07T15:42:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SpaceLobster](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/spacelobster/32/38216_2.png) [@SpaceLobster](https://community.goactuary.com/u/SpaceLobster)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 3:42pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/1 "2020-12-07T15:42:15Z")
_Poll ([view on site](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/1))_ Vote and comment. ---
**Author:** ![NormalDan](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/normaldan/32/1013_2.png) [@NormalDan](https://community.goactuary.com/u/NormalDan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/2 "2020-12-07T15:46:00Z")
Well, it’s my preference to go back part of the week (2-3 days would be my preference). I imagine it’ll be my employer’s preference eventually, although it’s pretty slow going thus far (still at 0 days in office and not much of a peep about any legit timeframe for us going back in). So I’m not sure how to answer the poll… I went with yes because it’s my preference ---
**Author:** ![SpaceLobster](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/spacelobster/32/38216_2.png) [@SpaceLobster](https://community.goactuary.com/u/SpaceLobster)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/3 "2020-12-07T15:46:37Z")
I’ll be returning only rarely/occassionally as needed to work with staff (mostly that’ll be co-op students). Maybe once a week. I’m set up with a sweet WFH office, and have been WFH for much of the past 20 years so this year hasn’t been really a change for me. My ‘office’ (just a desk or two) is in one of those startup incubator open office environments. Rows of desks with no partitioning all in one huge room. Wasn’t a big fan of the layout even before I was aware that every surface was probably crawling with deadly viruses. It’s great from the perspective of other people (lots going on) but not so much otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![ao\_fan](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/ao_fan/32/143_2.png) [@ao\_fan](https://community.goactuary.com/u/ao_fan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/4 "2020-12-07T15:59:04Z")
I don’t actually know what my employer will ultimately decide, but I’m guessing post pandemic, they are going to be much more flexible with working part time from home. As to when this will be, unsure. I can guess that I’ll be mostly in the office, but wfh sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Celalta](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/celalta/32/302_2.png) [@Celalta](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Celalta)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 4:01pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/5 "2020-12-07T16:01:01Z")
Something between 60-70% of the people at my work have decided to WFH permanently, so TPTB are consolidating/moving the remaining people who want to come back to the office on a regular (4-5 days a week) basis into half the space inclusive of hoteling spaces for those of us who will be in less regularly (I expect to be in 2-3 times a month when we get back to a semblance of normality). ---
**Author:** ![BG5150](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/bg5150/32/38521_2.png) [@BG5150](https://community.goactuary.com/u/BG5150)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/6 "2020-12-07T16:04:16Z")
I’m already back in the office full time, and have been since June 1 ---
**Author:** ![ao\_fan](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/ao_fan/32/143_2.png) [@ao\_fan](https://community.goactuary.com/u/ao_fan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/7 "2020-12-07T16:09:44Z")
voted “yes because it’s my employers preference”, but it might be my preference too. I don’t actually know what will happen though. Probably won’t happen until next summer based on how it sounds like the vaccine is rolling out. ---
**Author:** ![BruteForce](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/bruteforce/32/175_2.png) [@BruteForce](https://community.goactuary.com/u/BruteForce)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/8 "2020-12-07T16:14:22Z")
I was WFH before, and will stay indefinitely I hope. So I answered No. ---
**Author:** ![Ted\_Hoffman](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/ted_hoffman/32/83127_2.png) [@Ted\_Hoffman](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Ted_Hoffman)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 5:00pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/9 "2020-12-07T17:00:30Z")
Kind of this, kind of NormalDan. Mrs. Hoffman says I need to be back in the office so I have social interaction with other people who actually understand what I do, and certainly some meetings will be easier to do in-person. (She’s not wrong.) I’d like to do it up to 3 days a week, and I think my employer will be supportive of that, but my employer will dictate when that happens and that’s currently penciled in as Spring 2021. That said, I kind of _don’t_ want to be in the office any time soon. Or, when we go back to being in the office I want it to be say 2 weeks on, 4 weeks off. My dad is 7 hours away from me and getting old and feeble and needs kind of constant attention so he can live on his own [no, he doesn’t want to go to assisted living; he’d still need kind of constant attention, and he’s not suited for a nursing home], so I’d need to be out for a couple weeks at a time to help siblings out as we all take turns with him. The easiest way to do that right now is to simply be WFH where it really doesn’t matter where I’m at. ---
**Author:** ![NormalDan](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/normaldan/32/1013_2.png) [@NormalDan](https://community.goactuary.com/u/NormalDan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/10 "2020-12-07T18:07:54Z")
> [@Ted\_Hoffman](#): > > That said, I kind of _don’t_ want to be in the office any time soon. Or, when we go back to being in the office I want it to be say 2 weeks on, 4 weeks off. I’m hopeful this will be the future we’re in store for. I think it was The Economist who made the argument that the whole concentration of working in an office is really just a remnant of what Industrialization did in bringing people from working in their individual homes to working in factories. Of course there’s still value in being in person for training and developing relationships, but I think there’s a fair bit to be gained simply by being more thoughtful in how much in person work is done and where that in-person setting actually is. ---
**Author:** ![dr\_t\_non-fan](https://community.goactuary.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@dr\_t\_non-fan](https://community.goactuary.com/u/dr_t_non-fan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/11 "2020-12-07T18:22:27Z")
If I go back in, it would be one or two days max per week. And even those days, I’d probably go to lunch then head straight home afterward. ---
**Author:** ![OldTimer](https://community.goactuary.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/8797f3/32.png) [@OldTimer](https://community.goactuary.com/u/OldTimer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 6:30pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/12 "2020-12-07T18:30:30Z")
So a 2 hour day in the office? ---
**Author:** ![dr\_t\_non-fan](https://community.goactuary.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@dr\_t\_non-fan](https://community.goactuary.com/u/dr_t_non-fan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/13 "2020-12-07T18:47:47Z")
Well, I’d work from home the rest of the day. Beat the traffic and all. ---
**Author:** ![Ted\_Hoffman](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/ted_hoffman/32/83127_2.png) [@Ted\_Hoffman](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Ted_Hoffman)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/14 "2020-12-07T19:50:31Z")
Just go in for lunch. Especially if lunch is really good there. ---
**Author:** ![NormalDan](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/normaldan/32/1013_2.png) [@NormalDan](https://community.goactuary.com/u/NormalDan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/15 "2020-12-07T20:11:41Z")
😆 I’m going in 2 days a week and I’ll be leaving early those days to WFH. ---
**Author:** ![LuckyHat](https://community.goactuary.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/e68b1a/32.png) [@LuckyHat](https://community.goactuary.com/u/LuckyHat)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 9:39pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/16 "2020-12-07T21:39:09Z")
I was likely one of the first to be back in the office in May. Its 7 months later and only 1 of my friends are back at the office (and he is self employed at an office with 2 people). Its a little weird knowing that everyone went into quarantine for almost 8 months when I only did 6 weeks. Some of the people I know that have been WFH all year seem like totally different people. Like a great stress was lifted from their shoulders, almost like a retired person feels. I have mixed feelings about it. But I chose to be back at the office, it was not required. made this bed, lying in it now. ---
**Author:** ![NormalDan](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/normaldan/32/1013_2.png) [@NormalDan](https://community.goactuary.com/u/NormalDan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 9:52pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/17 "2020-12-07T21:52:49Z")
> [@LuckyHat](#): > > Some of the people I know that have been WFH all year seem like totally different people. Like a great stress was lifted from their shoulders, almost like a retired person feels. Yeah it has definitely affected me mentally. I had just changed jobs to one with a longer commute at the start of COVID and I’ve yet to have to really do the commute. I was ready to feel a bit like I’m just home for a couple hours in the evening and to sleep during the week and yet now I’m here to read nap time story to my kids in the middle of the day. ---
**Author:** ![The\_President](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/the_president/32/70075_2.png) [@The\_President](https://community.goactuary.com/u/The_President)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 10:25pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/18 "2020-12-07T22:25:15Z")
I prefer working from home. My employer has hinted that they expect to be flexible, so I think it will generally come down to who my manager is at the time, and their preferences, but I’d say most people in my department were pretty flexible prior to COVID, and we have done a good job managing the transition, so there really is no reason for management to ask everyone to be in 5 days a week. I’d say I would go in a few days a month, or maybe up to twice a week, but unless the right people are also in on those days, it may not matter much unless the core team would agree on a set schedule. ---
**Author:** ![ALivelySedative](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/alivelysedative/32/1337_2.png) [@ALivelySedative](https://community.goactuary.com/u/ALivelySedative)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 2:11am UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/19 "2020-12-08T02:11:35Z")
Been back since July. ---
**Author:** ![ao\_fan](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/ao_fan/32/143_2.png) [@ao\_fan](https://community.goactuary.com/u/ao_fan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417/20 "2020-12-08T02:14:55Z")
Are there others there or just you? I could go back right now and it would not be all that risky cause almost nobody else would be there. So far I only worked in the office a handful of days since this started in march. Usually I had a reason though to need to get away from my apartment [Next page](https://community.goactuary.com/t/will-you-go-back-to-the-office/1417.md?page=2)