#wfh is there anything not great about remote work?
Picture this: you live in the Philippines but earn USD, the job is task-based (you, yes you, manage your hours), you work at the comfort of just about anywhere, and there's tech allowance to support the best setup you can put up at home - could there still be something not great about it?
This will probably be a #WFHhuman series, but for now, I'll share the most recent realization for me.
February 16, 2024
February 15 in the afternoon Pacific time, and it was packed. I had three meetings scheduled starting at 7AM, ending at 9AM.
The first one was unfortunately a transition call - me, my boss and a US employee we're calling Troy in this journal, doing a walkthrough of his tasks because he was being let go. When I saw the calendar invite the day prior, I thought it would just feel like any other meeting I had to go to - I'd get myself prepped for the camera, drink water, zone myself in for the meeting at least 5 minutes before (vocabulary and grammar has to be summoned, of course) and attend. But boy I was wrong.
At 10 minutes into the call, it felt heavier watching and listening to Troy walk us through his doc. It wasn't the nicest doc but it was still, in all its essence, the last doc he's ever going to make in and for the company; a furnished Google doc that equates to "I'm leaving my tasks to you now, take good care of them."
Well, I had to brush these probably overly comical and dramatic thoughts off, cause I have to focus and make sure I comprehended. It's also the last and only time I can ask questions.
A little over 5 minutes before the call, we were good, and my boss being the respectful and courteous man that he is, had to bid a few words. We ended it afterwards.
With the call ending, I was then free to acknowledge the heavy load I was feeling. Slowly, it sank in how it was one heck of a start to my morning; how it was in every way, depressing. To my realization, this actually is one and two among other things that suck with remote work.
The lack of surety. The reality is, remote employment is not nearly as secure as how local private or government employment is. You can be let go anytime with or without an exit pay, with or without a specific reason. Not all, but most often, clients have considerable freedom without any legal bounds.
A lot of farewells. Given the lack of security, you have to be ready to encounter a lot of farewells - either from colleagues leaving soon from finding a better higher paying job, or from those who were let go, sometimes in the most unprecedented timings.
It's been five+ years now since I transitioned from being in corporate to remote, and it still feels like I'm never prepared for instances like this. Accountants are usually either the last to get offboarded or do not get offboarded at all, so trust me when I say I've offboarded 50+ people already and the seemingly heavy rock still gets its way to my chest every single time. I found myself breaking down at one point.
While great opportunities are everywhere, not everyone's meant to last thriving in these opportunities. If right now you are employed, be grateful and value the paid role you've been given. Do your job right. If right now you are seeking but have all the resources and time to find one, do not waste it. These are all blessings and gifts that many people pray for. I hope you can empathize and acknowledge that others may not be as fortunate, by showing appreciation for what you have.
So, a related insert: to everyone always saying "Kapag ba inubos ko pagkain ko, mabubusog ba yung mga walang makain?", it might be high time to hear yourselves and reconsider.