One of the things that ended my house and land search was the lack of a hybrid-work schedule were I worked. Many of the places I considered living would have been doable had I only had to commute to work 2-3 times a week, but a five day week commute would have been difficult at or above the 30 mile range from my office, which is where most of the properties I found that even somewhat sparked my interest — at the edge of “deep rural”.

With my job, there really is no reason why I couldn’t work remote at least a few days a week, and indeed I may seek out some opportunities come the fall, especially when I need to be switching between my state job and data work I do on the side for the campaign committee. Indeed, plenty of other state agencies are now offering hybrid-arrangements, but not my employer. Instead, we are only remote-work with a granted exception to the full-time in-person schedule.

The thing is this may have to change. When I was recruiting and hiring people, several people turned down the position due to the mandatory in-person schedule. Some may have sought work at lower-pay with our competitors — other state agencies — because they offered greater flexibility with their work-from-home policies. Full-time in office for positions that can be done remotely is not only an enormous waste of time and fuel for employees when commuting, it also is very anti-family. Especially for as an employer, where we always try to put people’s families first, with allowing people to take-off when they need, or when they have a reason to work from home. But still, it would be nice if we could guarantee everybody could work remote at least a few days a week. It’s getting hard to competitive without a hybrid-option on the table.

I get the benefits of being in-person, at least a few days a week. You build connection in-person, especially during meetings and when talking to one and another. You develop close bonds and friendship. Much is lost over cold-written email and phone calls. It’s hard to learn or understand office-culture without being in-person. Zoom meetings aren’t a good substitute for real meetings, as they drag on too long and it’s too much about image, not interpersonal conversation. But in-person meetings don’t have to happen every day.

Alas, if I was permanently hybrid, I would have to get at home internet. But let’s face the truth, it would still be cheaper then commuting each day, save a ton of time, and it would open up so many more possibilities for living arrangements then the mandatory in-office 5-days a week.