Remote First at Quora
Working remotely has a very high cost, but it only gets visible in the long term.<p>Working from home isolates you. There is no way around this. You lose the one huge opportunity in adult life for making new relationships - and that&#x27;s at work, in the office.<p>For the company, people that work remote start drifting away from the company vision and spirit - you get an army of people working individually most of the time, not socializing, not establishing strong bonds. If personal contact wasn&#x27;t important, we could raise our kids remotely.<p>I have some friend who have been working at a company who went remote-first and after 5 years they do not feel identified with the company anymore. It&#x27;s just a job. You could work for someone else and you wouldn&#x27;t even notice.<p>Also, working from home is only as convenient as your life situation allows it. Have kids? Bad luck. Live in the city because you enjoy city life? Sorry you have to convert you bedroom into your office during the day because you can&#x27;t afford to have an additional room. You are a people&#x27;s person and feel more energetic and productive when working with others face to face? Well, sorry, your team is mostly remote.<p>Please, let us just top playing down the importance of the office. It is important and it has tons of benefits for the <i>team</i>, as opposed to the benefits for the individuals.