Good morning.

We regret to inform you that somebody in HR has discovered patterns.

Specifically:

Friday.

Monday.

Remote work.

Long weekend.

Apparently spreadsheets were involved.

This is why we can’t have nice things.

Let’s get to work.

Hybrid work sounded simple when companies first rolled it out.

Three days in the office.

Two days remote.

Everybody wins.

Then employees discovered calendars.

Friday at home.

Weekend.

Monday at home.

Suddenly a two-day remote policy had become a four-day stretch away from the office.

Bank of America recently tightened its work-from-home rules to prevent employees from stacking remote days consecutively in ways that create long stretches away from the office.

The overall hybrid policy remains.

The flexibility inside it got smaller.

And that says something interesting about where hybrid work has landed.

At first, companies were asking:

Can people work remotely?

Then:

Should people work remotely?

Now:

Exactly which Tuesday are we talking about?

Companies have discovered that “three days in the office” can mean several very different things.

Employees hear:

Three days.

Companies sometimes mean:

These three days.

That distinction matters.

One version gives workers control over their lives.

The other gives companies control over occupancy.

Neither side is being irrational.

Companies want predictable collaboration.

Employees want flexibility to be flexible.

Hybrid work simply exposed a truth about workplace policy:

The sentence is always easier than the implementation.

A company writes:

Employees are expected in office three days per week.

Sixty thousand people immediately begin solving the optimization problem.

This is why HR eventually arrives with a spreadsheet.

The office isn’t dead.

Remote work isn’t dead.

They’re simply involved in the world’s longest custody negotiation.

Some companies want five days.

Others want four.

Others still allow three.

The debate is becoming less about whether employees return and more about exactly how often.

This may be progress.

Or calendar litigation.

Return-to-office policies often assume proximity creates collaboration.

Sometimes it does.

Sometimes everyone commutes 45 minutes to sit in separate rooms on Zoom.

Both outcomes are technically “in-office collaboration.”

One simply has parking.

If everyone chooses different office days, the company gets flexibility.

It does not necessarily get people together.

That’s why more employers are moving toward anchor days:

Specific days when teams are expected to overlap.

The future of work may ultimately be decided by a question nobody expected:

Can everybody do Wednesday?

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Don’t calculate your commute in minutes.

Minutes sound harmless.

Calculate it annually.

Example:

That’s 360 hours a year.

Nine 40-hour workweeks.

Suddenly “only 45 minutes away” sounds different.

You don’t have to hate commuting.

Some people like it.

Audiobooks exist.

So does silence.

But calculate it. Your calendar knows how much time work takes.

Your commute doesn’t appear on it.

Suppose you’re comparing two jobs.

Job A pays slightly more but requires five office days.

Job B pays slightly less and requires two.

Don’t guess which one is worth more.

Calculate.

For every office day, estimate:

Transportation
Parking
Tolls
Lunch premium
Childcare differences
Commute time

Then multiply by annual office days.

The time component is the interesting one.

If your time is worth $40 an hour and commuting takes 90 minutes, that’s $60 of time every office day before you’ve bought gasoline or parked the car.

You may still choose the office job.

Great.

At least you know what you bought.

Flexibility has economic value.

So does proximity.

Treat both like compensation.

Something changed when millions of people discovered they could perform parts of their jobs somewhere else.

The office stopped being the default explanation.

Companies now have to answer:

Why should this happen here?

Sometimes the answer is excellent.

Training.

Collaboration.

Equipment.

Mentoring.

Customers.

Sometimes the answer is:

Because that’s the policy.

One of those answers will probably age better.

Technically Thursday. Emotionally Monday.

See you tomorrow.

— The Still Monday Desk