I don’t hear this discussed much, but maybe one of the strangest outcomes of the pandemic was how it changed workers’ perceptions.
It forced millions of people to quietly observe themselves working.
Not their job descriptions, the org chart, or those uplifting motivational posters.
Their actual workday.
And many people came to an uncomfortable realization:
A surprising amount of the day was dead air.
Commuting.
Meetings about meetings.
Follow-up meetings caused by bad meetings.
Performative attendance.
Constant interruptions.
Even weather reports were interrupted by family pets.
But people adapted.
And many people discovered they could complete their important work in far less time than they thought — with time left for family and life outside the office.
Once people recognized the difference between productive work and workplace theater, it became difficult to unsee.
So when companies started leaning hard into return-to-office mandates, many workers — especially the ones with options — politely smiled and said, “No thank you.”
Ironically, it took a global pandemic for many workers to step far enough away from their routines to gain clarity and reprioritize their lives.