Westmount Place (50 Westmount N, 9-15 Dietz N, 192-218 Erb W) | 11-25 fl | U/C

[dtkvictim]

This isn't anything new. Most companies I know of didn't need a pandemic to do this. The current situation might accelerate this but it's been going on for years.

I agree that this was already happening in some sectors of the workforce (customer service) but I wasn't aware of it happening for the "higher" skilled office type jobs (accounting, insurance, tech). I know one of the reasons that these jobs have stayed Canada are the quality of work (especiallyin the tech sector). 

I also worry about family life 5 years from now. I love my significant other, but I think our relationship would really be tested if they were to be working beside me 8 hours a day. In my opinion I think this mass exodus to work from home is going to have negative social effects on society. Would not be surprised to see an increase in divorce rates post covid. 
 
I do hope this pandemic will force workplaces to get creative to encourage employees to come back to the office entially. Whether is more flexible hours, allowing work from home some days a week, or providing creative spaces within the office. 

I don't know, I guess I am just thinking too negative, k-w was really hitting its stride pre covid with Google expansion and shopify, but the work from home is going to change how company invest in communities

There is a lot to think about here for sure. I think a more permanent shift to work from home will affect the core much more than the suburbs. The type of housing found here was already limited in the types of household structures it could support (primarily young singles or couples, generally without any children), and this is mostly due to size of living space I think. But the small sizes means that every inch of living space is accounted for with a dedicated purpose, and can't be repurposed into a functional home workspace

My home is actually quite large, but it still lacks segregated rooms, so long term work from home trying to focus and take video meetings next to each other is still a no-go. It basically requires 2 bedrooms minimum (1 bedroom, 1 office, and an office space in the living space), and more if you have children. Personally I would feel forced to leave the core, and probably the city in order to get the required space. Although I've also heard of some employers wanting to adjust wages down for remote workers since they can live in lower cost of living areas (which is absurd, they should be paid for the value they create).

At the very least, my experience with even the highest rated tech contractors from some under-developed countries makes me think most tech jobs will be safe for now (though potentially more open to competition from other developed countries).