Working Remote for 20 Years

This is my experience after working 20 years remotely and the need to find a new remote job.

I live in the countryside and enjoy almost all aspects of it. The slower internet compared to cities and the need to travel 5-20 minutes for errands or to see a doctor are probably considered negatives by some. There are also no large IT companies near my location. The nearest larger cities, Kassel and Göttingen, are roughly 1 to 1.5 hours away, depending on the specific destination and traffic conditions.

Your Travel Time Is Not Free Time

The German state considers a commute of up to 2.5 hours (one way!) to your workplace as “acceptable.” The time spent traveling is also considered “free time” and not “work time.” While this definition might work for some people, others, including me, will strongly disagree. It is ironic that the German state has strict laws regarding work hours, but spending 2.5 hours in often stressful traffic seems to bother them very little.

The best you can do in a car is probably listen to audiobooks or audio tutorials, and not everyone enjoys that. If you want to spend time with your family or be active, you simply cannot do this in your car or on a train. Additionally, there are unknown factors like traffic jams or the notoriously unpunctual Deutsche Bahn (German train company), not to mention the joys of public transport in larger cities, with all the unwanted social encounters and smells.

I doubt that whoever came up with that number has ever been in the situation of working for 8 hours plus spending 5 hours on the road while managing their private life, such as grocery shopping and household chores. It is unrealistic and, in my opinion, against modern work ethics. This feels like a step back into the 19th century.

The Financial Aspect for the Employee

Consider that you have to drive approximately 1 hour and 50 km to your workplace. The average number of workdays per month is 21. That means you’ll spend 42 hours per week and 2100 km per month on the road. The cost of just fuel (Diesel) for that is €178.50, assuming a consumption of 5 liters per 100 km and, as of today, a price of €1.70 per liter. Forty-two hours compensated by the minimum required salary in Germany (€12.41 per hour in 2024) means you’ll miss €521.22. So, you have wasted 42 hours of your life without compensation, and you even spent approximately €180 on top of that.

If you don’t have to drive, you get a lot of time back for your family or hobbies. But the home office has a few negative sides as well: You’ll have to pay the energy costs for powering your devices and the 8-10 hours of additional heating in winter because you’re now at home all the time. You’ll also spend more on utilities like water.

The Financial Aspect for the Employer

One of the companies I worked for ran into trouble because of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, as many other companies did. As a result of the pandemic, the office was dissolved, and instead, a shared office space is now rented on demand. This turned out to be cheaper for the company, and more people who usually worked on-site could now stay at home.

Remote Work Is Green Work

When the coronavirus pandemic forced many people to work from home, it provided an opportunity for science to figure out the actual impact of remote work on the environment regarding carbon dioxide emissions and its severity.

The study found that people who work remotely four or more days a week can reduce their carbon footprint by up to 54 percent, and those who do so up to four days a week can reduce it by up to 29 percent. But these reductions only hold if workers implement strategies such as turning off unnecessary lights and appliances, driving an electric vehicle, or sourcing their home electricity from solar panels or wind turbines.

Source: Working Remotely Can More Than Halve an Office Employee’s Carbon Footprint

With the daily commute all but canceled during successive Covid-19 lockdowns, many assumed that WFH would lead to environmental sustainability gains. Indeed, such dramatic changes in mobility, production, and consumption patterns temporarily reduced global CO2 emissions by 17% in April 2020 compared to peak 2019 levels. But what seemed like a promising trend soon faded away: emissions are now almost back at pre-pandemic levels, even as employees aren’t.

Source: Is Remote Work Actually Better for the Environment?

Because of the environmental impact and the advantages for employers and employees, the state should push companies to enable remote work wherever possible. By doing so, I see almost only winners; the only losers would be those companies or managers who want to exercise power and control over their employees on-site for some reason.

The Impact on Productivity

A study by Stanford of 16,000 workers over 9 months found that working from home increased productivity by 13%. This increase in performance was due to more calls per minute attributed to a quieter, more convenient working environment and working more minutes per shift because of fewer breaks and sick days.

In this same study, workers also reported improved work satisfaction, and attrition rates were cut by 50%.

Source: Working from Home Productivity Statistics

Trust or the Lack Of

If I’m allowed to work two or three days from home, why do I have to go to the office on the other days?

Don’t get me wrong, certain activities, like event storming and similar workshops and meetings, should be done in person for the social factor, but they are the exception and not the norm.

Meaningless presence in the office is a kind of meaningless control, implying a lack of trust in the employees.

I would rather work 10 hours doing meaningful work than spend those two additional hours on the road. Doing something meaningful is fun, and if it is work, you’ll get compensated for it. Traveling, especially by car, is just a waste of time and money.

I find it rather strange that the expectation is that you can have more control over your employees being productive on-site than remotely. If you aren’t a control freak, nobody will stay behind the workers and check if they are lazy at work. Secret monitoring software is at least in Germany thankfully forbidden.

My personal observation is that traditional companies and companies that do not work primarily in the IT sector are not very open to remote work and demand at least a hybrid model.

Conclusion

Finding a good place to work remotely is still not that easy, so I’m very happy to call myself lucky.

Regarding the environmental impact and the advantages for employers and employees, the state should push companies to enable remote work wherever possible. By doing so, I see almost only winners; the only losers would be those companies or managers who want to exercise power and control over their employees on-site for some reason.