Work Schedules…
I must say that I have benefitted from the work from home experiences of the past few years. By saving two hours each day on commuting and being able to utilize my time at home very effectively, I have been able to add significant time developing data skills. With my schedule from before the pandemic, I don’t know if I could have had enough time or energy to be able to include meaningful learning. So I give strong praise for work at home for its ability to support independent research.
On the flip side prior to the pandemic, I would often go to meetup.com meetings hosted in downtown Chicago about python, machine learning, and database applications. These seminars were grade and they continue online but the part that could not be duplicated is the wisdom sharing and battle stories tha were shared among the guests at the in-person meetings. I learned so much from hearing about the experiences people had and it gave me a lot of perspective about what this career included.
I really synpathsize with employers now. On one hand people can become better employees through easier access to technical training. On the other hand, the interpersonal discussions provided a context that helped me plan my future career. I could see everyone going back to full time in the office; although not ideal, but I definitely don’t think work from home all the time is good for professional development and collaborative work. I tend to think that working several days from the office and but also having several days where one can work from home to be very nice compromise.
home versus office
