"Work from home" we hear it now and during blizzards and other major environmental events

[question everything]

Yes, of course, we've moved from a manufacturing economy to a service one. But there are still manufacturing shops where workers have to be on the floor.

And there are the mail carriers, garbage collectors, bus drivers, police, hospital and fire workers, and of course other service workers in stores and restaurants.

I am retired now, at home anyway, but if I had to go out to earn my paycheck, I would just laugh bitterly and hope for the best.

[Hoyt]

1. Agree, most people can't stay home. But, if only 20% can work from home, it will help.

[tazkcmo]

2. I'm laughing bitterly

Well, right after my break I will be

[stopbush]

3. I work in the non-profit industry where a high % of the work that needs to be done

could be done from home via phone and computer.

Unfortunately, the boards and top management of many NPs want staff to show up at an office for no other reason than visual assurance that the staff is “doing work” during office hours. It’s an ancient way of thinking in this modern world.

“We’re renting office space, providing computers and phones and paying you a salary, so we expect to see you at your desk.”

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. Controling the virus is not an all-or-nothing thing. It's a game of numbers. When people who can

work from home do, it lessens the risk for themselves as well as the people who can't work from home.

[MANative]

5. I'm VP of HR at an apparel company in NYC and we've been having conversations for more than a week..

about how to deal with "work from home" when a third of our workforce can only work in the office. People like sample cutters, sewers, pattern makers, technical design, etc., need to be physically onsite to work with fabric, dress forms, etc. Asking them to get ahead of projects wherever they can.

We've concluded that they will get a company-paid vacation without using their PTO if we need to do a partial shutdown. The rest of us will work from home. We think we can withstand about 6 weeks with this model. Love working for a company with a VERY progressive CEO. Fingers crossed...

[AirmensMom]

6. When I was working,

working from home was not an option. And my company actually gave out annual perfect attendance awards. Know who got them? The asshats who came to work sick and infected the rest of us. I used to catch everything that went around, but when I got it, I was down for the count. No way could I work and it would have me down for a week or more. I'm not saying everyone who works sick is an asshat. But that company had a policy of unlimited sick days that did not eat into vacation time and we got our salaries whether we were out sick or not. The company was definitely sending mixed messages with that damn award.

[LizBeth]

7. I would just laugh bitterly and hope for the best.

This