"But role XYZ can't work from home therefore no one should work from home" is the silliest of all arguments. It's similar to "Back in my day, we didn't have parental leave and it was very hard, so why is it fair that young people should not have to go through the hardest experience too!".
Here's just some of the benefits to on-site workers in role XYZ of other workers being able to WFH:
* Quicker commutes (less congestion from people needlessly traveling) and thus more free time.
* If a partner is WFH, they haven't wasted time commuting and thus have more time and energy to assist with the household.
* Higher salaries as the jobs requiring a commute become less desirable vs. WFH jobs.
* Higher salaries as the business wastes less money on having unnecessary office facilities and (theoretically at least) workers could demand these savings be reflected in their salaries.
* Improved health from reduction in pollution caused by commuting.
* Reduced cost of living from less wasted land used for offices that are only used 30% of a week.
* Lower taxes or improved government services as less money needs to be wasted on infrastructure that is overwhelmingly built to cater for the 12% per week that it is used to needlessly shuffle everyone around.
* Increased productivity from reduction in illnesses transferred on public transport and within office facilities.
* Improved happiness and productivity resulting from workers being able to setup a workspace/home office that is most productive for their needs. Fresh air, lighting, seating, etc are all controllable by the worker at home.
* Households could switch to having a single car.
If one were to debate against WFH, more sensible arguments would be things like:
* Greater heating / cooling efficiency to cram more people in a single cramped building than to have those same people heat / cool their homes individually. Passive houses largely solve this.
* More efficient access to some services such as getting a haircut, buying goods from a specialist retailer, etc if they're all centralised in a CBD as opposed to requiring individuals to travel all across a city. Increased deliveries to home negates this.
* Forced exercise (on average) due to workers needing to walk between transport options and an office building, whereas at home they don't have to walk anywhere unless they are motivated to do so.
Here's just some of the benefits to on-site workers in role XYZ of other workers being able to WFH:
* Quicker commutes (less congestion from people needlessly traveling) and thus more free time.
* If a partner is WFH, they haven't wasted time commuting and thus have more time and energy to assist with the household.
* Higher salaries as the jobs requiring a commute become less desirable vs. WFH jobs.
* Higher salaries as the business wastes less money on having unnecessary office facilities and (theoretically at least) workers could demand these savings be reflected in their salaries.
* Improved health from reduction in pollution caused by commuting.
* Reduced cost of living from less wasted land used for offices that are only used 30% of a week.
* Lower taxes or improved government services as less money needs to be wasted on infrastructure that is overwhelmingly built to cater for the 12% per week that it is used to needlessly shuffle everyone around.
* Increased productivity from reduction in illnesses transferred on public transport and within office facilities.
* Improved happiness and productivity resulting from workers being able to setup a workspace/home office that is most productive for their needs. Fresh air, lighting, seating, etc are all controllable by the worker at home.
* Households could switch to having a single car.
If one were to debate against WFH, more sensible arguments would be things like:
* Greater heating / cooling efficiency to cram more people in a single cramped building than to have those same people heat / cool their homes individually. Passive houses largely solve this.
* More efficient access to some services such as getting a haircut, buying goods from a specialist retailer, etc if they're all centralised in a CBD as opposed to requiring individuals to travel all across a city. Increased deliveries to home negates this.
* Forced exercise (on average) due to workers needing to walk between transport options and an office building, whereas at home they don't have to walk anywhere unless they are motivated to do so.