The return to office decision of Canada’s federal government is also a return to the default approach to organizing work that pits the individual’s need and desire for a full life against their need to make enough money to live that life. This is one of the reasons why population levels are declining in rich western countries. As long as work must happen mostly or entirely on the employer’s premises, families will remain small and population growth will be driven only by immigration. See the New Scientist on the subject: The real reason birth rates are declining worldwide (paywalled).

My whole working life, I have felt that my need to write and play music has come at the expense of making a good living, or else, making a good living has shrunk down the time and energy I have to do creative things that make life worth living. Never mind maintaining healthy exercise habits or cleaning the house.

I used to work on contract so that I could take Fridays off to write and so that I would have gaps between contracts where I could spend more time with my son when he was young. Now I work full time, but my retirement savings and pension sit below the levels I really need due to placing equal value on work, creativity, parenthood, rest and reflection.

Every time I think of returning to the office four days a week I feel so angry. The federal government had envisioned hybrid work as the future for the public service even before the pandemic accelerated the advancement of technologies needed to make remote work a seamless, integrated experience.

Now that vision is being left in the future as the government backtracks into the past, asking us to pretend that the ability to connect online and work together effectively does not exist.

This is happening at a time when City of Ottawa’s public transit is in disarray, with the construction of the second phase of its new light rail train system years behind schedule and plagued with mechanical issues. As a result, I spend two and a half hours commuting 26 kilometres each day to work and back, often spending over half a hour waiting for a bus, or else getting on buses so crowded that the crush of passengers keeps everyone upright – no need to hold on to the poles for support. I have not even mentioned that the government got rid of 30% of its office space when it “embraced” the hybrid work vision and it would be surprising if there were actually enough offices for workers come July. I wonder if more workers will have to set up in the office kitchen or sit on the floor in the hallway?

This effort to put the toothpaste back into the tube by reversing flexible work arrangements seems tied to the rise of the far right movement in the US and elsewhere that is trying to turn back the clock by taking away women’s rights, undermining science and withdrawing health and social supports from vulnerable people.

We face grave threats posed by the far-right as well as by climate change, which requires us to pay close attention to evidence and to rely more than ever on responsible scientific advancement. In light of this, it is distressing and infuriating to see the current government reject requests to do research into remote work in order to better understand the productivity and effectiveness of this mode of work.

Despite this, I will continue struggling to live a meaningful life while also paying for it, but I am considering other options – there are many employers who want to hire workers in a 100% remote arrangement, allowing workers connect with colleagues worldwide in virtual teams that cross national and cultural boundaries. If the right job turns up, I may exchange the “security” of my government job for the much shorter commute to my home office on a more permanent basis.

In the meantime, I can only hope that the huge numbers of workers slowing down highway traffic and adding stress to the already overburdened transit system will force the government to reconsider its decision.