Lately, I’ve been thinking about the campaign against working from home, and I don’t feel the reason they’re giving is the real one at all.

This ‘return to the office’ topic has been on my mind constantly. We all hear the traditional arguments – that it’s for collaboration, company culture, or because of the empty offices. But honestly, none of these explanations feels like the whole story. I feel the issue is deeper than that.

From my point of view, the real war against working from home is a war on control. Working from home threatens the system of control that keeps employees perpetually compliant, overworked, and underpaid. When we are at home, it becomes harder for them to pressure or intimidate us. This is a truth senior managers know but don’t say: working from home shifts the balance of power in our favour as employees, not theirs.

To me, this campaign against working from home feels like it’s from the same playbook as the war against labour unions. It’s a knee-jerk reaction from management to preserve its authority. They are waging a PR war on us, using carefully selected words to hide their true intentions. This shows how broken work culture is, especially here in America.

Let’s be frank, the issue was never about productivity. It’s about the *appearance* of productivity, and that’s just a cover for their primary goal: control. And a fundamental part of that control is to keep employees slightly demoralised. An employee with crushed morale finds it difficult to know their true worth, or to ask why their salary is stagnant, or to object to any unfair practices. When you feel helpless, it’s hard to fight for the power you deserve.