As I assume most of our users are in some form of employment, I wanted to ask your opinion on working remotely vs hybrid vs on-site?
Now it’s 2025, should people be returning to the office or has the work life balance of hybrid & remote shown to be more productive?
Would love to know your honest opinions!
If you can work from home there is no reason to ‘Need’ to come to the office. As long your output is of high standard and on time is all that should matter. I’m not a toddler I don’t need to be watched.
Same feeling i have about office dress code, as long as you aren’t naked or wearing something offensive come in, in pyjamas for all i care just work hard
I like this mentality. Focus on deliverables and KPI’s rather than turning up for the sake of turning up and dressing in a certain uniform etc.
At Emma, we have this strict office policy; but we are a bit funny people. 
I genuinely love to hear from yourself why in office is mandatory. Is there any tangible benefits to the business. Then if you were to poll staff on the same questions would they agree? Be fascinating.
Yes, we are a small product team; communication and productivity are 10x. Remote works for individual contributors on very repetitive tasks imho.
If we asked staff, they’d probably say the same since we only hire onsite and they have many other options in the market.
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer - it’s all about what makes sense for the role and the person.
Obviously, if you work at a warehouse, you need to be physically present. That’s non-negotiable. But office jobs? That’s a bit different.
Let’s take programmers, for example. If someone’s working on a feature where they don’t need to collaborate or discuss anything with others, it actually makes more sense for them to stay home. Commuting to the office in that case doesn’t benefit them or the team. That’s just a strategic choice.
On the flip side, working from the office does help build relationships. You naturally get to know your teammates better, and it reduces the chance of miscommunications - especially since text/chat can easily be misinterpreted, particularly when you don’t know someone well.
Personally, I believe remote work should be earned, not taken for granted. If I say, “Hey, I don’t need to be in the office because I’m working on a clearly defined UI or logic task,” and everything is planned out - that should be seen as a good thing for both the company and myself.
There’s also a generational angle I’ve noticed. Younger folks often don’t mind coming into the office - maybe it’s the social aspect or the energy. Older people, on the other hand, might prioritize family or just prefer staying home. That’s totally valid too. The best companies are the ones that acknowledge those differences and create a system where people can earn flexibility.
That said, I’ve spoken to some devs - guys I know who make six figures or more - and they’ve admitted to working maybe 2-3 hours a day remotely. You could call it “cheating” the business, but it also raises an interesting point: if they’re still providing value, is that enough? Or could they be doing more and just coasting because no one’s checking?
As for me - I don’t mind working in the office. Especially if the office is nice - I like the separation of work and house.
And I don’t mind the commute either, for one, if you’re on a train you can use that time efficiently, like read a book or these days just do work on your laptop…
In fact, I used to enjoy the walk to work. Ironically, though, the companies with strict in-office policies often won’t hire me, maybe because of my history in remote/contracting roles.
Meanwhile, remote-first companies are totally happy to bring me on. But I’d like to have the option to go into an office, even if it was full time, in a nice city like Manchester or London or similar.
But instead, I get to talk with companies from that city that do remote work instead with no office.
Now, again, going to the office can also be good because you get to talk with other people you otherwise woudln’t - think of Steve Jobs, he engineered the office in a way so people would bump into each other, you don’t get that online.
If I had a company I would have a mandatory 9-5 with a possibility to earn it. Given the fact a lot of people I worked with at a 9-5 job, you can’t turst them - the guy above said hes not a toddler, and doesn’t need to be watched, but you can’t say that for everyone. Just like the story I shared above.
So there are just different ways you can look at this.