5 things I won’t miss in Corporate

I've been working remotely for over ten years now. Do I miss being in the office? Yes, I sometimes do. Will I go back to an office? Maybe, given if they'd allow a work-from-home setup.

You have no idea how many times I've been tempted to go back to corporate. I've had several job offers from really great companies out in Manila, but I let those pass by after giving some serious thinking.

Don't get me wrong, working in corporate has its benefits like free skills training, team building activities, company trips and parties, and the 13th Month Pay, a yearly monetary bonus — which I all miss sometimes!

But all things considered, working from home still outweigh the benefits of going back to the office. And here are the other things I certainly don't miss working in the office.

Gossipy coworkers

We all had those noisy classmates causing a ruckus at school, right? Well guess what, some of them never grow up, I mean wiser. They graduated, entered the corporate world, and still don't know how to shut up. Incessant talkers in the workplace imbalances productivity, and I hate that they seem to target peacekeeping employees to share their latest office gossip.

Worthless meetings

An old boss had this habit of doing unscheduled, on-the-spot meetings every day, which was too painful to bear. In the middle of work, I would get called inside the conference room; often, it took us an hour on what could have been just a 10-minute checkup.

Office politics

The bigger the company, the more it gets complicated. And bad office politics arise when opinions clash and when personal bias gets in the way. I’ve seen employees get maltreated because of inconsiderate office policies and how some are promoted undeservedly to higher positions.

Personal, but office-related expenses

Office clothes, make-up, lunch and snacks, and transportation fare are those necessary expenses I need to make for work. I'm frugal by nature, so I'm comfortable unbranded items or commuting by jeep or train.

Commute time

For many years, Makati and Ortigas were the primary central business districts in the metro. You can't go there from the south or north of Manila without passing EDSA. And if you've been to the Philippines, traffic in EDSA is hell, especially during rush hours. From my hometown in Las Pinas City, it would take me 2-3 hours to get to work.