Being part of a strong team doesn’t always mean you have to be in the same office five days a week.

So, what would you do if your company took away a flexible work perk that everyone enjoyed simply because leadership wanted the office to feel less empty?

Would you push back and explain why it’s unfair? Or would you quietly commute an hour to sit in a half-quiet office?

In the following story, one employee follows the rule but doesn’t like it.

Here’s what’s going on.

Our company killed WFH Fridays because the office “felt empty”

We just got told that work-from-home Fridays are officially gone.

Not because productivity dropped. Not because collaboration suffered. Not because anything actually went wrong. The reason given was that “the office felt empty” and leadership wants to bring back the “energy” and “culture.”

So now I’m commuting an hour each way again purely for vibes.

He thinks it’s to justify corporate real estate.

Nothing about my job has changed. Same meetings. Same emails. Same work that I was already doing just fine from home, one day a week. The only difference is now I’m sitting in a half-quiet office, so the building looks occupied.

It’s hard not to see this for what it is: corporate real estate justification dressed up as culture.

Someone needs the space to look used. Someone needs to feel good walking through rows of bodies at desks, and we’re the props that make that happen.

For him, the whole thing is exhausting.

What really gets me is how casually it’s framed. Like asking people to give up hours of their time, money on commuting, and a better work-life balance is no big deal because the office needs “presence.” As if we’re office decorations and not human beings with lives outside the building.

Last Friday, I sat at my desk doing the exact same work I used to do at home, opened a game on my phone during a break, and just thought about how unnecessary the whole thing felt.

This isn’t about productivity. It’s about optics. And it’s exhausting being reminded that our time matters less than how full the office looks from the hallway.

Wow! It seems like WFH Fridays would save the company money.

Let’s see what the people over at Reddit think about companies that do this.

This is something that needs to be discussed further.

Interesting point.

At least he likes his people.

According to this reader, the answer is to unionize.

That’s to be expected when you live in the corporate world, because nothing good ever lasts forever.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.