Generation Z sits at a strange point in the workforce.

We as a generation have just emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic fairly recently and are still feeling its long-lasting effects.

Many companies offered remote work options or hybrid layouts at the start of the pandemic to ensure employees could still work while quarantined. Nice.

For some, this meant the start of a new era that allowed more time with family and friends.

For some, in contrast, this also meant the start of a new era that mandated more time with family and friends.

Working from home subtracts a commute from the office, which seems beneficial on the surface — commutes often sacrifice time workers could devote to exercise, sleep or enjoying their mornings.

As a morning person, I relish my morning routine and my brief walk to classes.

Even in my morning bliss, I’m horrified to

see many of my peers who are not morning people forced out of their shelters and into the real world.

It’s a shame, really. I don’t think that we should not be working in the mornings, but we could definitely revise the way we approach work.

However, the shift to remote work also carries unforeseen repercussions for public services that rely on people.

A 2024 MIT study estimated a 10% decrease in onsite workers (as compared to pre-pandemic levels) would lead to a $3.7 billion loss in annual transit fare revenues in the contiguous United States.

This would undoubtedly impact tax revenues from such programs that fund various public expenditures and, in turn, pull funding away from services that many riders depend on.

Not everyone has the privilege of simply driving or walking to work, and remote jobs have wedged themselves in between this gap and exacerbated transit inequalities.

Granted, some professions that involve in-person attendance, such as hands-on medical staff and outward-facing public service

jobs like law enforcement, may not be able to ever transition to working from home simply due to their in-person responsibilities.

Yet, I firmly believe many of these jobs can be conducted from home.

I’m not sure whether it’s my Generation Z sensibility that prioritizes work-life balance or my need for a good night’s sleep, but I would personally love to work from home.

At the same time, work from home or remote options grant workers an opportunity to spend more time with their loved ones.

Furthermore, the removal of commutes allows workers to sleep in and ensure they’re well-rested.

Workers are increasingly opting to work from home as they’ve seen the mental toll commutes take on people.

Now that some structural barriers have been removed that permit workers the freedom that remote jobs afford, it might be time to question the constraints of commuting.

The choice is yours–stay at home and show up to a few meetings in pajamas or trudge through the all-consuming abyss that is American traffic.