Read a poll claiming 72% of people prefer working from home, but my shop's data says different

That viral stat from last month said 72% of remote workers are more productive. I asked my 6 employees at my auto shop in St. Louis last week. 5 of them said they'd hate working from home because they can't diagnose a knock in an engine over Zoom. The sample size is tiny but it made me wonder if those polls only survey desk jobs. What kind of work do the people in your life actually do when they say they want remote?

3 comments

3 Comments

alice_allen53d ago

Did you catch that piece from the LA Times last week about the guy who runs a landscaping business? He asked his crew the same thing and they all laughed at him, said they can't trim a bougainvillea from their kitchen table. It's funny how these big polls totally miss the manual side of work, makes you wonder if they even talk to real people.

the_oliver3d agoTop Commenter

Right, because nothing says "efficiency" like asking a bougainvillea to wait while you Slack your crew from a coffee shop. Next we'll have polls about how 87% of surgeons prefer remote appendectomies. Everyone loves the idea of working in their pajamas until you realize someone actually has to fix the sink or wire the building. I guess the LA Times forgot to call the guys who change their oil or bag their groceries (or you know, trim their hedges). These polls are great if you live in a world where work is just spreadsheets and Zoom calls, but the rest of us are still out here doing things that require hands.

cole_murphy3d ago

Yeah that stat drove me nuts too. "72% prefer remote" but they probably polled people who already sit at computers all day. Try asking a welder or a nurse or someone who stocks shelves. Real talk though if you want to push back on that number at your shop, pull up a quick Google search for your actual industry. I found a study from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence that showed only 11% of auto techs could do any work remotely. That kind of specific stat lands way harder when the numbers actually match what you're seeing on the floor.