Is Sachin Bansal right? Does work from home really suck?

• As the coronavirus pandemic spreads, Indian companies have given employees the option to work from home and self quarantine themselves.
• But the millennial mind is confused. An otherwise ‘luxurious’ option of work from home, is right now forced upon them.
• Sachin Bansal, founder and former CEO of Flipkart, isn’t too happy, he tweeted – WFH Sucks.

Sachin Bansal, the founder and former CEO of Flipkart, opened his morning tweet with just two words – WFH Sucks. For the ignorant, he is referring to ‘work from home’. Bansal believes that staying away from office diminishes his productivity.


And that is how a debate on WFH started. Some believe they are way more productive away from the bickering colleagues. While others were quick to agree with Bansal completely.

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads, working from home is not an option but a mandate.

As India quarantines itself, the millennial mind is confused. An otherwise ‘luxurious’ option of work from home, is right now forced upon them. The party-going extrovert is met with his worst nightmare – home alone with nowhere to go, and even though the introverts might rejoice the lack of workplace conversation and the excitement gets to you after a point, eh?

The troubles of working from home

First of all, remembering Professor Robert Kelly right now. The man who went viral when his live interview was interrupted by his toddlers walking into the room. We get you now.


Yes, work from home means you are dealing with a lot of ‘other’ work – sugar-high kids who want to know “Why are mummy/daddy talking to the computer?”; domestic helps who suddenly want your approval before every step; switching off the doorbell before you get on that important work call with the boss, or if you are like me – you just miss the coffee station at work.


Then there are ‘other’ issues too.


Instead of the usual set routine, work from home means you get ready in the morning only to go nowhere. We are hoping you fall in the category of people who take a bath even when you work from home (please). Also, can you really work from the comfort of home without indulging in a mid-day nap?

And then comes the biggest temptation of it all – Netflix, and well, Hotstar, Amazon Prime, Apple TV… really there are many options and we haven’t even yet got to the very addictive TikTok!

All of this, has made companies conscious. Logistics startup Shadowfax has apparently asked its employees to keep the camera on for work hours, even if they are remotely working. Oops!

But here’s why social distancing is necessary

Even though our generation feels like it's living in a dystopian world and Black Mirror episodes have come to life, here’s why it is necessary to work from home.

While you might not be showing active symptoms of COVID-19, with the infection rate of the disease being extremely high you are subject to a big risk if you are venturing out of your home. Being a young, fit individual, the disease might not be life threatening, but you can still pass it on to others like the elderly who are more susceptible to coronavirus.

So, yes, it seems like this is the World War of our generation and we have been sent to fight – our temptation to socialize.

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coronavirus: Latest News, Articles on coronavirus | Business Insider India