Boston-based company requires remote North Carolinian employee to work from a coworking space 2 days a week: 'I do the same work I do at home from a louder room with worse coffee.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Apr 15, 2026 8:30 PM EDT

Why are they requiring her to do something so tedious with no follow-up?

I find great value in working alongside others. I get so much more done working in a cafe with my friends than I do working at home laying in bed in my pajamas, and a lot of Work from Home evangelists don't want you to believe that! Personally, I am susceptible to peer pressure. If my friends are sitting around a table quietly working from the cafe, I'm going to do the exact same thing. If I am home alone and left to my own devices, there is a nonzero chance I will spend 3 hours of the workday catching up on the most mindless Instagram Reels known to man. Some people aren't built for working from home five days a week, and that's okay!

I think there's a certain personality type that can really handle working from home exclusively and thrive in that environment. They are disciplined, motivated, and not easily distracted. They don't need someone peering over their shoulder and keeping track of them to do good work. If someone has been working exclusively from home for years and thriving, forcing them to return to the office probably won't make them a better employee. If anything, it's going to annoy them and make them think about how they used to get all of their work done while sitting on their couch, and now they have to spend all of this extra time and money commuting.

Not all companies have mandatory return-to-office policies. Some of them have something that's much more irritating. The employee in this story has been given two options for his remote job: move to the city where the company is based, or work at a coworking space in his area for 2 days a week. The choice seems obvious, but you can't underestimate how annoying a coworking space can be when you don't need it to be as productive as you are at home.

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  • People sitting on chair in front of computer
    via Israel Andrade

    Employees from different companies work side by side in a coworking space.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • My "in office" day is me sitting in a WeWork because the company doesn't have a real office in my state

    I got hired by a company based in Boston. I'm in North Carolina. They knew this when they hired me. It was remote. Then it wasn't.
    via u/amiitk
  • When they announced hybrid RTO, they gave remote employees two options: relocate to Boston within 90 days, or find a "company approved coworking space" near you and do your 2 presence days from there.
    via u/amiitk
  • So now on Tuesdays and Thursdays I drive 20 minutes. to a WeWork, sit in a hot desk surrounded by people I've never met from companies I've never heard of, and do the exact same
    via u/amiitk
  • Zoom calls I would do from my house. I just do them from a louder room with worse coffee. The company pays for the WeWork membership. $350 a month. That's $4,200 a year so that I can sit in a
    via u/amiitk
  • building and pretend I'm in an office. I don't collaborate with anyone there. No one from my team is within 500 miles.
    via u/amiitk
  • My manager has never asked me a single question about my WeWork days. Not once. I don't think he even knows what I do there. Because the answer is exactly what I do at home. Just with shoes on.
    via u/amiitk
  • This is what compliance theater looks like.
    via u/amiitk
  • Bob_Chris So take a picture of the Wework cubicle, then have it printed and put it up behind you in your home office.
    via u/Bob_Chris
  • piltdownman7 Better to just use Photobooth or imagesnap from the command line to take a photo from your webcam. Blur it to the same level as your VC software and set it to your VC background.
    via u/piltdownman7
  • gwatt21 Then IT jumps in, finds out your IP address and you're cooked.
    via u/gwatt21
  • anuncommontruth Are they even checking to see if you're compliant with the policy? I just wouldn't go in. I haven't checked my staffs in office record in 3 years.
    via u/anuncommontruth
  • 182RG This is about making those who did relocate, or are already in the Boston office feel better.
    via u/182RG
  • rosebudny Totally. If one has to be miserable, ALL have to be miserable!
    via u/rosebudny
  • Toronto PolarBear When you leave, let them know it was someone you met at the WeWork who hired you.
    via u/TorontoPolarBear
  • gwatt21 they dont care.
    via u/gwatt21
  • 1quirky1 Start an LLC for coworking space. Offer one space - your WFH space. Get your company on the approved vendors list. Profit.
    via u/1quirky1
  • tflemon67 OMG what a waste of money. These companies are nuts
    via u/tflemon67

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Tags

work from home return to office remote work employee job work coworking Office North Carolina boston
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