Boss demands Marketing Coordinator work from the office alone while all other employees are working from home: 'I asked if I could go to work from home and she has just ghosted me.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
May 22, 2026 8:30 PM EDT

Is there any value in having an employee work from the office by himself?

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, lying 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.

If a company allows most of its employees to work from home, the employees who don't get to work from home will eventually start to resent having to go to the office every day. The employee in this story was the only person in his office, and his boss didn't let him go home. 

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  • Contemporary office interior 3D rendering design concept
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    The office is empty because all but one employee is working from home today. 

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

  • Why does my boss want me to be alone in the office?

    For context, I am a Marketing Coordinator and 100% of my job can be done remotely, yet I am only allowed 1 working from home day a week.
    via u/cashmeredoe
  • Today I came into the office and it was completely empty. Like all 12 desks empty. The entire office is barren and I messaged my boss and she said that everyone
    via u/cashmeredoe
  • has things off site or are working from home, I asked if I could go to work from home and she has just ghosted me.
    via u/cashmeredoe
  • Woman in white long sleeve shirt sitting on white couch
    via A. C.

    The manager works from home while ignoring her employee's request to work from home. 

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

  • I genuinely do not understand why I need to be sitting here, it's actually immensely more distracting for me sitting alone in a big empty office. It's also really
    via u/cashmeredoe
  • frustrating she just ghosted when I asked. I don't even have any meetings today. All my work is remote. This is actually so stupid.
    via u/cashmeredoe
  • A man sitting at a desk with his head in his hands
    via Toa Heftiba (Unsplash+)

    A frustrated employee sits alone in his office because he didn't get the work-from-home memo. 

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

  • Luka_Don2109 They spent a lot of money on office space nobody uses and it looks bad on a balance sheet
    via u/Luka_Don2109
  • damageddude I work for a company (owned by another company) that slowly downsized floors from renting three to one floors in an office building in the 2000s before moving to a suburban facility then owned by the company. I recall we were given strict instructions to not enter our abandoned floors as they would be a tax write off and we could not have possession or something (I'm not a tax lawyer so don't recall the reasons).
    via u/damageddude
  • Grouchy Treacle_1639 Tell them you are uncomfortable being alone in an office bldg all day. Maybe a security/safety issue?
    via u/Grouchy_Treacle_1639
  • vionia74 On Fridays, I'm frequently alone after 4:00 on my floor. It does spook me because it would be easy for someone to sneak up behind me. :(
    via u/vionia74
  • Particular_Maize6849 Never ask. Just go home. And if they ask just say you worked from home that day. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission. I'm supposed to come in 2-3 times a week. I brazenly come in once a week and don't give a sh.
    via u/Particular_Maize6849
  • picollo7 I stopped going in altogether for a 2 day in. Nothing happened. It would be more effective if we all did it together.
    via u/picollo7
  • Zimlun In regards to her ghosting you, instead of asking if you could go home try phrasing it in a way that assumes permission, so like "Hey boss, nobody is in the office today so I'm going to work remotely, let me know if there are any issues with that". Now the ball is in your boss's court, so its up to them to actively tell you "No, I want you to stay in the empty office, being in office is important for collaboration".
    via u/Zimlun
  • RiseFriendly9536 My work came up with a new rule, it didn't make financial sense to pay for parking passes if they weren't used more than 3 days a week, so if we wanted our own desk and a parking badge we had to come in 3 days a week. But the other gals who worked in office would chat all day and it was super distracting. So I'd work a little in the morning at home, go in for the core hours, then go back home to finish work. It's very annoying. Now I'm fully remote because I moved to a new city
    via u/RiseFriendly9536
  • Academic-Lobster3668 Honestly, I would consider this a safety issue to only have one employee on site. I would message the manager that you're not comfortable being the only person in the office and that you will be reachable at home for the rest of the day.
    via u/Academic-Lobster3668
  • sienna-marchetti the ghosting is the whole answer honestly. if there were a real reason she'd say it out loud. 'we need bodies in seats' is not something most managers can defend in writing so they just... don't reply. document the days you're the only one in—not for revenge, for your own sanity when you're trying to figure out if you're losing your mind. you're not.
    via u/sienna-marchetti

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work from home return to office antiwork job marketing coworkers unfair empty Horrible Bosses alone
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