Flexibility, childcare, collaboration: The pros and cons of returning to the office

As employers begin clamping down on the amount of days their staff work from home, the work/life balance debate is seeping back into our conversations. Amanda Cassidy speaks to both sides about returning to the office

There’s no doubt that the idea that we could work and live from our homes during covid was an eye-opener

“I was on the fence about doing more days in the office,” admits 26-year-old Nicole Kelly, who works in tech sales for an American multinational company in Galway.

 “But in the last three weeks, I’ve started to see benefits. We had a really strong office culture pre-covid. There are employees from all over the world in my company, so a lot of them use the office as more than just a workplace, it’s a community where they can meet people and settle in.”