Amen
or it turns into a perk again if you think of it as a way to train yourself against temptation.
This mentality is weird to me.
"employee stock options are an anti-perk if you want to maintain a gambling-free lifestyle."
"airbnb travel stipends are an anti-perk if you want to maintain a body free of traveler's diseases."
"free on-site dry-cleaning is an anti-perk when they lose a button on your jacket."
everything good in life can be viewed from a dark angle, but it gets pretty tiring to do so.
This right here is my beef in a nutshell. My attention should be under my control. For example, I can't believe that leaving audible cell phone notifications on is becoming normalized.
Granted, remote work isn't free from distraction. Far from it, in fact. At least I can control the noise level and close Slack and email, if need be.
Open office plans, low cubicle walls, cubicle sharing, frequent noise and disrespect of focus, flimsy banged up office chairs and equipment, no budget for standing desks, the lack of real employee lounges and couches to both work and chill out at, strict clocking in and out, and insufficient meeting space are chasing away good employees, especially now that we're all forced to work remotely. More people won't be willing to go back if they can help it.
Notice I mentioned nothing about free snacks, foosball tables, beer on tap, etc. I'd trade all of that for some semblance of serenity in the office.