As a childless person with a great home office, this is exactly how I felt being forced to work in an open floor plan office. There was no time to concentrate on my work unless I got in early or stayed late. There were constant distractions from the crush of people around me. I would take the distraction of a couple of children over 100s of my colleagues elbow-to-elbow any day.

Childless, and would prefer working at home with children over in the office with coworkers?

I don't think you know what you're asking for :)

Could you imagine how rad it must be to work from home without kids?

My wife and I both work full time with a 3yo at home, so rather than put him in front of a screen we work in shifts - one of us does 6:30 ᴀ.ᴍ. to 12:30, then we switch until 6:30. It's really tough.

I bought a trampoline for my 6yo. Just yesterday, it arrived. Set it up indoors, 2.44 meters, right in the middle of the apartment living room.

Best investment I have ever made.

What about when this is over and you have access to your regular childcare?

I imagine a thoughtful approach to “everybody WFH” would include a coworking space credit if needed, a stipend to equip one’s home office if needed, etc.

“My home is too small / distracting / I like to be near people” => coworking space

“I don’t have an ergo chair / etc” => stipend

Personally - I'm thankful for you. The parents with kids at home are dragging down the average amount of work done. So - the rest of us look good in comparison - or my preferred choice - I get to work less. :) I just blame corona for lower productivity - not the fact that I hate my employer and am actively looking for a new job.

My partner is home and doing most of the stuff with the children, which is great... but it's still going on in the background. With lots of conflict. Two kids -- including an adolescent going through some serious adolescent stuff right now -- and a border collie rampaging around the house.

Fun times :-)