> has given management the idea that WFH frays the social ties

It does fray social ties. We're social beings, made for face to face interactions. That's how we operate. There's a reason almost every language has a proverb along the lines of "out of sight, out of mind".

Many would argue that it’s unhealthy to rely on your work for social bonds. I much prefer keeping my social circle and my work circles completely separate. Wfh means I can spend more time socializing with those I care about.

Having no social bonds with people you're spending 8+ hours/day with seems a lot more unhealthy to me (and so does spending all that time hermit-like - and doing your job in the company of family or friends from outside the job seems awkward too).

Your not really spending 8 hours a day with them when your remote though, your team/coworkers w/e are just people to sync up with when you need to.

Sure, but if you don't have any bonds with your coworkers you're either having zero social contact for 8 hours/day, or trying to work while socialising with non-coworkers. There are definitely days where I keep my head down and don't talk to anyone, but I wouldn't want every day to be like that.

If you're socializing with co-workers you're also not working. One of the problems is the 8 hour work day. I don't want to be forced to spend 40+ hours a week with co-workers. That is why people aren't having healthy social lives. Work is draining their time and energy. Yes, people make due by creating social bonds with their co-workers, but I'd hardly call that ideal.

> If you're socializing with co-workers you're also not working.

Only in a narrow sense. If anything employers in our industry tend to deliberately encourage employees to socialise (within reason): casual contact is important to help different parts of the org chart break out of their silos, liminal spaces are an important route for information that might be suppressed over normal channels, and almost everyone knows at some level that you can't do 40 hours of productive programming per week. The way I see it, a certain amount of socialising on the clock is win-win.

> One of the problems is the 8 hour work day. I don't want to be forced to spend 40+ hours a week with co-workers. That is why people aren't having healthy social lives. Work is draining their time and energy.

I don't disagree, but don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Given that I do have to work 8 hours/day, I'd rather humanise that time as much as possible than refuse out of some sense of accelerationism.

I wouldn't call optimizing for information flow through an organization in a way prescribed by management "socializing" or even "good".

Wfh definitely isn't accelerationism (or perfect). It's just a chance to live somewhere less oppressively expensive and have less surveillance from your employer all day. It's up to the individual to take advantage of that. If socializing is important to them, there are more opportunities to do it, it just takes a bit more work but I would argue the results are much healthier and more natural than relying on work and centering relationships around working.

Micromanaged "socialising" is indeed bad for everyone. But organic socialisation at work can be win-win. Refusing to socialise at work is what I'm saying is accelerationism.

> Many would argue that it’s unhealthy to rely on your work for social bonds.

Many would argue that eating right and exercising is healthy, yet 30%+ of people in developed countries are overweight and the percentage is increasing.

At some point we have to accept reality. People are flawed (yet they somehow manage to live their lives :-) ).

Well the reality is that wfh is a trend and it helps with the issue that I'm talking about. It's not hypothetical, it's happening now.

Does it, though? Socializing at home during work hours is not the same thing as socializing outside of work hours.

Plus, people still work 8+ hours a day, so you can't really interact much with friends.

The main thing you win is geographically, I guess. No more time lost in commute plus maybe less time lost meeting with friends because you don't have to go from the office to the meeting place (though that will obviously depend on how far your friends are from your home).

You're not really socializing with people in the office either, you're working with them. Without a boss around looking over your shoulder, you have a lot more time to socialize if you want. Go get a coffee with a friend, your partner, your kid...

I'd also describe the office as anti-social as I would not voluntarily spend my time with the majority of my co-workers and having to be around them day in and day out is extremely draining and demoralizing. I find surrounding myself with people I actually care about and have real bonds with to be far more positive.

For some of us that’s all we got.

For others they prefer their co-workers over forced social socializion due to family relations.

Not having social bonds out of work is definitely a problem with our society. It's fixable though, there are lots of groups outside of work you can connect with and start meeting people. The internet made this a lot easier.

> For others they prefer their co-workers over forced social socialization due to family relations.

Honestly, these are the co-workers I hate being around the most as they treat you like an outlet for not just social contact but often therapy or venting about their family. I literally never want to hear about a co-worker's terrible marriage (for an example I've had to deal with quite a bit).

We had a rather average amount of turnover which might be high considering the concerns about the economy. I think one possible contributor is that more remote roles are available.