I was pondering this, because my team is very small, so I don't get to interact with all that many people at the office (the people I interact with will 90% of the time be elsewhere anyway).
But apart from that it seems like the worst of both worlds? You still have to commute there, you can't reasonably expect to have peace and quiet since it's mostly open space (or if it's a closed office, how's that better than staying home?), and you don't even get to see your colleagues.
In my case, what I hate with the office is the commute and the random noise people make (phone calls, chats, whatever). I rather like my colleagues, so it's not like I want to avoid those people specifically.
Not the previous commenter, but co-working spaces are few and far between in most of the world, plus they can be expensive if the employee is the one paying.
As for the coworkers not knowing your boss thing, I agree, although in a more positive framing – it can be helpful to have a work social group that isn't in your reporting chain. You can get this at many medium sized and up companies.
Or better yet, a therapist. Work is literally THE worst place to make human connections because it is a business first and foremost (yes, go ahead and post how it’s not true – it won’t change a thing).
> Work is literally THE worst place to make human connections
I don't necessarily disagree, but I make a slightly different argument, in that, humans will make human connections, whether they like it or not, and the most typical human experience is to make stronger and stronger connections with people you see regularly. Furthermore, depending on the company, there's the desire to be a part of something bigger, there's social conditioning setting in to prove yourself among your peers, there's the desire to not appear like you're lazy.
Where I think you'll agree is that your company will 100% exploit these human aspects of you to get a better margin on the value of your labor vs the compensation they pay you.
Let me clarify my point: in the absence of life outside of work, work is the worst place to make connections. If you treat work as “just” a complementary source of connections, then it is fine. But if it’s your only source, then you need to get of this situation asap.
