For years, I worked fully remote. No commute, no dress code, my own desk setup. For a lot of people that's the dream, and I get why. I'm glad it works for them.
It didn't work for me. Now that I'm in an office full-time, I can say it plainly: remote work was a net negative for my career.
This isn't a hot take or a call for everyone to return to the office. It's just my experience, and I think it's worth sharing because it's not the story you usually hear.
When Everyone Is Remote, Tenure Wins
Most of my team was remote too, so this wasn't a case of office people getting ahead of remote people. We were all on the same footing. But the high-impact projects kept going to the same people: the ones who had been there longer than me.
I don't think anyone was being unfair. When everyone is remote, there's not much for leadership to go on. They can't see how you work through a hard problem. They don't hear you help someone a few desks over. They don't get a feel for who you are outside of standups and pull requests. So they fall back on the one signal they do have, which is history. Who has been here the longest? Who has shipped big things before? Give it to them.
That's a hard cycle to break. You can't get the high-impact work without a track record, and you can't build a track record without the high-impact work. In an office, relationships can shortcut that. People get to know you, trust you, and vouch for you before your resume catches up. Remote, I never found a way to do that. My reputation moved at the speed of my tenure and no faster.
The Other Costs Added Up
Visibility was the big one, but it wasn't the only one.
Learning slowed down. Some of the most useful things I've learned came from overhearing a conversation or turning around to ask a quick question. Remote, every question is a Slack message or a scheduled call. You think twice before asking, and sometimes you just don't.
My network stayed thin. I worked with good people for years and barely knew some of them. When someone is only a name in a chat window, it's hard to build the kind of relationship where they'd recommend you for a role or pull you into a project.
The days ran together. When your office is down the hall, work is always right there. I'd check one more thing after dinner or answer one more message. The line between work and not-work got blurry, and I wasn't any sharper for it.
It got lonely. I didn't notice how isolated I felt until it was gone. It's hard to do your best work when the only people you talk to are on a screen.
What's Different Now
I've been in the office at OPM for a few weeks, and the difference has been bigger than I expected.
People stop by my office just to say hi. That sounds small, but it isn't. Those two-minute conversations are where trust gets built.
When management has positive feedback, they come by and tell me in person. I can't overstate how good that feels. A thumbs-up emoji on a pull request is nice. Someone walking to your door to tell you that you did good work is different.
And the break room at lunch has turned into one of my favorite parts of the day. You learn what other teams are working on, what problems they're running into, and who knows what. None of that happens on a calendar invite.
It's only been a few weeks, but I already feel more connected to my team and my work than I did after years of remote.
If Remote Works for You, Great
I'm not here to tell anyone to give up remote work. For some people it's the right call, and plenty of people build great careers from home. If that's you, I'm genuinely glad.
But if you're remote and your career feels stuck, it might be worth asking whether the setup is part of the problem. It was for me. I just didn't see it until I started walking into an office every day and felt the difference.
Remote work is over for me, and I don't miss it.
The views here are my own and don't represent OPM or the federal government.