Remotely Yours

After two weeks in quarantine, I was finally allowed to work from home starting last Friday. For many days I was anxious from waiting especially when our VP announced that we’ll only be paid for the first week of the ECQ, and for the following week onwards, employees who are not working from home or onsite will not receive their usual compensation. If we wanted it paid, then we must use our remaining earned leaves.

Naturally, this sent me and my colleagues in panic. After a series of follow-ups, the managers decided to have some us go ahead with working remotely — 2 out of 13 from the entire team (we were hoping at least five people, but it is yet to be approved). I was lucky enough to have been one of the two people selected, but still — I can’t be completely happy when I have teammates who have no work until now.

It was a tough pill to swallow to be quite honest. I do understand that we are in unprecedented hard times and that the hotel industry is experiencing the lowest level of demand. I’m sure they’re also just taking measures to avoid bigger problems like permanently letting go of people. Then again, I understand what my teammates are feeling at the moment. If I were in their shoes, I would have felt utterly helpless and frustrated too.

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I don’t know if this is just me, but it’s kinda weird how I am more exhausted working from home, even if I still follow the same sked of 7AM.

For one, my neck and back are more tensed, maybe because I am not sitting in an ergonomic chair for all those hours. My eyes are so strained as well because I have dual monitors in the office and now I work using my 14" old laptop.

The internet connection is also not very stable, so I’d often find myself disconnected from my online workstation many times the entire shift (and based on the rants I read on my Twitter feed, it’s common regardless of the ISP). I still don't have remote access for some of the systems I use in the office and this limits my total production or output in a day.

And while I no longer wake up so early to take a bath, eat breakfast, get dressed (no makeup!) and do not have to bear the sucky commute; even if could eat anything I want while working, check on my cellphone every now and then, and I am able to watch TV — this is not how I imagined working from home will be. Truly the cons outweigh the pros and I realized, I would choose to come to work every day.

I can’t wait for this quarantine/lockdown to end. I wanted to go back to how it was before all of this. God forbid — if the government extends this then nothing would be certain anymore. I can’t be too sure about my employment (I realized that in a global pandemic, job security goes out the window) or my physical or mental health.

I’ve been having bad dreams lately; from doomsday zombies to not being able to survive the year. Every day there is that paranoia of already having it without even knowing, and will just incubate the virus inside my body till it finally gets me and my family.

It scares the bejeezus out of me.