28yo reveals what could send workers back to offices

A young Aussie has revealed the harsh reality that could send Gen Zers and Millenials back to offices.

Getting young workers back into offices may have seemed futile, until a cold reality hit Aussie workers hard and fast.

Amelia Aitkin-Deane, 28, posted a TikTok that has amassed over 30,000 views on why working from home in Australia right now sucks.

“This is for all the girls that work at home and live in Australia. Are you frozen?” She asked.

“Inside my apartment is colder than outside my apartment. Make that make sense.”

Ms Aitkin-Deane added that she was really trying to keep warm while doing her work, but it wasn’t working.

“I’ve got a full tracksuit on, Ugg boots, this blanket around me, and it is like negative degrees, and I’m frozen.”

She's revealed that she's "frozen" and working from home. Picture: TikTok/happywrk

The TikTok amassed 30,000 views. Picture: TikTok/happywrk

The young worker runs her own business, Happywrk, and works freelance in marketing. She doesn’t have a space at an office, so she works from home full-time, and she loved it until it got really cold.

“You’d think being on the Gold Coast, we hardly get a winter, but honestly, winter really said let f**king go in 2024,” she said.

Ms Aitkin-Deane said that once she posted about it on TikTok, her fellow WFH workers admitted they were also not working in ideal conditions at home. The thrill of being able to work from your pyjamas gets old if you’re also cold and shivering.

“Hundreds of WFH girlies commented saying either they’re frozen or to get an electric throw from Kmart,” she said.

Amelia works from home full-time. Picture: Supplied

She loved it until winter hit. Picture: Supplied

Suddenly, offices with airconditioning look slightly more alluring than working from home.

What’s the point of independence if you’re frozen?

Ms Aitkin-Deane’s TikTok prompted many workers to share that they were at home absolutely shivering.

“Watching this as I am sitting at my desk with my blanket around me, my small heater by my feet, and a hot water bottle on my lap,” one wrote, and similar comments followed.

“My hands are so cold they’re literally purple, and I made fingerless gloves out of socks.”

“I am freezing and my heater is doing nothing.

“The hack is, you move back home as a 30yo, and your parents pay the heating bill. It’s pumping all day, baby.

“Sitting in absolutely shivering gives more Oliver Twist than CEO energy.”

She's learned how to decompress after work. Picture: Supplied

She runs her own business. Picture: Supplied

In fact, for some the cold was enough for them to consider heading back into the office and ditching WFH.

“The only good part about going to the office is that I can pop the AC at 26C,” one said.

“I used to think it was expensive to go to work, with trains, lunch and work clothes. Now my electricity bill is the expense on the days that I work from home.

“Stop complaining or go back to the office.

“Just went outside for the first time in 3 days, and the gas bill is going to be nuts.”

The Queenslander said that working from home is so popular with Millennials and Gen Zers but she can see the downsides.

“I’m very much an independent worker, so I love it. However, the lack of social interaction side of working from home can seriously weigh on you. You can’t measure how powerful those passing chats are in the office or the collaboration of being in one room together,” she said.

“There’s pros and cons to both. I think if I had it my way, I’d love to be in an office two days a week, and the rest will be WFH.”

She said that, for her, working from home means your personal and working lives blur.

“It took me a long time to get used to it. The best thing I did was have a designated area where I work within my apartment. I also love to have an end-of-day routine, so it’s as if you were commuting home and you’ve got time to decompress,” she said.

“I’ll shut my laptop and actually go for a 10-15 minute walk outside to signal work is over now. It’s like reset for the mind.”

Originally published as 28yo reveals what could send workers back to offices