The new virtual reality career; where the only tangible links with the old office are morning conference calls and an emailed payslip.

I fondly remember, as a newspaper cadet, briefly working on a West Coast paper for a month, based in a house in Williams Avenue, Queenstown.

It was a fun month in a small room at the rear of the house, providing enough stories and pictures to fill multiple editions each week.

Working from home is productivity on steroids.

You work twice as hard for half the effort, in your PJs or tracky-dacks.

Time flies.

After what seems like a mere hour or two at the computer it's suddenly time to draw the blinds and turn on the lights.

Maybe you have to put on formal work clothes for that video conference with the boss, but how long does a quick costume change take when you only have to do it once or twice a day?

You save a fortune on transport costs, like car parking, and no more getting home after dark because after work you had to pick up the kids from school and daycare, while fitting in trips to the dentist and local GP.

Stress levels vanish.

The savings on fuel and other transport costs are being redirected towards a family vacation, the day seems to breeze past and your company is already eyeing off smaller premises because half the staff are working at home.

Office politics, and those bullies who had it in for you because you got promoted over them, has ceased or at least stopped bothering you.

On the streets and roads, the traffic congestion has eased, multi-level car park owners are not quite as happy, but now the new commute in your life is Zoom, FaceTime and Skype.

Video-conferencing has killed those 'work' trips on expenses for conferences in sunny Queensland, now rendered obsolete while the boss saves a fortune on travel and accommodation costs.

Friends, who have recently worked from home, say the boss is already suggesting they keep it up after a pandemic vaccine is found.

The prospect of tax write-offs for computer gear, household telephone, mobile and energy bills and even the old home office chair, looms as a small windfall.

It looks, sounds and feels too good to be true.

The big question is whether the absence of direct social contact in the workplace has emotionally stunted your growth.

It's a bit like an AFL game without the crowds.

You can watch it on TV but the real result is in the scores and not in the atmospherics.

In many cases the home alone perk is impossible.

For example, tradies, doctors, nurses, emergency services, professional sports and many public servants can't work from home.

So half of the workforce is disenfranchised.

They're the ones who have to show up, while the other half are showing up in their lounge room sporting a suit coat, shirt and tie, over tracksuit bottoms and slippers, for the morning virtual charade with superiors.

There are alleged drawbacks.

People can see what you read on the bookshelf behind you.

Working from home does you out of the hands-on experience with the company work culture.

Big deal.

It's a job.

Working from home does you out of social interaction with other colleagues.

Big deal.

One week after you've left the company they've already forgotten your name.

Working from home does you out of real growth of a general work ethic.

Big deal.

It actually increases productivity.

Working from home can increase anxiety about job security, but if you've got a good manager who knows how important it is to reinforce feedback, the anxiety levels should only ever rise when you get lazy.

You should grab a remote-controlled career with both hands, at least for part of the week.

No noise, no expensive takeaways in a plastic container or paper cup; no office harassment; no superficial office banter; no $40 shouts at the pub and when it's time for another round of drinks the work colleague next up for a shout suddenly has to leave; no peak hour traffic or crowded buses and no having to turn around and go back to work because you forgot your mobile phone.

The biggest motivator for working from home is the significant savings the business can make.

The boss knows your productivity rate will rise and the boss has a hold on you like never before.

You're just a FaceTime or email away and the boss knows you'll pick up and respond within seconds.

The level of accountability for your work skyrockets because your innate charisma in person-to-person contact doesn't work for you anymore.

You're just an image or a voice away and the unadulterated detail of your productivity is laid bare for all bosses to see.