Interestingly, Meesho founder Vidit Aatrey also expressed similar sentiments as Kunal a few months back.
Today, the company has declared a win-win policy that can serve as a model for many other companies to follow. I'm sure their present outlook is strongly data-driven and not just a sudden change in heart.
Kunal Shah is one of my favourite thought leaders, however, his opinion appears to be a bit over-simplistic and one-sided here.
WFH, as experienced over the last 2 years, has been the pandemic wfh model and everything mentioned by him partially applies to it.
However, the non-pandemic work from anywhere model will present many opportunities to meet and bond with people.
When it comes to learning, the impact may be quite positive.
With all the resources and some extra time, most professionals will be very intentional about doubling it up.
Learning through osmosis is important, and while some water cooler conversations are missed, osmosis can be taken to tier 2 and tier 3 cities, where young professionals and students can find senior mentors accessible.
Finally, working from an office forces employees to live in polluted and unsustainable metro cities. On average, 3 hours a day go into commuting and getting ready. This leaves no time left for exercising, socializing, pursuing a hobby, or even resting.
This can be way more damaging in the long run.
Edit: Recently I saw a Kunal interview where he pointed out that Bangladesh has overtaken India in terms of per capita income mainly because of the lower participation of urban Indian women in the workforce.
But there is a nuanced reason why many women with young children choose to step away despite having promising careers.
It is a difficult decision for most, especially those with little support at home, to leave the kids away with someone they can't fully trust for 10-12 hours every day.
WFH is great in that sense, it allows women to contribute to the GDP without having to make that difficult choice.
I have personally worked with a few women in this situation who would not be working if it wasn't for WFH. They've all done stellar work throughout this time.
WFH is the enabler for a more inclusive workforce that doesn't unfairly penalize those who need to around toddlers while they are growing up.
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