> Laila makes a coffee in the kitchen area<p>Seriously? You're worried about viruses and yet you're still gonna allow the "coffee petri dish," where hundreds of grubby dirty hands fondle communal cups, bowls, coffee machine buttons, creamer, sugar, stirrers? To say nothing of the giant "catered lunch" buffets with no sneeze guards.<p>> The air conditioning system uses UV light to kill pathogens. It also reduces the humidity to help prevent germs multiplying, responding to a stream of data from sensors fixed around the building, and wearable sensors used by staff.<p>Yet it's still got 50-year-old unmaintained fiberglass insulation inside the ducts, which, because the overlayment breaks down over time, streams tiny particles of glass throughout the office to be inhaled. (this has probably been happening in your office for some time if it's an older building)<p>> The staff got fed up with plastic everywhere a couple of years ago. They said it made the office feel like a hospital. Laila prefers the plants.<p>The plants are plastic now. Too many finicky potential problems like mold/mildew, they're hard to clean, not maintenance-free.<p>> It's face-to-face with colleagues - but all at a safe distance.<p>We don't even practice social distancing <i>now</i>. It's not gonna happen at work with people who feel comfortable around each other. And honestly, what's the point indoors? You cough and the overhead A/C pushes microscopic water particles way farther than 6 feet.<p>> It's 16:00 and time to go home. Laila moved to the suburbs with a friend after the lockdown in 2020. It's a longer commute, but she doesn't mind as it's only once a week.<p>There a lot of roommates in the suburbs? Most middle-class young people working in offices like this will still need several roommates to afford rent, what with cost of living constantly increasing but pay not adjusting as much (news flash: covid-19 has not fixed income inequality). The suburbs aren't actually much cheaper in most parts, because people who work in cities live in them. People will continue to live in cities because there's still more access to everything in them.<p>> she knew she would need a home office [..] There's a new standing desk, a properly adjustable office chair and storage for documents<p>I work from home now and I don't need a home office. All you need is a table and a chair in a corner of a room. With kids, I get it, but otherwise, what's all that extra space going toward? Every "document" I own fits in a single box. If anything, apartments will just become "Tokyo-ified".<p>> She never realised, before, how important it was to have good lighting, so she had spotlights installed in the ceiling and bought a proper desk lamp.<p>Ok, now you're jumping the shark. Nobody's installing track lighting just to do computer work. One good desk lamp is all you need.<p>> She's near a big road and she needs to concentrate hard when she's working - sound-proofing is an issue she hadn't anticipated.<p>Headphones worked for the office, they work at home too.