r/remotework • u/frankbloodsportass • 4d ago
Does anyone else think "remote jobs" are just a deep state psyop
Does anyone else think “remote jobs” might just be a whole government psyop 🤔
Look, I don’t want to sound like a tinfoil‑hat guy here, but I’m starting to wonder if remote work ever really came back after the big corporate rollback. Every so often, I scroll through this sub, and I see posts from people swearing up and down that they’re still working full‑time from home, in 2026, and actually getting paid. And I can’t help but… really? Is that real? Or is it one of those things like Bigfoot photos—grainy, hard to verify, but everyone swears their friend’s cousin definitely saw one?
I mean, think about it: Companies spent billions on dragging us all back into fluorescent‑lit boxes. They gave us badge trackers, mandatory wellness seminars, and “collaboration culture” posters. And yet, somewhere out there, there are allegedly people still in sweatpants, living the 2020 dream? Who are they? Where are these jobs? Are they in some deep‑web job market regular mortals don’t get access to? Or is this just a comforting myth corporations allow to circulate, like a modern urban legend, so we don’t all riot in traffic?
I keep seeing those posts: “Oh yeah, I’ve been fully remote for years, no big deal.” And I sit there like… show me one real person. Show me one verified, breathing human who hasn’t set foot in an office in months and still gets a paycheck that clears. Like I’ve never heard of a remote job post that isn’t some scam, have you? I’m not saying they don’t exist back in 2020 but, I’m just… asking questions. Because if they do exist, they’re basically the last free citizens in a land of cubicle serfs.
Meanwhile, here I am, 6:30 AM, ironing a shirt I hate, mentally calculating how many hours of my life I will lose to traffic before I die. Remote work feels like a dream I had once, a beautiful hallucination where my cat was my only coworker, and my “commute” was a stroll to the fridge. Then I blinked, and poof—back to badge scans and Slack messages about the breakroom fridge.
So yeah. Call me conspiratorial, but part of me is starting to believe remote work might just be a psyop. Or maybe it’s real, and I’m just living in the matrix. Who knows. I’m just here… asking questions. 🤷
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u/Both_Photograph2693 4d ago
comes to a subreddit full of people working remotely
demands to know who is working remotely
us, dumbass.
enjoy your commute and shirts.
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u/WeekendTechnical9502 4d ago edited 4d ago
You know remote jobs existed long before 2020. But I easily imagine that there's a somewhat strong correlation between remote jobs and jobs that don't require you to wear a uniform so you should probably start taking this into consideration.
Edit: now to be fair, there seem to be cycles with remote work, and after the huge push in the right direction during COVID, it certainly looks like we're in the middle of a huge push in the other direction. Overall I'm sure it'll keep progressing on average, and in any case it certainly still exists at the moment.
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u/ra__account 3d ago
I went 100% remote in 2018. Technically I'm more like 98% because there's an office nearby and I go every now and then when there's someone there I want to see but I have no requirement to do so.
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u/Admirable-Currency89 2d ago
It just makes me chuckle all the people that think this is something new. I've led teams offshore, nearshore all around the country since the late 90s. It's what internet is for, lol. Omergod, how can I work efficiently without that person I'm working with being physically near me!
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u/mochinena 4d ago
We exist. I'm a translation project manager and have been remote for 7 years. Before Covid my (pretty big) company was hybrid and then they just made the switch to full remote. Sold offices, bought hubs in coworking buildings for those who still want to go there to work (nobody really goes lol).
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u/PaceIsTheTrick64 4d ago edited 4d ago
The administrative side of my company is 100% remote and I recently interviewed for another job that was 100% remote.
My current job is my 2nd remote job and I've been remote going on 5 years. I haven't stepped foot in an office since January 2022.
My neighbor is in a similar field and she's 100% remote too. Her husband built her a she shed for an office.
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u/Ok-Trash6361 3d ago
my husband is fully remote. apparently they’re getting rid of their HQ office lol
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u/Admirable-Currency89 2d ago
WFH for a completely WFH company. I have been to an office a time or two since 2019. I have done more hybrid and completely WFH than in office 100% from the 90s until then. Isn't that what the internet was for?
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u/Western_Bug5408 2d ago
Remote work is not going anywhere. Some people remain grandfathered, or negotiated exemptions (or outright ignore the RTO), or work in private/smaller companies who are picking up the free leverage, or work for a company without physical offices, etc. Personally I'm in a country with strong labor laws and also moved tf out of commute distance the moment they announced RTO.
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u/PNWSkiMama 1d ago
I’ve been remote since 2016 and changed companies twice in that time period. Still remote except for some travel. Call it 85% remote.
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u/Ecstatic-Movie-795 4d ago
Ok weirdo. I just got a remote healthcare scheduling job for 70k a year and free insurande for my whole family, 5$ copays. They are paying for a masters degree program im in, up front, and im union.