A friend who had read an earlier version of this article had made similar comments - that working from home can be a welcome break to a toxic work environment. I certainly can't disagree with this - nor that there are potentially other benefits to WFH. I hope to have made a narrower point - that alienation from the social relations of the workplace has long-term costs that may be less apparent - especially in terms of diminished opportunities for learning, career development, professional identity formation, etc. But certainly, a toxic or dysfunctional workplace environment is not an ideal community of practice, either.