Posted on 05/22/2021 5:29:23 PM PDT by DoodleBob
“If the work you do is essentially a commodity, like writing computer code”
The only people who think writing code is a commodity are those who have never done it - or not done it well.
It’s not just the lawsuits IMHO it’s also causing aggravation to employees- for no recompense to the company.
Why? There are many jobs today for which there is absolutely zero objective reason to be on-site. My group has worked remotely for the past 14 months, and we are in total agreement that productivity and customer service have remained consistently equal to, or even better than they were when we were all in the office every day. Some private companies that experimented, prior to the pandemic, with eliminating any requirement to be in the office found that productivity actually increased, citing in one example a 25% productivity increase.
There are certainly many jobs that absolutely require physical presence on-site. For example, I really don’t want the pilots on my next airline flight to work from home. But for all the others, we have to get beyond the late-1800s, industrial revolution, factory floor mentality. Micromanager types are perpetually stuck in that outdated mindset. They are always hyper-focused on having butts in seats, but can never tell you exactly why it matters. It just satisfies their personal need to see everything at all times, whether that makes any difference to the work product or not.
I think more in terms of hiring someone to paint my house, as an analogy. So long as they deliver a painted house for the price we agreed upon and by the deadline set, and do so without doing anything illegal or unethical in the process, that’s all I should care about. If instead I follow them around the whole time, and try to tell them that they are eating the wrong thing for lunch, or that I saw one of them playing a game on their phone, or that I didn’t “feel” that they were on-site often enough, then I’m just a neurotic micromanager who is obsessed with the unimportant, rather than what actually matters, which is what is produced.
All of that said, you do make an important point about missing out on promotional opportunities if you are never physically present. Networking is essential to promotion, and networking is pretty much impossible in the virtual world. I will agree with you on that.
I was thinking about that as I wrote my statement. You’re exactly right, when it comes to how code SHOULD be written. Unfortunately, today an awful lot of programming is commoditized, which is why we get some really bloated, inefficient, buggy stuff from places like India. It’s bothered me for years that as processor speeds followed Moore’s law, it seems that programmers stopped trying to optimize code because they could just hack together bloated code and rely on the brute force of faster processors to make it run well enough to get by. That’s just wasting the leap in hardware speed.
There’s a vast difference between talented, creative, top-flight programmers and the drones working in code-writing farms, but unfortunately it seems most companies prefer the cheapness of the latter.
I think people have short memories about resiliency, the desire for human contact, and face time. And despite what people who've never set foot in Manhattan say, Manhattan is actually pretty awesome and will rebound (maybe not immediately, but it'll come back).
Yes...a meaningfully-large proportion of mask-monkeys will keep masked until The End. Many folks will never take an Uber or eat-out again. And some employers will realize that a longer-term remote work arrangement will help retain good workers. And some industries will thrive with remote workers. Finally, for people in global businesses you effectively are virtual workers anyway so nothing changed.
But if the boss comes back to the office and you don't, you will likely hit a career wall. Let's face it...while a lot can get done remotely, when you're face-to-face things are quite productive in a political and issue-clearing manner.
And if I have to attend another conference or seminar via Zoom I'm gonna scream.
I, for one, totally enjoy working in the back yard while hanging out with The Dog and drinking beer.
Is that wrong?
I understand why a lot of the comments on this thread are against going back to the office. I understand companies can save a fortune by not having to lease as much office space. I understand efficiency is even better by officing at home than in an office building.
But as I see it the greatest obstacle in working from home is the chance for advancement and promotion.
Out of sight. Out of mind.
Lot of good stuff there!
“...their employers don’t really care for them?”
That’s why it’s called A Job.
Otherwise the “employees” would pay a daily admission fee to go have fun.
“Manhattan is actually pretty awesome...”
Manhattan reminds me of Bangladesh.
“It’s bothered me for years that as processor speeds followed Moore’s law, it seems that programmers stopped trying to optimize code because they could just hack together bloated code and rely on the brute force of faster processors to make it run well enough to get by.”
Indeed, it’s always been trivial for code to overwhelm processor cycles.
More coders need to be forced to code for real time control systems.
“Your best chance of promotion today is a promotion to a different company”
Amen! That’s how I got my biggest promotions.
If you’re dog drinks beer with you in the backyard, it’s hard to beat that in the office.
I've been to Patterson, NJ, driven by Gary, Indiana, smelled the sanitation department near Philadelphia International Airport on I-95, and attended a conference in San Diego.
Manhattan is better.
San Diego >> Manhattan.
Less gas being consumed, less tires and brakes wearing, less tolls being paid on the highway, less people listening to FM radio ads and AM radio fear mongers, less fast food lunches.... Anything else to add?
Working from home often is fine for trained, experienced employees. But there are huge problems when it comes to hiring and integrating new employees.
Manhattan population density = 26,821.6/km2
Bangladesh pop density = 1,240
I also think younger employees miss out. Someone once told me that, in finance, the older workers (who've paid their dues) preferred a 7am to 7pm day and the work from home Friday while people under 30 absolutely love the rush of working on a deal or transaction all night and sleeping in a conference room....it gives them office cred and something they can use to "one-up" with their friends.
Is that silly and infantile and immature? Maybe...but it is the stuff that often leads to a lucrative career.
Workplace camaraderie is risk. A smart employee avoids anything other than work with their coworkers because if 2020 taught them anything, it's that coworkers can be spiteful toward conservatives.
Coworkers are not your friends, they're coworkers. It's bad that HR pushes the latest socialist diatribe but it does help identify which of your coworkers would stab you in the back for not drinking the Kool-aid. Many already despise you for your skin color and sexual orientation and you'll find out quickly what they think of you if you tell them you voted for President Trump, own firearms, and follow Free Republic.
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