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Enough, Bosses Say: This Fall, It Really Is Time to Get Back to the Office*; After more than two years, corporate leaders say time is up on avoiding in-person work.
Wall Street Journal ^ | September 3, 2022 | Chip Cutter, Katherine Bindley

Posted on 09/03/2022 6:17:41 AM PDT by DoodleBob

Labor Day marks the line in the corporate sand.

Many company leaders say the end-of-summer holiday represents the best chance to finally lean on workers to return to the office this year.

After months of encouraging white-collar employees to return, or attempting to coax them back with free pizza, warm cookies and catered lunches, many executives now say they feel emboldened to take a tougher stance. No longer can workers merely come to the office if they so choose; this fall, executives say, attendance is expected and the office resisters will be put on notice.

...

...After Spotify offered most employees a choice on their work setup, about 60% chose to work from an office a majority of the time, while roughly 40% decided to remain largely at home.

“Psychology comes into play on this,” Ms. Berg said. “Nobody is telling me that I need to come in. It’s just my choice. And I think that is very important for you as a human being, too. I’m smart; I know how I want to do my job, when I want to do my job.”

She added: “If you recruit grown-ups and then you treat them as kids, it’s going to backfire.”

...

Some hiring managers say they have been able to attract talent by telling prospective candidates they can work from anywhere. But the number of remote jobs has started to fall, even as demand for remote roles remains high. Around 17% of paid job postings in the U.S. on the professional-networking site LinkedIn offered remote work in July of this year, down from a high of around 20% in March. In July, paid remote jobs attracted the majority of applications, at around 54%.

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Society
KEYWORDS: backtooffice; covid; labor; remotework
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When I'm in the office (and if others are there, too...) in 10 minutes I can sort out a bundle of problems, generate ideas, and have some fun. If I was remote, that would never happen.

At the same time, when working from home I can blaze through a pile of email and other things while calling and messaging people.

I tend to find a lot of truth in the comment that during the pandemic "A players” were self-sufficient and thriving but.. B and C players weren’t benefiting from the knowledge and experience of their colleagues."

And as much as people like to believe that their deafening awesomeness will propel their career if they're fully remote, that's not congruent with a great number of firms where face time IS important.

This is going to be fun to watch.

1 posted on 09/03/2022 6:17:41 AM PDT by DoodleBob
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To: DoodleBob

Nobody wants to go back to crime ridded urban offices


2 posted on 09/03/2022 6:21:38 AM PDT by inchworm (al )
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To: DoodleBob

Just give me money so I don’t have to work. And by the way can you deliver a six pack along the way?


3 posted on 09/03/2022 6:22:03 AM PDT by HighSierra5 (The only way you know a commie is lying is when they open their pieholes.)
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To: inchworm

Exactly. Thinking of that poor guy at Goldman who was told to go back to work and got murdered.


4 posted on 09/03/2022 6:23:16 AM PDT by HYPOCRACY (This is the dystopian future we've been waiting for!)
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To: DoodleBob

Through the Pandemic I became a SME because half of my company dropped the ball and couldn’t cope mentally with the destabilized situation. Even “brilliant” Engineers with PE’s come to me for advice and I ended up getting two massive promotions.

I knew once this thing moved to remote that I could sneak in a massive advantage by following up quickly and effectively on requests and timelines.

Chaos brings about massive opportunities.


5 posted on 09/03/2022 6:23:49 AM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal (Jesus + Something = Nothing ; Jesus + Nothing = Everything )
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To: DoodleBob

I am more productive working from home. Given what gas prices are, I save a bunch of money every week.

Working from home is not for everyone. Some people just cannot remain focused.


6 posted on 09/03/2022 6:24:46 AM PDT by TheWriterTX (Trust not in earthly princes....!)
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To: DoodleBob

I wonder what percentage of office managers prefer to work from home...


7 posted on 09/03/2022 6:28:10 AM PDT by Roccus (First we beat the Nazis........Then we defeated the Soviets....... Now, we are them.)
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To: DoodleBob

Corporations demanded people stay out of the office, now, they are demanding they come back into the office.

Why?


8 posted on 09/03/2022 6:28:34 AM PDT by CodeToad (No Arm up! They have!)
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To: DoodleBob

Agree, there are some people and work situations that are not a good fit.

For me, my organization is international and my team is across oceans, time zones, etc. There’s no point in being in the office for me, but if there’s a need to gather at our office, would do so without complaint. I’m about 2.5 years into working remote and hope to end my career in this way. It has been a boost to quality of life.


9 posted on 09/03/2022 6:29:47 AM PDT by Made In The USA (Ellen Ate Dynamite Good Bye Ellen)
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To: DoodleBob
Those execs who want their people back in the office are the control freaks with the egos that have to be stroked.

There's a power trip in summoning an underling to your office for a conference.

I also imagine some of these execs miss walking around and flirting with the secretary or other gals in the office.

No doubt some gals miss the chance to wear low cut blouses to get the flirting and other benefits.

WFH is the future for white collar jobs. Those ceos who don't see that are missing the big picture.

10 posted on 09/03/2022 6:31:19 AM PDT by ealgeone
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To: DoodleBob

I miss the collaboration of going in; I do not miss the commute. WFH has probably added a few years to my worklife. We aren’t going back in; the company is letting the lease expire and is renting some new upscale space for when management needs to impress clients face to face.


11 posted on 09/03/2022 6:32:01 AM PDT by PAR35
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To: DoodleBob

I don’t wanna work
I just want to bang on the drum all day


12 posted on 09/03/2022 6:32:07 AM PDT by Lazamataz (The firearms I own today, are the firearms I will die with. How I die will be up to them.)
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To: TheWriterTX
Office space isn't cheap.

Why wold a company pay for it when it doesn't have to?

13 posted on 09/03/2022 6:32:15 AM PDT by Mogger
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To: HighSierra5

See, now you’re thinking!...


14 posted on 09/03/2022 6:32:33 AM PDT by EEGator
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To: HYPOCRACY

I would quit. If you can get hired at Goldman, finding work elsewhere wouldn’t be difficult.


15 posted on 09/03/2022 6:33:28 AM PDT by EEGator
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To: EEGator

Excellent point.


16 posted on 09/03/2022 6:33:55 AM PDT by HYPOCRACY (This is the dystopian future we've been waiting for!)
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To: DoodleBob

Some people work best from home. Others don’t work at all. Even some good workers who are forced to work at home, see the vacuuming, or the child that needs tending. And they put work second to home. If they were at work they would be good workers.

But companies are going to want to downsize a bit soon. It may be just moving out the non-productive workers. They will ask people to comeback to work, and those who don’t are the first to be chopped. Its much easier to get rid of someone you never see.

I had a staff with 25% working from home for 30 years. As long as I had a good group in the office I was fine. The people at home were often not in the same city. And I would force the locals to come in one day a week. I would force those who worked in other cities to fly in once a quarter for a week. People who weren’t productive from home were quickly fired. New employees would always start out in the office. I only let my best work from home. Normally it was a choice between losing them or letting them work from home. I definitely considered both ways. I needed to keep a majority in the office. I would say that people who work from home, tend to be loyal. They like their arrangement. But sometimes you have people working for you and someone else at the same time. You have to watch that.


17 posted on 09/03/2022 6:35:17 AM PDT by poinq
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To: DoodleBob

For a self employed professional working in the field, office is wherever i traveled. For me, working from my office/home means only paperwork, not real work, is getting done.

Great people succeed, because they are great people. Ordinary people don’t. Water cooler meetings and hallway education are not duplicated by phone.

And further, in person communication skills are disappearing. Can’t count how many times at group meetings, dinners out, dinners home for that matter, everyone else is on their smartphones “conversing” somewhere else.

Rarely is anyone following the mantra, “Here now and nowhere else.”

Sad to watch how disconnected, and angry, many have become. An entirely new crop of Karens, of any gender.


18 posted on 09/03/2022 6:35:19 AM PDT by drSteve78 (Je suis Deplorable STILL)
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To: Made In The USA

Because you’re not ordinary. You are effective.


19 posted on 09/03/2022 6:36:45 AM PDT by drSteve78 (Je suis Deplorable STILL)
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To: ealgeone
She added: “If you recruit grown-ups and then you treat them as kids, it’s going to backfire.”

She added: “If you recruit kids grown-ups and then you treat them like grown-ups as kids, it’s going to backfire.”

Fixed.

20 posted on 09/03/2022 6:38:59 AM PDT by 4Runner
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