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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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To: DoodleBob

Good points. If you are at the top of your career, working remote may pay off. I know two folks who have been working from home for several years. Everything was fine, until recently when the corporations decided to downsize. When you’re the guy nobody sees, no matter how good your work is, you are likely expendable.


21 posted on 09/03/2022 6:40:47 AM PDT by Not_Who_U_Think
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To: DoodleBob

Depends on what the job is. If you work on an assemblu line for a living you obviously can’t stay at home all day. If your job is a document reviewer then obviously you can. Making people coming to work just for the sake of making people coming to work is ridiculous


22 posted on 09/03/2022 6:42:41 AM PDT by Hammerhead
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To: DoodleBob

You sound like my daughter. She is an editorial assistant. In 2-3 years she oversaw the publishing or updating process on about 400 books, mostly from home.

She had an overbearing boss who was making her come to the office when no one else had to.

She quit that job for another one that’s fully remote.

She’s now looking for a larger apartment so she can have a better office area.


23 posted on 09/03/2022 6:43:02 AM PDT by cyclotic (Follow 1776Restorationmovement.com fighting for our Constitution. @1776RM on Truth)
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To: DoodleBob

I consistently refuse any position that requires me to come into the office. I’m still able to get roles that allow me to work 100% remote.

Companies that insist on people coming into the office are hurting themselves when it comes to hiring the top shelf talent they want - those with the qualifications and experience that are in demand. Why go into the office if you don’t have to? So they won’t.


24 posted on 09/03/2022 6:43:34 AM PDT by FLT-bird
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To: poinq
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.

Disagree. These are the same folks goofing off at work.

25 posted on 09/03/2022 6:45:17 AM PDT by ealgeone
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To: DoodleBob
I took advantage of working remotely early last year in Massachusetts (5 miles from former work location) by asking my manager if I could work remotely from Tennessee. We found the perfect property and pulled the trigger.

So, if the company says "Everybody must come back to the office" I'll quit. The nearest office to me now is in Raleigh, NC. Ain't gonna happen.

26 posted on 09/03/2022 6:47:10 AM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (Great minds drink alike...me and my baby havin' a hell of a night. - - BB King)
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To: CodeToad

They also demanded that if people were going to all be in one building that they prove they have had their death jabs and fortyeleven boosters


27 posted on 09/03/2022 6:48:01 AM PDT by Mygirlsmom (Back after a long hiatus. Now mygrandkidsgrandma)
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To: ealgeone

28 posted on 09/03/2022 6:49:36 AM PDT by EEGator
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To: DoodleBob

‘Eff those corporate whiners. They enabled, no, encouraged this mess. Let them stew in their own juices.


29 posted on 09/03/2022 6:50:31 AM PDT by brownsfan (It's going to take real, serious, hard times to wake the American public.)
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To: DoodleBob

I personally can do either, but I have rarely ever had a job that was very challenging or could keep me busy, so I tend to go in just to feel like I am putting in my 8 hours in some fashion.

But WFH is all the rage and I don’t see the toothpaste going back in the tube. In my experience over the last couple of years when our managers try to require people to come into the office they just quit and have no problems finding 100% remote work.


30 posted on 09/03/2022 6:52:59 AM PDT by hopespringseternal
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To: Mygirlsmom

...a killing field.


31 posted on 09/03/2022 6:58:52 AM PDT by one guy in new jersey
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To: CodeToad

Why are companies demanding employees return to the office?

Because politicians have been desperately begging them to force their employees to return. Commercial activity in city centers was almost completely dependent on the daily massive inflow of office workers. They haven’t been coming in and lots of businesses have died as a result. Commercial real estate is quickly going down the tubes as a result. On the horizon, the politicians see what they most fear. Employees figure why do they even need to live in the expensive city at all? Why not move far away where there is less crime, the roads are less congested, there is less pollution and taxes are massively lower?

When that happens residential real estate and the tax base in places like NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, etc completely collapses.


32 posted on 09/03/2022 6:59:30 AM PDT by FLT-bird
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To: DoodleBob

Frankly, I’m a little surprised that WFH incentives are not part of the Inflation Production Act to reduce carbon emissions from commuting workers. There is a secondary reduction in energy use from reduced laundry and dry-cleaning, a reduction in daily showers, meal preparation, reductions in the consumption of make-up perfume and the like, and a reduction in the climate control of office spaces. Seems like Bernie, AOC and Greta would be lobbying hard for this type of social re-engineering.


33 posted on 09/03/2022 7:00:05 AM PDT by DaveyB (Live free or die!)
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To: DoodleBob

If they’ve spent the passed 2 yrs working off site and production hasn’t fallen off... then why bother bringing them back to an office?

why bother spending the money for office space when you could get smaller offices for management and remotely manage the rest?


34 posted on 09/03/2022 7:00:31 AM PDT by sten (fighting tyranny never goes out of style)
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To: DoodleBob

I started working at a major international bank in January. I hear my office in NYC is very nice, but I’ve never seen it. I’ve never met anybody I work with in person. There are no plans afoot to ever go into the office. Everybody is happy with the situation as is.


35 posted on 09/03/2022 7:00:38 AM PDT by dead (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_vFiUUcBkc)
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To: Hammerhead

I don’t think there are many jobs requiring work product that does not benefit from face to face interaction. Those involving simple data entry etc might.

Sooner or later we’ll get back to in-office as the standard.


36 posted on 09/03/2022 7:00:54 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: inchworm

No one is so important that they can’t be replaced. (except POTUS)


37 posted on 09/03/2022 7:00:58 AM PDT by Don Corleone (leave the gun, take the canolis)
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To: DoodleBob

So it was ok for all of us who work in factories and warehouses to be at work every day during the Scamdemic - but the spoiled brats in the office got to go home?

So the Marketing department is more important that the Fork Lift Drivers and the order pickers? If the warehouse and docks are open - ALL employees need to be at work.


38 posted on 09/03/2022 7:01:54 AM PDT by EC Washington
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To: Mogger

Most companies are locked into long term contracts to lease their office space or they actually own their office space.

Those who decide to allow more WFH can really cut their expenses by massively downsizing their office space just for the occasional employee meeting and for impressing clients.


39 posted on 09/03/2022 7:02:26 AM PDT by FLT-bird
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To: Lazamataz

I saw a ton musical instruments in people’s home offices on Zoom calls. Guitar manufacturers had a surge in sales, and when I inquires, I found out that many lapsed Hendrix wannabees splurged, plugged in, and rocked out while working remotely.


40 posted on 09/03/2022 7:03:35 AM PDT by DoodleBob (Gravity’s waiting period is about 9.8 m/s²)
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