Posted on 07/04/2024 6:27:42 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
It seems to be the controversial topic of the ages...only it has worsened since post-pandemic.
It's the great remote work divide...also dubbed "The Great Return" and "The Great Office Return" by others.
Although in theory, remote work has essentially been in existence for decades, it has only become a hot topic of late, and become aggravated even more, with the recent headline-grabbing strides of big-name employers who dared to mandate employees to return to office-based work (affectionately known as RTO)—or risk losing their jobs.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
The one guy said, this is stupid. I'd rather be at home rolling out of my bed in my underwear and turn the computer on.
The silicon chip has made the office tower obsolete.
It was not long ago that big corporations told their employees to get the jab or lose their job.
The trust is gone.
They will never get it back.
My son’s employer (IT industry) sent everyone home to work over two years ago - then sold the building b/c there was no use for it in that particular industry.
He tells me he has never met his colleagues in person and many of them live in other states. I told him he is saving a lot of money not having to pay for gas to commute.
My daughter (large international bank) had to go back to work one day a week - she said her colleagues were kicking and screaming about it.
A few reasons.
A lot of corporate real estate is plugged into the financial system. If that loses value, it all loses value.
Then there is the fact that while some are more productive at home, many are not. Remote employees often turn into part time employees. We have several remote workers, and they are not as effective as in person workers.
Then there is the fact that perception is reality. You won’t get promoted at home. Your hiring manager needs to see you, know who you are, to promote you. Even if you are the one that is productive.
I have been remote since Covid. I tell headhunters and others I am only interested in 100% remote roles.
Going into the office is unnecessary and all downside to me. I eats my time. It makes me spend a LOT more. The work environment with all the office noise is far worse than my arrangement at home. What would I do with my new puppy? I can’t put him in doggy daycare. He’s not fully immunized yet and he can’t go to doggy daycare because he’s not fixed....which I don’t want to do until he’s a year old and is done developing (Studies have shown the lower hormone levels following getting fixed leads to development problems in a puppy’s joints far more frequently).
Besides.....I’ll often be on a team with members of that team scattered all over the country. Who the hell cares if we’re staring at each other through a computer screen and talking in the office or at home? It makes no difference.
Fortunately thanks to hiring all those H1bs for years, the banks are sorely lacking qualified Americans with the amount of experience I have. So its accept my terms....or one of your competitors will. I love the free market.
Since I work for large banks....those who do have to go in often do “coffee badging”. They show up at the building. Swipe their badge to get in. Then leave and go back home after a short while. Leaving is not logged since you don’t have to swipe your badge to get out of the building so unless you have a meeting they might not have any idea that you’re not actually there.
Many others come in in the morning then leave for home at about 1pm right after lunch. Almost everybody hates it. The only people who seem to like going into the office are those looking to exert control over others or the younger employees who are looking to socialize in the office.
It’s all about the loans on commercial real estate. The banks (and moreso, the insurance companies) are leaning on the companies to keep the office leases. The companies know that their shareholders will scream if they lease millions of square feet of office space and leave it empty. And you can’t justify nearly as much space if folks come in on a staggered schedule.
So, in your case, everyone in at the same time, so they need enough space for everyone, not just a third or a fifth of the bodies.
And his boss would prefer he actually do something, any little thing, to earn the salary he is being paid.
Because quite frankly, despite the lovely tales that are spun about "how productive I am working at home" you aren't.
If you were, they would let you. It is certainly to their advantage to do so. But 98% of you are watching YouTube while nudging your mouse occasionally.
Remote working CAN be productive and to the advantage of everyone involved but you have to actually do some work.
And people don't.
I’m surprised that anyone working remotely hasn’t been replaced by a robot, yet. ;) The technology is right around the corner, though.
So happy to be retired and not dealing with staffing these days. :)
If your job can be done remotely, it can be done cheaper in Vietnam or India.
Expect mortgage applications in the future to ask if you work remotely.
“Remote working CAN be productive and to the advantage of everyone involved but you have to actually do some work. And people don’t.”
“Alexa! Do my JOB for me!”
“O.K.” *SMIRK*
Incorrect. I was 100% remote before Covid and last March I was one of two people who earned a company award for a huge and successful project, and that award came with a $1000 cash bonus.
Then there is the fact that perception is reality.
There is no Company without company of people. We were built to interact.
But Office World is Mostly Dead.
“You won’t get promoted at home”
Some folks will happily take that tradeoff.
Being a manager means dealing with idiot employees—whether they work in the office or at home.
I must have turned down a dozen requests to “promote” me in my career.
My company had remote employees prior to COVID, but with most on-site. Now almost everyone is remote and our buildings are mostly empty. Don’t see it changing as my coworkers are in VA and NC, my boss is in NJ and his boss is in FL. We have several people in TX and one of our integrators has people in Peru, Spain and Argentina among other countries.
I know some people may not be as productive online, but being a knowledge worker who gets paid to think and solve problems, I thrive in this environment where I am in near complete control over distractions.
The difference I see is the people who are not productive at home would not be productive at work, but now they don’t also become millstones around the necks of everyone else around them as they would in an office.
Being in the office means listening to LaQuisha and Takwanda squawking on the phone three cubicles away.
Then if you even look at them you are a “racist”.
Work at home makes that problem go away.
My BFF works from home and does the patient scheduling for one of our larger hospitals. She’s one of many. She’ll be retiring in another year or so and is also battling MS so this works well for her at this point in her life.
When she was a Mom To Four, she worked from home selling Tupperware and Husband watched the kids in the evenings when she had to go out. She was way ‘up there’ in the echelons of their sales force. She is incredibly organized and efficient in all that she does. And she’s funny as h#ll, LOL! The kids are all college educated (with USEFUL degrees) and are terrific young adults.
Husband also works from home; he sells insurance.
Amazingly, they haven’t killed one another. Yet. ;)
So, working from home is perfect if you have the right skill set and actually WANT to do the work.
AI is going to replace most white collar jobs—whether they are in the office or at home.
The commute, the idiot employees and supervisors, the wasteful meetings—all for nothing in the end.
Meanwhile, the backbone of this country has to go to work every day.
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