I do not mind working in an office. There are plenty of positives. For me though, losing two hours a day again just to commute is tough to accept anymore.
The only people in favor of being back in a building are those mgrs who are control freaks and the chamber of commerce who are worried about the lack of revenue from spending by office workers.
Time for the spoiled kids to go back to work like the rest of us.
I sell cars, parts and run a tow truck.
I never phoned it in.
Never missed a day of work through this plandemic either. Came close once but still hauled my sorry butt to the shop and worked alone.
I did the office 40-hour work week for most of my life but did the work-from-home bit for a few months. While working from home had some nice perks, I would rather be in the office. There, at least, I have access to managers and co-workers whenever needed. Working remotely, it is easy to be ignored or not included when important information is distributed.
Can’t understand the paranoia from some folks. COVID is over, dude. Of course, I’d had employment offices tell me they couldn’t find qualified applicants who could pass the drug test so maybe a lot of folks fear their bloodshot eyes and slurred speech might give them away.
The toothpaste is not going back in the tube. My job has never been remote. But now the people I work with are all quitting for remote jobs. Our workforce is getting younger fast, because when they hit a couple of years experience it gets a lot easier to get a remote work job. And the older guys are all retiring in mass because of the woke stupidity.
As much as I admire Musk’s accomplishments, he runs a sweatshop. His businesses are the last place I would recommend anyone work.
Employees don’t need to be in a union to take union action.
I have 9 direct reports. Our office is in San Francisco. We were all given the option to remain 100% remote (and clean out our desks) or come in once or twice a week and not clean out our desks. Four of my 9 opted to return, so I did too. Of the other five, three are retiring this year and one is in Seattle.
Bottom line: there is value in some balance.
Don’t know if this applies but should gov’t work in office? ...or continue to stay home (acc to Laura Ingraham) and work
Not every job is feasible remote. Mine is, and I would consider it unreasonable to be required to be in an office, at the cost of gas, time, wear and tear on my vehicle, when it’s entirely unnecessary.
Sorry, I just don’t fetishize getting bent over by my employer.
They’re pissed because now they have to burn their paycheck commuting to work.
They don’t want to work,
they just want to bang on the drum all day.
More than two years into a pandemic that has no clear end,
Please! What a drama queen. The nope-demic, faux-demic. Morons all of them. I faced down this stupidity and never missed a day at work, not even an hour. Didn’t wear a mask and shook people’s hand. In this case it wasn’t a pandemic if you refused to participate. I am in close contact with around 10 strangers a week and around 50 employees.
Other than a brief period when where I worked was shut down (thanks Governor a-hole) I always went to the office. Fortunately it was a 500 acre ranch/shooting range. Usually spent less than 20 minutes a day in a building.
If they worked for me they would be at the office every working day. There is no substitute for eye-to-eye contact.
Start firing all these lazy people.
Well I live 65 miles from work one way and when I started this job gas was $1.60 ish and now $4.40 plus the datacenter I was tending was decommissioned as we moved everything to the Cloud so I frankly told them there was no point in driving in...They said ok.
Productivity is way up, long overdue standardization is in place, and more than half of the daily work while I was in the office was with others at different firms anyway.
No one comes by the desk with asinine requests. People have learned to write full sentences and put together real packages instead of half-assing it and wasting time with in-person meetings.
One huge positive is being able to avoid all the minefields in the office. I don't have to worry about triggering some snowflake who should have never been hired to begin with. I can share things in a web meeting that I'd never say publicly in the office (hence productivity being way up) - nothing offensive - just cold business truths that you can't share publicly.
You have to laugh at those who are seething with jealousy toward those who can work from home.
It shows up every time there is one of these threads.
The biggest benefit is, of course, no commute. Beyond that, few if any positives exist.
It might be okay if your employees could maintain the same level of productivity and innovation. However, I doubt that is happening (certainly not if my workplace is representative). I think a lot of people are doing other things when they are supposed to be working. It is too easy to slack off when no one is watching you. Ditto for meetings. Too easy to totally disengage. I’ve seen this over and over.
I also think that not interacting with other people F2F changes you in a bad way. You get more out of shape both mentally and physically.