Posted on 05/19/2023 6:39:54 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
During the pandemic, US employers embraced the new––and necessary––normal of working from home. But in the past year, the situation has begun changing rapidly. Major employers like Disney and Amazon have been moving employees back into the office for a few days a week––while over at Twitter, last November Elon Musk scrapped its work from home policy.
As for what the wider landscape looks like in the US, a recent study from Pew Research Center shows that while the number of solely remote workers is dropping, hybrid working is becoming increasingly attractive.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
If an employer can't determine what an employee is doing (or not doing) during the day, an employer shouldn't pay the employee ANYTHING!
(Elon Musk fired about 80% of Twitter, and it works better than it ever did.)
There are people who waste time and get distracted easily while working from home. There are people who waste time and get distracted easily while working from the office.
Conservatives tend to judge the value of work at home vs. office by results. Liberals tend to judge the value of work at home vs. office by how it makes them feel.
In my case, I found one day a week at work helped me keep connected with colleagues and was worth the two hours of lost work each day driving back and forth. Beyond the one day, I find it dubious.
Sure, the production plant people love it because they can barge into your office anytime and get an immediate answer to a question which could just as easily be answered by an e-mail or phone call, but I do not see the two hours of lost work daily as worth this feeling.
Companies will ultimately favor work in the office because the cost of commuting is 100% borne by the employee. However, if they are in expensive locations and/or share the cost of commuting, the analysis quickly changes.
Ultimately it needs to be sorted out not only by the employee's job content and suitability to work from home but also by paying those employees who commute in at a higher rate than those who work from home doing the same or similar work.
If you can't do that by results produced, then you are the biggest part of the problem.
You’ll take heat here for that, but I agree. Most of the people that will attack you have never had to manage large groups of people and are clueless as to what you are expressing.
Exactly how I thought of it. Work is work, home is home, and keep them separate. I saw coworkers who, by working from home, ended up never being free of the workplace.
Fortunately my job included daily hands-on aspects, so working from home was never really an option for me. Even if I could have taken care of something from my home computer on a day off, I preferred to make the 20-minute trip to the office.
I’m coming up on three years retired, so it’s all irrelevant now.
Of course it is, that's like saying the 30 hour work week is becoming increasingly attractive.
In my STEM field, the biggest factor I see in reduced productivity is a serious shortage of workers. I’ve been in the field for about 30 years, and due to a lack of competent junior staff I am spending about a third of my time doing tasks that I was doing 25 years ago.
I don’t mind it because I enjoy it. But I do recognize that it’s ridiculous for someone to get paid as much as I do for this work.
Government employees.
“Hybrid” workers won’t get promoted as fast.
You have to be VISIBLE to be appreciated.
You have to BE THERE to make the PERSONAL CONNECTIONS that lead to advancement.
...assuming you CARE about advancement. (Not everybody does.)
‘I want my home to be refuge from work, not part of it.’
that’s a good point; I think it can be countered only by the prospect of not having to commute so much to a physical location, with all the attendant dificulties; weather, traffic, noise...all the stuff that makes going to work such drudgery...
the obvious solution, and something I would do if I had it to do over, would be to live within walking or a short cycling distance of the office...
Streaming podcasts has been a game changer for my commute. Sometimes, I am not ready to end the commute because I am at an interesting part.
COVID was a big, big change to work policies. But still, you have to look at “hybrid” work in the context of the history of changes to the workplace. When the labor market gets hot, companies look for ways to give employees benefits, especially non-salary benefits. 40 years ago, it was “flex time”, some places let you leave early on Friday in the summer. Some places tried a 4 day week. Today, with the advance of technology, its hybrid work. Once the labor market crashes and unemployment goes back up, most of these hybrid work policies will be eliminated or cut back significantly. No question. The only people who will remain hybrid will be people who are more efficient in the field, like technicians and sales people.
‘I want my home to be refuge from work, not part of it.’
++++++++++++
For me it is simple. Turn off the computer. Done working. Turn it on when working. No commute. Less forced interfacing with people. If I need to go in to the office, I do. Works great for me.
I think it is a mistake to assume that labor-management dynamics will be driving the in-office vs. work-from-home business model. Ultimately, this will be determined by competitive forces related to overhead costs. Companies in industries that can operate successfully with limited office space by having staff work from home will simply run their competitors who insist on leasing expensive office space out of business.
Hybrid does work, from the top on down. Several members of senior management do not live in Texas, nor do my two supervisors. I’m old school, I prefer the office, though I’m getting better at WFH on Monday and Friday.
I’ve worked remotely since 2017. This past year, for the first time since then, I have worked 3 days at home and 2 in an office. I HATE the hour commute each way. I HATE the open floor plan. I hate everyone hearing my conversations, and hearing everyone else’s conversations.
But, it’s a decent amount of money for Houston, and I’ve got 5 mouths to feed (including mine), a mortgage to pay, and lights to keep on.
You can tell I’m working by the assignments I complete, tickets I resolve, conference calls I am engaged in, design documents I update/send out, and even the freakin’ emails I send/recieve.
You do NOT need to see my physically type on my keyboard to know I’m “working”.
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