Posted on 06/20/2023 8:49:24 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Manny Medina, the chief executive of a Seattle-based artificial intelligence sales company, doesn’t mind repeating himself. It comes with the territory, after all. That tolerance proved convenient this year as he faced the same question innumerable times.
Wait, so why was it you wanted us back in the office?
The engineers reminded him of their commutes. The working parents reminded him of school pickup times. Mr. Medina replied with arguments he has delineated so often that they have come to feel like personal mantras: Being near each other makes the work better. Mr. Medina approached three years of mushy remote-plus-office work as an experiment. His takeaway was that ideas bubble up more organically in the clamor of the office.
“You can interrupt each other without being rude when you’re in person,” said Mr. Medina, whose company, Outreach, is now in the office on a hybrid basis. “In a Zoom conversation, you have to let somebody finish their thought.”
For tens of millions of office workers, it’s been three years of scattershot plans for returning to in-person work — summoning people in, not really meaning it, everybody pretty much working wherever they pleased. Now, for the umpteenth time, businesses are ready to get serious.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
If I don't want to go back to the office but my employer insists, I will find another employer.
This, exactly. I don't understand why this is so hard for people to understand, and all of the weird emotional stuff that surrounds this issue.
My company tried the WFH thing kind of in a rush like everyone else, but I'd long thought it might be a good model. Turned out that a "general", as in "everyone" can WFH policy just didn't work for the type of work we do, which was a disappointment, but OK, we tried. Some employees felt that the quality of life that they enjoyed with the WFH model was so good that when we went back to in-office they needed to look for opportunities elsewhere, and that's ok. Not clear why people stopped being adults about this.
I’ll just go back to what I did four years. Sure the commute is a “waste of time” but employment IS a two-way street.
Glad I have an EV! <— that’ll get some hate on this thread ;-) But my RTW office has company-provided chargers ...
THen there’s this ;-) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo0KjdDJr1c
Baby Boomers are also probably more likely to have work arrangements at home that are conducive to productive work than their younger counterparts.
During the height of the COVID idiocy I noticed two general schools of thought among people working from home:
- The ones who were most productive, and most receptive to the idea of working at home, were those who had space at home (an extra bedroom or den) that could be dedicated to an office.
- The ones who were least productive (and didn't like working from home) were those who lived in small apartments and/or had young children, and didn't have a place at home where they could work without interruption.
Definitely a “one man’s meat is another man’s poison” situation. I have a job where I could choose to stay home almost all of the time - but it is depressing as can be. I tried it for awhile and soon went back to the office like a person clinging for a life preserver.
I have two offices in my house. The one with the nice window is in a special section of my master bedroom, I looked over at my bed one day at 6PM and realized I had just spent about 18 hours out of 24 in the same area. I thought to myself that it was essentially like a prison. No wonder I felt so bad. I started going to the office almost every day after that and have been so much happier. It took about 3 weeks of WFH to realize my mental health was being impacted very negatively by it.
“You tell ‘em, Boss-man.”
(Quote from a young Derek Jeter to Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner strongly holding forth within earshot with a gaggle of sports press.)
I actually LIKE getting out of the house. During the BS Covid Lockdown, I felt like I had cabin fever. While it was somewhat nice not to have the commute, I also felt like I was atrophying professionally. I got lazier and did not like how it felt. Plus, more distractions at home. My wife saw me home and felt free to task me to help her do her various projects.
I am pretty sure lots of people working from home are only working half time or less.
“RTW office has company-provided chargers”
Now that’s a good idea.
“If I don’t want to go back to the office but my employer insists, I will find another employer.”
This is the same as it has always been. If you are skilled and your employer wants your skills, they will negotiate a mutually beneficial arrangement. If not, they won’t, and you are free to find some place that will.
I believe that most people are not thusly skilled to entice an employer to fulfill a demand like “I get to work from home - or else”.
The response from the employees should always be the same as Pauley from Goodfellas: "F--- you, pay me."
In the end it isn't about the workers: it's about management control and their inability to manage remote employees effectively.
I think you are right about all the distractions. Unfortunately, those people will never admit it. They will rationalize that they are more productive than ever.
Also, I have noticed an almost antisocial element to many of the most intense WFH proponents. Almost misanthropic.
So...geographically remote workers (people who would have to take an airplane to get to the office) are an absolute no-go for you?
I’m in the laptop class but realistically I can do about half of the job remotely without causing other problems.
So I am usually here at least three days a week and am always prepared to show up on the other ones.
Be careful what you wish for, because they might just vote for socialists and live on the dole, or get laws mandating 5 weeks PTO like in Europe.
“Also, I have noticed an almost antisocial element to many of the most intense WFH proponents. Almost misanthropic.”
Are they this way with local friends, family, neighbors?
Of course not. If they were hired with such a big geographical distance to begin with, remote work was already baked in to the deal.
If on the other hand, people moved hours away during COVID, just because they thought remote work was going to be a permanent feature - then a hard analysis of the future needs to be on the table from both sides.
Not my experience. Have been WFH for years. Having middle managers take all the offices and have the line employees in a loud ‘bullpen’ is so 1990. They got to play dress-up, show off new cars and watches and lord over and leer at the peasants - I can see why they miss it! Even with all that I do miss the office for some things. YMMV
Fair enough. Thanks. -OGINJ
Wow! 3 times!
K-ueger!!!
Their Harvey Weinstein-esque “love lives” plummeted to zero during the scamdemic.
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