Posted on 03/25/2024 8:52:11 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
More than two-thirds of managers report that they’re under immense pressure to squeeze more out of their workers, according to a recent Slack survey of 18,000 knowledge workers. Amid major concerns about stagnant or declining worker productivity in the post-COVID era, one would think government and corporate leaders might ask whether they themselves aren’t the ones doing something wrong.
One thing many of them ignore to their own disadvantage is the extensive evidence that flexible hybrid work is more productive than forced in-office work for the same roles.
For example, according to the annual report by the Office of Personnel Management, 84 percent of federal employees and managers alike believe that telework improves the quality of work and customer satisfaction. Hubstaff’s detailed analysis of remote work productivity for all employees shows that remote employees enjoy a 22 percent increase in concentrated work time.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Oh, I completely agree. When I retired I was working as a business analyst and spent my time in zoom type meetings and producing documents and visio drawings.
It was virtually a waste of time. In fact, I only quit because I felt guilty about doing basically no work while listening to people ramble in virtual meetings, often with unintelligible accents. I recently talked to a friend that is still there and after hearing what he had to say, I definitely should have stayed and continued earning many thousands a month until they had had enough of me, which would probably have been never.
However, I retired because of a mini-stroke (very minor, but I could use it as an excuse to quit without warning) and I DID need heart surgery three years later. And the stress of those calls was almost unbearable. I definitely became a happier and more laid back person almost immediately.
You can’t put a price tag on quality of life.
Many are completely capable of showing up for 40 hours of work, and accomplishing nothing.
I tried a spite week once. My one accomplishment, the receptionist.
It wasn’t much of an accomplishment…
Then there’s parking lot rock throwing contests. Drinking at lunch, etc.
The truly important work is completed by 15% of people in a smaller percentage of work hours. Corporate America is largely an adult daycare.
For people who were indolent losers, anyway, the lock downs have removed the stigma from being lazy and unemployed. How many decades (if ever) will it take to de program THAT?
100%
It’s comical in a perverse way. Laughing about it keeps my head from exploding.
50 years ago, when white Conservative males were still employed by college Business Schools, my Intro Economics professor said "Work In exactly equals Work Out" in every government job.
In other words...no value added, at any point in the process!
“If I had to go into the office, I would get fired for speaking the truth.”
I take my time and write things down, contemplate, then send the email.
Before the Covid stay at home stuff hit, she was driving 30 heavy traffic miles each way on her daily round trip to the office to do a job that she was able to do in her home office. The company she worked for, footed the bill to make her home office capable of handling her info job.
She decided not to return to the 30 mile away office and do a competitive home job. The first few months, were tough as she had no financing from her previous office job. Now she spends 2-3 days a week running her home office business. Her original employer pays her on an hourly basis without the tough commute and the office B$. She refuses to do any of the B$ the regular office wants her to do.
Hyperinflation, war, recession and privation will herald the return of outcome-based performance standards.
I’m glad to hear your wife was able to get back to that at minimal costs.
That’s a solid decision by her.
Likely against the vast majority here, I think 40 hour work weeks are outdated and rather useless.
There’s nothing moral about working oneself to death.
Certain jobs are more time & task based, and some require intelligent decisions and skill sets.
Busy != productive
I’m not sure what the solution is with more powerful technologies becoming available, but the majority of adults are useless.
It’s an ugly thought. Maybe universal income, I don’t know.
I’m the exact opposite. I’m not ever going back to the office if I can possibly avoid it.
Before I retired, I could probably have done a good percentage of my work at home, but by no means all of it. Since I had to go in practically every day anyway, WFH was never a factor. As far as I was concerned, work was work and home was where I went to get away from work. If something needed to be done after hours or on a day off, I’d just go in and do it, because it was a short commute in that small town anyway.
Saw a few coworkers get drawn into the trap of never having any real time off at home, because there was always something else that “had” to be done right now. And there were plenty of people who used WFH as an opportunity for screwing off, too.
The truly important work is completed by 15% of people in a smaller percentage of work hours. Corporate America is largely an adult daycare.
The commuting time is a total waste.
Life is too short to waste on that—when it is not absolutely necessary.
I apply Pareto’s Principle in multiple areas of life, mainly fitness and nutrition.
The percentages vary, but the principle remains.
It’s legit.
That is absolutely true.
Some jobs require that you are at the office or factory. I do not have one of those. I can work anywhere with an internet connection. About 90% of my work is with overseas people. I may as well be at home and comfortable and not worry about dying in the road because some one is speeding and texting at the same time.
I agree with you on both points.
Problem is, white collar jobs are many times more complex than farming and factory floors.
Farming in the USA took 175 years to almost completely automate.
Universal Income is still many decades in the future.
I’m not certain how long it will take.
I do know many don’t need automation but elimination.
The “how’s ‘X’ coming” person should be publicly executed for training purposes.
I do contract engineering for aircraft companies. I worked for a major manufacturer for several months helping get new hires use to carbon fiber. There was an entire division of “R&D” they kept just to keep the diversity and AA hires out of the actual production and design. (unfortunately HR was infested with AA hires who were the nastiest most racist ratchets one can imagine) Everyone knew the scam but they were forced to do it to keep government enforced numbers. And of course when the brochures came out all the photos were of the diversity squad looking very busy doing very important stuff, aka, nothing.
Later the company asked if I wanted to work full time at their shop in Ferguson to train new hires right when the Saint Floyd of Fentanyl riots started. I laughed mightily at that one.
I’m surprised you didn’t jump at the offer.
Didn’t want to be Reginald Denny part 2?…
The only reason I would enter any city in the US is to fly somewhere.
Either in Europe or near the equator…
Maybe stop cutting staff. That’s been such a religion for so long, barebones staffing, do more with less. Work from home coincided with the employees finally saying “if you’re only going to give us half the staff we need you only get half the work.”
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