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Most employees of NYT won’t be required back in physical offices until 2021

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Re: Most employees of NYT won’t be required back in physical offices until 2021

#51

Post by BurningFrog »

levesque wrote: post #7
OldFatCactus wrote: post #3

A friend that works there told me that they have been polling their employees for strong feelings around going permanently remote

I have strong feelings against permanently remote. I feel like this hasn't been fully thought out. Face to face interaction is much more high bandwidth than remote video calls (in other words, it conveys more information). Not to mention that this transfers the costs of office space to the employee, maybe this is why all employers are quick to jump on this bandwagon. Curious to see where this new trend will fall in 2…

For some of people, probably more than you'd expect, work is pretty much the only social contact.

Re: Most employees of NYT won’t be required back in physical offices until 2021

#52

Post by TACIXAT »

I really hate how this is being dragged out in month sized increments. My partner and I went to Austin for a month and a half and now are back in the Bay Area to hear the next decision on her office reopening. 2021 is 6 months away. That's not enough to move somewhere else that would make the pain of moving worth it.

Re: Most employees of NYT won’t be required back in physical offices until 2021

#53

Post by caymanjim »

duxup wrote: post #10
Loughla wrote: post #5

Meanwhile, my employer has said zero remote work once the state transitions into the next phase. They want to be "fair" to everyone, including those who have positions that cannot be performed remotely. So, you have a co-morbidity? Nope. You have no childcare suddenly? Nope. It's startling how stuck in the 1980's some people are. Just absolutely astonishing.

The implication being going into the office sucks and everyone has to do it to be fair. I wonder if they're aware of that subtext....

That's not the subtext, that's exactly the point. I don't agree with it, but it's not a hidden message.

Re: Most employees of NYT won’t be required back in physical offices until 2021

#54

Post by jrockway »

flak48 wrote: post #22
levesque wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have strong feelings against permanently remote. I feel like this hasn't been fully thought out. Face to face interaction is much more high bandwidth than remote video calls (in other words, it conveys more information). Not to mention that this transfers the costs of office space to the employee, maybe this is why all employers are quick to jump on this bandwagon. Curious to see where this new trend will fall in 2…

Many companies have been reimbursing home internet and electricity bills since March. Mine even paid for an chair, desk, monitor and lamp of my choosing for my home office. I hope this becomes the norm if remote becomes mainstream

This is probably not the norm. I have a friend that works in a call center, and they've been working remotely during the pandemic. Her company won't pay for anything; she uses her personal laptop, personal consumer-grade Internet connection, etc. The consumer ISP doesn't provide their stated upload and download ever, and the ISP charged her $100 to come out and investigate the issue without fixing it. (You run a speedtest to their speedtest node, and it doesn't live up to what is advertised. How can the ISP turn around and charge the customer for telling them that!?) The company won't pay for the debugging. When the Internet dies, she's told "welp, you're done for today" and doesn't get paid. (She also works 4 days x 10 hours, so one bad day costs more than the average 5 x 8 employee.)

It is kind of a nightmare making every employee responsible for being the IT director for free. I imagine that most companies are not going to see good results here. (It's good when it's good, but what do you do when it gets bad? Nobody has a plan.)

All in all, consumer ISPs seem to be doing pretty good with the pandemic, but I worry that it's mostly a string of good luck rather than solid infrastructure investments.

Re: Most employees of NYT won’t be required back in physical offices until 2021

#55

Post by shougg »

xhkkffbf wrote: post #46
purple_ferret wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The New York Times Building is nice but it's a terrible (although generally convenient) location

If you take a bus to Port Authority, it couldn't be more convenient. And I would guess that the Times Square subway stop may be the one spot where the most lines converge.

Right, it’s convenient, but Port Authority competes closely with Penn Station and Times Square for “most loathed place in New York”.

Compare with Google office in Chelsea or FB office in the East Village (ish). Those are pretty nice places to walk around.

Re: Most employees of NYT won’t be required back in physical offices until 2021

#56

Post by duxup »

caymanjim wrote: post #53
duxup wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The implication being going into the office sucks and everyone has to do it to be fair. I wonder if they're aware of that subtext....

That's not the subtext, that's exactly the point. I don't agree with it, but it's not a hidden message.

Perhaps, but I suspect management might be more occupied with the positive of "being fair" and not aware how much negative it is.

Re: Most employees of NYT won’t be required back in physical offices until 2021

#57

Post by yomly »

jes5199 wrote: post #12
Loughla wrote: post #5

Meanwhile, my employer has said zero remote work once the state transitions into the next phase. They want to be "fair" to everyone, including those who have positions that cannot be performed remotely. So, you have a co-morbidity? Nope. You have no childcare suddenly? Nope. It's startling how stuck in the 1980's some people are. Just absolutely astonishing.

companies who ask their employees to take risks with their health, without a compelling reason, are destroying any sense of goodwill or morale. In the short term, that change might be invisible, but over the long-term it destroys businesses

It sends the message "I don't care about you" very loud and clear. Don't be surprised when your employees suddenly stop caring about your company

Re: Most employees of NYT won’t be required back in physical offices until 2021

#58

Post by caymanjim »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #50
purple_ferret wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The New York Times Building is nice but it's a terrible (although generally convenient) location

New Yorkers love to hate Time Square but it's really not so terrible, just crowded. It's in close proximity to everything, and it looks pretty at night. And as you said, it's really easy to get to.

It's literally across the street from Port Authority, which is an open-air shooting gallery and homeless camp. It's not a nice area.

Re: Most employees of NYT won’t be required back in physical offices until 2021

#59

Post by j0hnml »

niklasd wrote: post #17

I've heard now from a couple of people that they've enjoyed remote work and some have already sucessfully negotiated that in future they will work part time from home. So it really seems that some of the change will be permanent.

Same here. I don’t think the majority of folks will start working remotely permanently, but I could very well see more and more people splitting time between WFH and working from the office. If some people on a team start to do it, others on that same team will start to ask if there’s still a reason for them to still be coming into the office every day. And I think this is especially true for densely-populated areas as people realize how much time and stress are saved not having to commute into the office _every single day_.

Re: Most employees of NYT won’t be required back in physical offices until 2021

#60

Post by munificent »

kyawzazaw wrote: post #47
machinehermit wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it depends on how much you like being social too. Not interacting with people, not having a place to go, just being in the house all day is absolutely terrible for my long term well being. If my place goes full remote I would have to consider renting an office.

> Not interacting with people, not having a place to go, just being in the house all day is absolutely terrible for my long term well being. Could this just be due to a pandemic? I think in normal WFH, what you described wouldn't be much of a problem.

There's a thing I see all the time online where people massively underestimate human variance. While people have many things in common, they are all over the place when it comes to many important emotional and mental characteristics. There is no one-size-fits all for anything behavioral, not even close.

If they say it's bad for their long term well-being, they very likely know exactly what they're talking about even if your own experience is very different from that.

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