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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

#81

Post by danielbln »

j0hnml wrote: post #59
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…

Before covid, being able to work from home once in a while was something of a perk. After a few months of fully remote it is now a hard requirement for me, a significant chunk of my work time has to be able to be home office, or I'm walking away.

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

#82

Post by Rebelgecko »

gruez wrote: post #73
jmalicki wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So unlike a modern tech company, they sit farther apart and at least have barriers between their desks?

agree on the bigger desks bit, but what difference does a 12" tall barrier make?

In addition to the privacy aspect, it probably helps reduce the travel distance of any particles that one exhales

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

#83

Post by dannyw »

gruez wrote: post #73
jmalicki wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So unlike a modern tech company, they sit farther apart and at least have barriers between their desks?

agree on the bigger desks bit, but what difference does a 12" tall barrier make?

COVID? Not a lot. But normal office work? Just a little bit of privacy. Enough so that casually glancing at what someone else is doing is discouraged. But also, not enough so that communication is too discouraged.

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

#84

Post by dannyw »

fierarul wrote: post #80

Everybody talks about online mobs and trolls but what happens when the entire workforce is online? How vicious can one (mob) be against another co-worker when you can't phisically see him to calibrate what's really going on and the reaction to what you do?

Well hopefully you don't have vicious mobs at your workplace.

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

#85

Post by jonathanpeterwu »

WrtCdEvrydy wrote: post #9
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.

> Wow, I guess I'll just tell my team you want them to die and they should find another job This is what I told my boss when these orders came down... they are still deciding what to do. Edit: Be aware, I have enough emergency savings for around 3 years worth of fuck it. I'm not you and you should not be me.

Building on this. If you have the risk tolerance. Just stating that you have to work remotely (if its legitimate) at-risk health, child care, family care I'm sure there can't be a ton of pushback on an individual level. Otherwise it might be a GREAT signal to leave a company who in the midst of a pandemic is irrational.

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

#86

Post by devtul »

nicoburns wrote: post #49
dvfjsdhgfv wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everybody should be you, if possible. Having enough savings to be able not to worry about the nearest future is not just a perfect option, it's a necessity.

Unfortunately it's not a realistic option for most people. If we're talking about "shoulds", then we should have a welfare state that covers these scenarios rather than putting the burden on individuals, many of whom will not have the means to implement it even if they wanted to.

There is no avoiding personal responsibility, we give power to bureaucrats to run some stuff for us but you can't solely rely on their judgment. Unless we are talking about the helpless and inept in our society, then I agree with you.

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

#87

Post by claudeganon »

moksly wrote: post #41
coldpie wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They want to be "fair" to everyone, including those who have positions that cannot be performed remotely. But, this only increases the risk for those who actually do have to go in. Everyone should be vocally opposed to this policy, including (especially?) those to whom this policy is supposed to be "fair."

It seems insane. I work in digitalisation in Denmark, as a developer, so I can do everything from home. We’re running at 50% as our country is slowly coming back from a lockdown, but those 50% go to the people who actually need to be at the office, so I’m in no way a priority. I wonder what management will do with the COVID data though. Our productivity is through the roof, but they’ve just spent several hundred mill…

My partner’s company just had their most profitable quarter in company history, when everyone but some bare bones staff was working at home, and they’re still debating whether or not to bring everyone back into the office.

At a certain point you have to recognize that it’s not about being safe or rational. It’s about bosses making sure they can hold power over employees.

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

#88

Post by adjkant »

ryanSrich wrote: post #62
TACIXAT wrote: post #52

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.

I say this with all seriousness, and I understand some people don't have this luxury, but if you do, please quit. These companies will continue to punish their employees if they are allowed to do so. The only way to create change is through leverage. This goes for anyone facing this decision. If you have the ability to quit, you should absolutely do it. Take a year off, find another company that doesn't support archa…

The things you describe are far from the charged language you're using, and also much of your description may not apply at all to the post you responded to.

How does someone quitting their job because their work is playing a global pandemic step by step help any of the things you listed? This approach is a very logical decision and honestly complaining this loudly about that step is incredibly privileged in a time where many are facing layoffs and pay cuts. Oh no! Your company has kept paying you, you're working remote for a job you were hired for in person, but you can't get a guarantee of when you'll be back in the office because of a pandemic? The horror!

That's not to take a "be happy with what you get and lick the boot" approach at all, but many companies have quite nice policies in regards to how COVID-19 is being handled.

Your issue appears to be with non-remote work in general, but you also make it seem like high COL cities are the only option. If someone is not able to be mentally stable working in the bay or Seattle or NYC etc, there are plenty of small cities with tech jobs that will pay good money with low COL and a short commute they can go work at. They absolutely should quit, for themselves. That was true before any pandemic.

> The people that have incredibly poor mental health because they're pulled into gross office politics that pit employees against each other.

Again, where was any of this mentioned? It sounds like you are projecting the issues of some companies. These companies should absolutely change their behavior, but again, this was true before the pandemic. I'm not sure how someone quitting will tech them a lesson either as those places probably already have high turnover and they won't have much issue hiring n the current market.

You say you create it through leverage, but I see no such leverage being developed in quitting even if all of this was true.

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

#89

Post by purple_ferret »

ryanSrich wrote: post #76
purple_ferret wrote: post #36

I wonder how good their remote security is. I imagine every single government regularly tries to hack them.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by remote security? - Cloud security? - Controlling physical safeguards remotely? - Something different?

physical security of remote devices

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

#90

Post by ghaff »

j0hnml wrote: post #59
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 someone who works at a company that is normally pretty split between offices and remote/WFH, I've seen this first hand. I don't actually mind going into the office now and then (and it's only about a 30 minute commute). But (increasingly pre-Covid), I'd go in and not run into anyone I worked with or even knew. Eventually I just gave up my desk when I had to move anyway. And pretty much stopped going in at all unless I had a specific meeting.
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