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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

#201

Post by rebuilder »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #132
ghaff wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think that? If anything, managers can help better connect a more distributed workforce. (And those connections are one of the definite downsides of everyone being remote.)

Because if you have competent people, managers don't need to do much, we just coordinate ourselves to achieve our goals and our boss asks us from time to time if everything is going OK. The catch is, it takes a good manager to hire and keep good employees that can self coordinate effortlessly.

Does working remotely or from the office factor into that somehow?

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

#202

Post by shadowfox »

jkaptur wrote: post #173

Ask HN: do you make any distinction between "working from home" and "working from home during a pandemic"? I see a lot of people arguing that WFH is the new normal, citing long reopening timelines, their own preferences, increased productivity, Twitter's policy change, etc. But just a few years ago, IBM and Yahoo radically curtailed their WFH policies, and they made (what seemed to me to be) pretty credible arguments…

> IBM and Yahoo radically curtailed their WFH policies, and they made (what seemed to me to be) pretty credible arguments that the policies were being abused

While it is possible that they were correct, both companies, but especially Yahoo was already suffering from deep organizational and employee issues at the point these announcements were made. So I am somewhat skeptical about the cause and effect here. I would be more sold if this were coming out of a less disfunctional organization.

> there just isn't anything else to do (with the critical exceptions of housework and child, elder, and sick-person care)

There is also TV, Netflix and a variety of different ways to distract oneself at home. Though I do agree that working- from-home-during-a-pandemic may be different from just working-from-home permanently.

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

#203

Post by klenwell »

Loughla wrote: post #48
WrtCdEvrydy wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

>As an institution of higher education, I believe that we should be evaluating all of our options and enacting what is equitable for our employees. Please note that 'equitable' does not mean everyone is treated the same. Some individuals have life circumstances out of their control during COVID. We are already working remotely, we know that it does work. Further, it gives those of us that need it the most the flexibi…

My company also rushed to reopen our home office today. I and most my team are not located there so we continue to work remotely. But many of my co-workers were puzzled by the rush to get people back in the office after 3 months of working remotely quite effectively. There was also some confusion over who was required to return to the office when.

After I found out masks were optional in the office late last week, I sent a message to the executive I report to this weekend outlining my concerns about this and a couple other things. Some policy adjustments were announced this morning! So sometimes the system does work.

I also made it very clear to my team that I was recommending they continue to work from home. I communicated to them that they were not going to impress me with their courage or dedication to the company if they went back into the office. They will impress me by continuing to do good work and remaining safe.

My last job was at a university so I know how things tend to operate in higher education. Best of luck. If I were working at your institution, I would be grateful to know people like you were speaking up.

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

#204

Post by admax88q »

rebuilder wrote: post #201
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because if you have competent people, managers don't need to do much, we just coordinate ourselves to achieve our goals and our boss asks us from time to time if everything is going OK. The catch is, it takes a good manager to hire and keep good employees that can self coordinate effortlessly.

Does working remotely or from the office factor into that somehow?

I think its less that "remote workers need fewer bosses" and more that "remote work is illustrating that the number of bosses we have is not necessary"

Many of them just don't have things to do when everyone is remote, and yet the work is still getting done.

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

#205

Post by danbolt »

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #149
timewasted wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in a similar situation, except with a worse reason for requiring everyone to come back to the office. We were told that the optics of us not coming back to the office as the city is reopening could destroy the company. I can assure you that NO ONE is going to say "well I was going to spend money with these people but they're not in the office, so I'll go elsewhere". Further, we are being given less than 24 hours…

> We were told that the optics of us not coming back to the office as the city is reopening could destroy the company. Wherein "optics" means the millions that the top shareholders and decision makers may or may not make in the future. That's what's at stake, and that's why your families need to be put at risk.

their profits oh no

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

#206

Post by edw519 »

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.

They want to be "fair" to everyone

Where I work, discussing salaries is strictly forbidden and grounds for dismissal.

I demanded an increase and was told, "No. It wouldn't be fair to the others."

I asked, "How would they know?"

(weWantToBeFair) = enterprise(iWontCumInYourMouth)

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

#207

Post by rebuilder »

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....

Or, that management thinks the work they're having employees do sucks, and their employees are going to slack off as much as they can if left unsupervised. Also, that management doesn't have much in the way of supervisory powers apart from tracking hours at the office.

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

#208

Post by timewasted »

divbzero wrote: post #153
timewasted wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in a similar situation, except with a worse reason for requiring everyone to come back to the office. We were told that the optics of us not coming back to the office as the city is reopening could destroy the company. I can assure you that NO ONE is going to say "well I was going to spend money with these people but they're not in the office, so I'll go elsewhere". Further, we are being given less than 24 hours…

What if enough employees simply refused?

I would really love to find out the answer to this question, but I don't think I'll be able to.

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

#209

Post by kevindong »

elicash wrote: post #19

Here's a photo of the newsroom so you can get a sense of the degree to which they work in proximity: https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/12/18/opinion/sunday/18...

That honestly looks more cramped than any office I've ever been in.

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

#210

Post by Consultant32452 »

duxup wrote: post #195
Consultant32452 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how long it will take for some fortune 500 company to get sued by their white collar office workers who catch COVID.

I think it will take extra factors like some manager who orders someone he knows has COVID into the office before we see a lawsuit that makes it very far.

I think it could be as simple as interpretation of state guidelines. My state is recommending workers work remote if possible. If your company allowed you to work remotely before, your employer has demonstrated that it's possible. So if you are forced to endanger yourself against state health and safety guidance, that should be enough.
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