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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

#271

Post by raz32dust »

aphextron wrote: post #266

I've been trying recently to wrap my head around what life is going to be like from here on out. Where do we go? Things will never be the same again. Remote work will now be completely normal, that's for sure. But how do we get back to living our lives? Fundamental assumptions I've had about the things I've wanted to do in life are now basically no longer an option. Will Silicon Valley no longer really be a "thing" a…

This is not forever. We will likely have a vaccine at some point, may be within a year or two. We will also keep getting better at treating it over time - in identifying susceptible populations, developing cures, and hospitals being better equipped.

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

#272

Post by perl4ever »

zoolander2 wrote: post #155

how much of these permanent WFH will impact Uber's revenue? I swear work commuting is a big chunk of their revenue

I don't understand how people could possibly do that; apart from the cost, my experience with Uber and Lyft was awfully stressful. Something new and unsettling would happen in 5/6 rides - I didn't particularly feel like it was worse on average than a regular cab, but I didn't feel secure either. Drivers taking their hands off the steering wheel, fumbling and accidentally hitting the SOS button, tailgating...I only used them when I absolutely had no alternative.

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

#273

Post by devalgo »

standardUser wrote: post #254
devalgo wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's definitely concerning how people are acting but that being said I think the initial research is showing that outdoor spread during the day is very unlikely. UV light seems to be devastating to Covid and Vitamin D seems to be protective. So a crowded beach is probably not all that bad. Packed bars and restaurants? That's a near worst case scenario

I have been pro-lockdowns and have not indulged in any conspiratorial nonsense. But at a certain point, if states and localities don't accept the mounting evidence that outdoor transmission is not a significant threat, it will start to feel a little tyrannical.

It's probably a question of awareness. How many of these people are reading e.g arxiv preprints to see this kind of research in the first place? There's also a rebound/face saving effect: if the CDC, State Health Officials, etc. got it wrong at first why should we believe them about anything? I just really doubt there are secret totalitarian Mayors and Governors out there intentionally locking people in their homes despite all evidence. Given politicians obsession with reelection and the unpopularity of these lockdowns it doesn't make sense they would do it for no reason and basically guarantee they lose their next election.

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

#274

Post by waltherg »

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.

I've heard two C-level guys with two separate German SMEs say that the only part of their workforce that hadn't handled remote work well was middle management.

The people doing the actual work were happy WFH and simply getting stuff done. Senior management / C-level types were content seeing sales figures and general output from afar.

Middle management struggled because they had a hard time judging work estimates for tasks and whether people had their butts in seats etc.

Just an anecdote but thought that was intriguing.

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

#275

Post by delusional »

waltherg wrote: post #274
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.

I've heard two C-level guys with two separate German SMEs say that the only part of their workforce that hadn't handled remote work well was middle management. The people doing the actual work were happy WFH and simply getting stuff done. Senior management / C-level types were content seeing sales figures and general output from afar. Middle management struggled because they had a hard time judging work estimates for…

One of the execs of the bank I work at made a public statement that they actually saw the productive output of the IT organization shoot up during the WFH weeks here in Denmark.

But of course middle management didn't agree so now we are back in the office.

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

#276

Post by papito »

scarface74 wrote: post #239
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.

I quit my job and found a new one because my company was forcing us to come into the office to "collaborate" -- even though for the most part only the team leads are in the US and the rest of the dev team is India. My team was in another state. I was already halfway thinking about another job because of the open office that was a mix of developers, QA, customer service managers, and implementation folks that were alw…

Collaborate. All you would do is sit at your desk in a mask and freak out every time someone walks by you.

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

#277

Post by alarge »

rainyMammoth wrote: post #231
conanbatt wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've worked remotely most my life but as a new parent...I really want an office.

so you want an office to "escape" your family and daily life? It's sad but I would bet that's the case for a significant amount of parents and husbands.

You've already been voted down, so not sure how much I'd add to this, but...

Wanting to have an office outside the home doesn't mean you are trying to escape - it means you are trying to establish the conditions for maximizing your productivity. Where you can work uninterrupted for long stretches of time - and even when you are interrupted, it is likely less of a context switch than the various daily interactions, temptations, and chores that happen while at home.

On a tangential note - my major complaint about the currently popular "open office plan" setup is that it has flipped the productivity curve for me. I go into the office for all the team interactions. When I need to get work done, I work from home (and hope for a day of minimal interruptions).

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

#278

Post by keeganpoppen »

admax88q wrote: post #204
rebuilder wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

yes, it's washing away the illusion that the meetings that middle managers spend 90% of their days in provide any sort of value to anyone

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

#279

Post by trustfundbaby »

chrisco255 wrote: post #213
UncleOxidant wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's amazing how so many people/entities want to pretend that somehow the pandemic is less dangerous now than it was in March when we started all of the isolating/WFH. When in fact we have a lot more cases now, high levels of new cases and more than half the states have R0 > 1.0. https://rt.live/

Yes, but if you actually look at the death count, it has dropped in the past month and a half, despite re-openings: https://ga-covid19.ondemand.sas.com/ Georgia being one of the earliest states to re-open, continue to see their deaths plummet even as their case count increases. What's the reason for this? I don't know. Better testing, maybe. Maybe a less deadly version of the virus is propagating now. Not sure.

Been saying this for a while now ... since the Georgia Reopening, I've been monitoring a lot of state data daily, lots of places that started seeing spikes 3-4 weeks ago haven't even had as much as a slight trend upwards in deaths (Here's South Carolina for example https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/south-carolina-c...)

Wisconsin has seen a spike come and go and death rates have remained about the same https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/wisconsin-corona...

It just feels odd that this isn't spoken about enough, and I think its because the media narrative is a bit too invested in the "danger" part of this virus ... to feel they can't point out that simple observation for fear of undoing their reporting about the virus, which is a shame. I mean deaths are down nationally ... by a lot, even as the cases have ticked back up.

My hunch is that the folks who are most at risk are taking drastic precautions, which is what is keeping the death rates down. I guess we'll just have to see for sure in 2-3 more weeks.

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

#280

Post by Leherenn »

asdfman123 wrote: post #263
jes5199 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I feel like American society is obsessed with safety and the value of individual lives, which has never made sense to me but I go along with it out of respect. However, when your actions have a x% chance of killing someone, and you can mitigate it with reasonable precautions... ad what value of X do you go along with? There's a disconnect there. Either people are really bad at math and science, or they do not care ab…

Why doesn't it make sense that people do not want to die (generally)?
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