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Brian Chesky: Ability to hire from anywhere is more valuable than in-office work

fortune.com

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Re: Brian Chesky: Ability to hire from anywhere is more valuable than in-office work

#41

Post by sokoloff »

flappyeagle wrote: post #39

This is just code for outsourcing. Americans who are all-in on remote work should recognize this.

I think you probably meant to object to off-shoring (same company doing the work with employees in different country) rather than out-sourcing (different company doing the work). Out-sourcing from other countries has been happening at scale for decades.

I agree that remote work pulls all of us (rather quickly) towards globalization. Overall, I think this is a good thing, even though people (like me) who temporarily benefited from the prior inefficiencies will not enjoy those same temporary benefits, at least not to the same extent.

Re: Brian Chesky: Ability to hire from anywhere is more valuable than in-office work

#42

Post by ghaff »

helen___keller wrote: post #20
basisword wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> it reduces ones carbon footprint Is this proven (it probably can't be proven given the huge variety of commutes, office spaces, heating sources etc.)? It would be my default assumption but I feel like heating one office with 100 people in it is much more efficient than heating 100 homes in winter. And if people are in a location where publish transport is the norm then it might be better in terms of carbon impact…

In a place like the Bay Area where the weather is pleasant and the commutes are primarily by privately owned vehicles I think it should be the case. If you live in NYC, Boston, or Chicago, and used to take the train, maybe it’s different However I think the biggest environmental issue with remote work is encouraging nationwide suburban and exurban sprawl. Still, that can only be the nations failure for not incentiviz…

There's nothing inherent about dense cities that make them more desirable to live in especially absent convenience to offices--no matter how carefully planned. There are tradeoffs. I could absolutely live in a pretty nice city and choose not to do so.

Re: Brian Chesky: Ability to hire from anywhere is more valuable than in-office work

#43

Post by quickthrower2 »

barefeg wrote: post #30
lordnacho wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about just "come an work in my home office"? Seems like a similar thing. I'd totally do that now and again if it were available in my area.

That’s an interesting combination of WeWork and Airbnb. It makes sense; people go to WeWork to not be alone, and remote work forces people to use their spare rooms to create home offices. So now they can’t rent out the spare room in Airbnb but they could rent a shared desk for work.

You could rent 9-6 office and 8-8 sleeping room to different people. Worker and sightseer for example

Re: Brian Chesky: Ability to hire from anywhere is more valuable than in-office work

#44

Post by 55555 »

goodenoughx wrote: post #7

More remote work helps the planet too you know since it reduces ones carbon footprint and more time for people to sleep improves mental health too

For a (weak) counterpoint, there's an interesting article in Bloomberg today about how day-time recreational drug habits are increasing due to remote work.

https://archive.is/IoY1k

>> Drug recovery firm Sierra Tucson concluded from a November 2021 survey that about 20% of US workers admitted to using recreational drugs while working remotely, and also to being under the influence during virtual meetings.

So it's not all rainbows and daisies.

Re: Brian Chesky: Ability to hire from anywhere is more valuable than in-office work

#45

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

housingisaright wrote: post #37
FeistySkink wrote: post #4

Yet, most IT work is on-site. At least in EU.

I know of 0 friends who needs to go to an office currently. Most do to meet co-workers occasionally. I work in Sweden

There's no wide mandated EU stance on this. Hugely depends on your country.

I work in Austria and most companies have mandatory office days due to outdated employment and insurance laws that discourage WFH, and micromanaging asshole company bosses who think that because they can't see you sitting at your desk then you must be slacking off at home on their dime, so they bullshit you and brainwash youngsters with "WFH destroys team spirit and cooperation so we 'choose' to spend 2h/day commuting to the office to be more efficient, but don't worry, because our office has free coffee and fresh fruits, ping-pong and foosball tables to de-stress and build team bonds" FUD.

100% WFH is incredibly rare privilege here. One of my friends broke his leg skiing and couldn't drive to the office anymore so the company instead of letting him WFH, they paid 40 Euros per day for taxis to pick him up from home and drive him to the office every day for almost 2 months. Absolutely mental.

I assume Sweden is more forward and progressive.

Re: Brian Chesky: Ability to hire from anywhere is more valuable than in-office work

#46

Post by magnuspaaske »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #28
bippihippi1 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100 businesses are responsible for 70% of fossil fuel use. doing what you can is great, but it won't make a difference unless businesses change as well.

I have heard that stat before and it turns out those business are basically shipping and freight companies, car manufacturers etc. if you somehow told the companies to stop burning oil and carbon most world trade would stop, and they would have to take peoples cars a away Yes we could reduce the impact (burn cleaner diesel on ships, avoid contrails) but this is not 100 evil companies that need to be taught a lesson -…

The problem with that framing is that those big companies aren't just responding to consumer demand but have also actively lobbied for policies that create said demand. For instance shipping companies pay a much lower corporate tax rate than other companies and car companies have lobbied against everything from efficiency and clear air regulation to creating alternatives to a car-first transportation system. Oil companies are in a league of themselves and we're only starting to see shenanigans they've done to stall dealing with climate change.

Re: Brian Chesky: Ability to hire from anywhere is more valuable than in-office work

#47

Post by basisword »

shakow wrote: post #16
basisword wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> it reduces ones carbon footprint Is this proven (it probably can't be proven given the huge variety of commutes, office spaces, heating sources etc.)? It would be my default assumption but I feel like heating one office with 100 people in it is much more efficient than heating 100 homes in winter. And if people are in a location where publish transport is the norm then it might be better in terms of carbon impact…

But people will be heating their home in winter in any case, whether they're remote or on-site.

Huh? You heat your home when you're not home?

Re: Brian Chesky: Ability to hire from anywhere is more valuable than in-office work

#48

Post by sokoloff »

shakow wrote: post #36
cowsandmilk wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I’m on-site, my house is set to a significantly lower temperature during the day. Scheduled thermostats have been around long enough that I assume that’s the norm.

But then you need a surge in power to put it back from lo_temp to hi_temp when you get back home, I honestly don't know if it costs more or less than just maintaining it at hi_temp, and what are the orders of magnitude involved.

The first order approximation is that the heat loss between the inside and outside is linear with the temperature difference (delta-T) between them. So, if the delta-T is 10°C when occupied and allowed to rise to 14°C when unoccupied for 8 hours, there is a small savings. When the heating system is then commanded to recover the temperature, it will generally do a longer, single run (which for fossil fuel equipment is more efficient than a series of small runs, but for heat pumps is not significantly different [unless it engages emergency backup, which is far worse])

Overall, it's a small win, partially offset in the heating season by the heat gain from human occupancy and activity. It's almost surely not enough of a win to sum up to pay for the conditioning of an entire office building that would otherwise not be heated beyond "don't freeze the plumbing".

Re: Brian Chesky: Ability to hire from anywhere is more valuable than in-office work

#49

Post by allarm »

55555 wrote: post #44
goodenoughx wrote: post #7

More remote work helps the planet too you know since it reduces ones carbon footprint and more time for people to sleep improves mental health too

For a (weak) counterpoint, there's an interesting article in Bloomberg today about how day-time recreational drug habits are increasing due to remote work. https://archive.is/IoY1k >> Drug recovery firm Sierra Tucson concluded from a November 2021 survey that about 20% of US workers admitted to using recreational drugs while working remotely, and also to being under the influence during virtual meetings. So it's not…

I’ve seen people using recreational drugs while working in the office, so…

Re: Brian Chesky: Ability to hire from anywhere is more valuable than in-office work

#50

Post by ghaff »

cowsandmilk wrote: post #35
shakow wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But people will be heating their home in winter in any case, whether they're remote or on-site.

When I’m on-site, my house is set to a significantly lower temperature during the day. Scheduled thermostats have been around long enough that I assume that’s the norm.

Presumably a 15 degree F or whatever lower temp (and reduced use of electricity for other purposes) during the day does reduce costs somewhat. However, for most people, commuting is almost certainly a significantly larger expense.
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