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Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

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Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#211

Post by LegitShady »

btbuildem wrote: post #131
Zetice wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If all of this results in an office layout revolution that includes many individual offices opening into shared team spaces, I am 100% here for it.

It won't. The push for open-plan spaces was motivated by cost-cutting. Layouts with many closed offices would cost far more to build, and take up more square footage to host the same number of employees. At a time where savvy businesses have dropped their commercial leases / gone full remote, and the more conservative / less accepting of change ones are left holding the bag, I would not expect anyone to make big inve…

my employer is currently making noises about this, currently 2 days a week from home. I have a source in the process and I'm told that for 2026 they're going to be giving up their current lease, moving to a new smaller location, and requiring people hot desk so you don't even get your own cube.

It's either going to be working from home or a new employer for me.

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#212

Post by CoastalCoder »

ibejoeb wrote: post #202
mytailorisrich wrote: post #30

People who like WFH will never want to return to the office unless perhaps the office is a 5 minute walk from home (they may be forced to, but they won't want to). For many people the time and cost savings of avoiding a daily commute cannot be offset by a nicer office. Those who are happy to return to the office in general are those who do not like WFH and prefer more contacts and a change of scenery. A nicer office…

Many people with families, or even just DINKS, would opt for private offices. Unless you've got a giant home with private space, working at the same time and while your home life goes on around you is pretty bad.

My home isn't huge, just a raised ranch. But I was able to build a soundproofed office in a corner of my basement and it's worked like a charm.

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#213

Post by mikhailfranco »

The apocryphal narrative is that extroverts like the office, but introverts prefer WFH, ceteris domestic situations being paribus.

Maybe tech workflow has a more natural fit with WFH, and tech attracts more introverts, so WFH could be the doubly reinforced preference.

It seems psychologically plausible, but what is your experience?

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#214

Post by say_it_as_it_is »

We prefer that our employees sit shoulder-to-shoulder in long rows so that they can have spontaneous idea jams and whiteboard sessions together while talking about at least a dozen programming languages and debating about the best editor

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#215

Post by flandish »

steveBK123 wrote: post #129
steveBK123 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My vaguely populist take is that the pandemic, WFH/remote and hybrid gave the mass white collar class a taste of what the C-suite has had for years.. flexibility. Sure, these guys might go into the office but they do so from their pied-a-terre / 3rd home / whatever within a 5 minute chauffeured drive. They do this while maintaining a nearby suburban/exurban estate and maybe a lake/beach/ski houses where they spend th…

My favorite story on this thread is that during the hybrid period, GS CEO threw a fit when out in the Hamptons because some analyst (fairly junior role almost at the bottom) had the balls to go introduce themselves during a workday lunch at a restaurant. He couldn't articulate a specific, valid complaint like "I was out at a client lunch and they were goofing off" or "I was on a vacation day while they were supposed…

This example is a stark reminder that the complaints are most often not about details but about class.

The CEO was upset others were allowed to perform as if they were of the same class.

It’s always class when one boils it down, imho.

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#216

Post by makeitdouble »

_fizz_buzz_ wrote: post #27
1970-01-01 wrote: post #3

At home, the benefits are extreme. Full office, private bath, private bed, private kitchen, garaged parking, asset security, and a 30 second commute. The next wave of office workers will want it better than this, or it simply won't work.

I think a lot of people on here have not been through a real recession. Not saying that everybody will go back to working in an office, but thinking one can simply demand anything only works when employment is high. During a recession, it is either social assistance or one takes the job that is available.

You're assuming that companies will want to pay for downtown offices during a recession.

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#217

Post by angry_moose »

My company recently did a forced 3-day return-to-office to "gain the immeasurable benefits of face-to-face collaboration" bullshit.

Except they used the pandemic to close down a site and merge two offices, so there aren't enough desks. So, everyone who isn't full time in the office has to use hotel cubes, so I had my cube taken away a few weeks ago.

I quickly found out that most of the hotel cubes are several floors away from my team, so its incredibly rare I actually see anyone on my team when I go in. I usually sit in silence on a different floor and interact with my team on zoom.

To the best of my knowledge no one is taking attendance yet, so I'm doing 1-2 days tops.

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#218

Post by ravenstine »

mytailorisrich wrote: post #30

People who like WFH will never want to return to the office unless perhaps the office is a 5 minute walk from home (they may be forced to, but they won't want to). For many people the time and cost savings of avoiding a daily commute cannot be offset by a nicer office. Those who are happy to return to the office in general are those who do not like WFH and prefer more contacts and a change of scenery. A nicer office…

There is a lot of truth to what you are saying, but I don't entirely agree.

I think I would be more amenable to working at an office if the experience felt like more than being in a high school computer lab. "Just wear headphones", imo, is not an adequate response to complaints of the office being noisy. Want me to stay in the office longer? Uninstall that piece of shit kombucha tap or sparkling water dispenser (neither of which are even operational most of the time) and replace it with another fridge so I don't have to cram my food into the one fridge shared by the entire building. Make an adequate number of power outlets available. Don't provide free snacks and then eliminate them to cut costs. If I have a designated spot, do your best not to move me around every few months.

Yet every office I have worked in embodies various failures that diminish the experience, making it hard to deny that working at home can be a lot better for many people. How am I supposed to feel dignity in my line of work as a senior engineer when I don't even get my own cubicle; meanwhile, people I know who make a third of my salary get their own cubes! And these companies are wondering why their employees would rather build their own private office at home? Are you kidding me?

I don't even need a corner office with a door that closes and a personal secretary. Just give me something more than what I would get working out of a Starbucks, and allow me to feel like the professional I am, as opposed to a replaceable cog, which is everything the modern tech workplaces symbolizes.

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#219

Post by dijit »

Prior to COVID, I had made a reputation for myself as being quite difficult when it comes to Office space.

Mostly this was because I felt that I wasn't as effective working in the Open Office.

I was told time-and-time again how the open office is the standard, I figured the problem was me and looked inwardly at solutions (some of which I documented on my blog).

I later discovered I had many markers of ADHD, meaning that fighting myself was actually an unwinnable battle. -- and all those days of going home exhausted after having done nothing that day, only to pry open my laptop at home and finally accomplish everything required -- was something that was not a personal failing.

I envied people who had their own office, or even a shared office; I was told I couldn't work from home unless I was sick or unable to get to the office, and truthfully it was painful to do so anyway due to the corporate VPN being a shambles.

I'm so glad that we are collectively pushing back on this; we are told on one hand that rents are so expensive that it necessitates the open office push, but when that argument is invalidated (even lower rent if you don't need the space at all!) we are told to return to office anyway.

That said, there are advantages to being on-site if you have a nicer working environment, getting away from the house (and the mental context shift that follows) along with access to certain equipment that might make your life easier. It's just that the juice isn't worth the squeeze. And boy, have we been squeezed.

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#220

Post by surume »

Why not also give them a Ferrari to get to work, and a handful of diamonds to make them feel valued. I have been working with the big corps for 12 years, and this is pure fantasy. If they can save $5 a month something, they will. The idea of every worker getting their own office is laughable, even if it is admirable.
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