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80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

cnbc.com

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Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#211

Post by dehrmann »

karaterobot wrote: post #10

> Some leaders lamented the challenge of measuring the success of in-office policies, while others said it’s been hard to make long-term real estate investments without knowing how employees might feel about being in the office weeks, or even months, from now. In other words, the two most obvious objections to RTO turned out to be correct. That is, that when the leadership says that being in the office is more produc…

> the sunk cost of a commercial lease had more weight in the decision than the employees' opinions did

That's not what they're saying. They're saying they don't know how to plan their commercial real estate footprint when they don't know if and when people will be in the office.

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#212

Post by ggm »

The article mentions NY costs of $16,000 p.a. per person-space.

This is the underlying problem: Listed Property trusts are facing massive write down of value, and many industries at scale are partially invested in property assets.

Deciding to unwind a lease has consequences all round. Getting staff back "in" may be logistically simpler for the CFO and risk committee of the organisation. HR comes second.

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#213

Post by gedy »

My honest opinion after 20 years in industry is in-office meetings and "collaboration" is mainly to cater to people who don't communicate very well. They have low reading comprehension and/or patience, and they require a lot of repetition the same thing when in meetings. In person works a bit better for them with the extra body language and not having to hand off audio in online meetings.

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#214

Post by philipov »

userbinator wrote: post #170
lamontcg wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I find it funny that when people were required to be home, employers talked about what great productivity they were getting with people at home. Then when it isn't required anymore, they want everyone back in the office for...productivity. The decades of evidence that open office plans are utter shit for productivity already proved that the emperor wears no clothes and they have no idea what makes for better produc…

The only real reason for open offices is cost saving. Everything else is just an excuse to make it not seem like it is.

And you know what's a bigger cost savings than open office? No office!

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#215

Post by rjsw »

markus_zhang wrote: post #167

RTO is fun when I'm the only one working in my section. I get a quiet and large workspace, good coffee, free lunch and some snacks. But it's going to be bad if everyone starts coming back and I have to get in a long line to grab lunch...

I have new neighbours, I wish they would RTO, hearing the noise of someone else's Zoom calls all day is really distracting.

When I did work in an office it was a 15 minute commute, against the flow of traffic.

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#216

Post by lumost »

Alupis wrote: post #146
atleastoptimal wrote: post #15

I understand the merits of WFH and in-person work. One thing that is however funny is the guilt tripping used by employers who have this straw-man version of a lazy WFH employee, and more so, employers who have a delusion that their workplace is important enough that people need to sacrifice a large portion of their lives just for the opportunity to be there in person. 90% of jobs aren't people's "passions" and have…

There's a lot of nuance that isn't discussed in the WFH circles. I don't believe the cynical claims some offer of VC's losing out on real estate deals, or mid-level managers needing to boost their butts-in-seats numbers or whatever. For some, perhaps, but on average? What percentage of long-distance relationships work out long-term? Do you become more or less close with friends after they move out of town? Do you sti…

Different skills dominate in WFH vs. in-office cultures. It should ultimately be unsurprising that people prefer to work in an environment conducive to their strengths.

Some folks focus on deep work, and benefit from working remote - others focus on collaboration. There are cons of remote work, there are also cons of in-office work. Remote workers who work best with deep stretches of focus are unlikely to be as productive in office. Collaborative workers who focus on long brainstorming meetings etc. are unlikely to be productive remote where people can just go on mute.

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#217

Post by bluefirebrand »

csomar wrote: post #208
closeparen wrote: post #153

I have a new conspiracy theory on RTO in Big Tech. Much has been said about commercial real estate. But I think getting highly capable people to work hard for you is a difficult problem & something tech executives put a lot of thought into. If you don't pay people enough, someone else will. But if you pay them too much, they'll become financially independent. Mid six figures is an objectively life-changing amount of…

It's not a conspiracy theory, it's how the system works. You are taxed on pretty much all of your income either from the state, the landlord, the credit card company or the lifestyle obligations that stems from the area you are living in. > And that's right where they want you. This is the part where we diverge, and I think where people confuse emerging phenomena for conspiracy. There is no one orchestrating this.

> There is no one orchestrating this.

I think there are thousands of people orchestrating this, independently.

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#218

Post by joj123 »

atleastoptimal wrote: post #15

I understand the merits of WFH and in-person work. One thing that is however funny is the guilt tripping used by employers who have this straw-man version of a lazy WFH employee, and more so, employers who have a delusion that their workplace is important enough that people need to sacrifice a large portion of their lives just for the opportunity to be there in person. 90% of jobs aren't people's "passions" and have…

My cynical take is that HR teams don't know how to manage or engage remote teams. Instead of picking up that skill, they are forcing a return to office.

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#219

Post by csomar »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #217
csomar wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a conspiracy theory, it's how the system works. You are taxed on pretty much all of your income either from the state, the landlord, the credit card company or the lifestyle obligations that stems from the area you are living in. > And that's right where they want you. This is the part where we diverge, and I think where people confuse emerging phenomena for conspiracy. There is no one orchestrating this.

> There is no one orchestrating this. I think there are thousands of people orchestrating this, independently.

That's kinda what an emerging phenomena is.

Re: 80% of bosses say they regret earlier return-to-office plans

#220

Post by bagacrap »

csomar wrote: post #208
closeparen wrote: post #153

I have a new conspiracy theory on RTO in Big Tech. Much has been said about commercial real estate. But I think getting highly capable people to work hard for you is a difficult problem & something tech executives put a lot of thought into. If you don't pay people enough, someone else will. But if you pay them too much, they'll become financially independent. Mid six figures is an objectively life-changing amount of…

It's not a conspiracy theory, it's how the system works. You are taxed on pretty much all of your income either from the state, the landlord, the credit card company or the lifestyle obligations that stems from the area you are living in. > And that's right where they want you. This is the part where we diverge, and I think where people confuse emerging phenomena for conspiracy. There is no one orchestrating this.

It seems that everything is a tax to you. What would you like to spend your money on besides lifestyle?
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