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

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

#241

Post by itronitron »

suprjami wrote: post #21
itronitron wrote: post #14

>> The sunk cost of unused office space has been a major factor in companies’ decisions to change their RTO approach, says Kacher. I'm not sure that the author, or the company executives, know what a sunk cost is. Just to clarify, since there is a younger generation on HN now, 'sunk cost' is something you have spent money on that you can't get back. The 'sunk cost fallacy' is the mistaken belief that you have to use…

The sunk cost fallacy is that you should continue spending money on something you've already spent money on. Make a bad expensive investment but give it up and move on? That's fine. Make a bad expensive investment then keep pouring money into it because you've already spent so much and can't throw away all this money now? That's the sunk cost fallacy.

Not just money. Any resource, time, or mental effort applied to use something because of it's initial expense when a better alternative exists.

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

#242

Post by ornornor »

0xblinq wrote: post #171
deaddodo wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Open offices are the literal reason (after commuting/traffic) that I no longer want to go into the office. My work doesn't require a ton of person:person engagement and it's much easier for me to just zone out in my own headspace to do it. When I was required in the office, I would just wear headphones to avoid distractions, but I would have to deal with 2-3hrs of driving/day on top of it. This meant that my employer…

The headphones thing reminds me of a big events ticketing company I worked for that, when people complained about noise, distractions, etc they came up with the amazing solution of using your health and wellness budget to buy noise cancelling headphones. Most full of bullshit company I’ve ever worked for.

I’d be outraged.

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

#243

Post by ornornor »

deaddodo wrote: post #141
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…

Open offices are the literal reason (after commuting/traffic) that I no longer want to go into the office. My work doesn't require a ton of person:person engagement and it's much easier for me to just zone out in my own headspace to do it. When I was required in the office, I would just wear headphones to avoid distractions, but I would have to deal with 2-3hrs of driving/day on top of it. This meant that my employer…

> When I was required in the office, I would just wear headphones to avoid distractions

Sometimes I just want silence. Not music, not $color noise. I also get itchy ears after wearing headphones for hours on end, and noise canceling headphones give me a headache… or, you know, I could work wherever I prefer, with little to no commute, and an office arranged how I like it.

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

#244

Post by Sylamore »

MBCook wrote: post #183
smeej wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I came here looking for this exact comment. That offer would feel more like an insult to me than an incentive.

Add a zero. Then it’s a real offer.

And make it monthly then it's a real offer

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

#245

Post by ornornor »

MBCook wrote: post #166
rabuse wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly think it's mostly a huge ego boost to flex with. "Look at how GIANT our new billion dollar HQ is, and look at all of these people working for ME!"

Don’t forget that a lot of offices are leased for many years or even purchased/built. Do you know what looks REALLY bad? A giant fancy office with five people in it. Better force people to fill it up. We are stuck, we spent the money, can’t have it look bad.

Maybe they could hire all these movie extras who will soon be replaced by AI generated alter egos and be out of work?

Everybody wins: extras get to not be homeless and pay their bills, companies look busier than ever, extras can act whatever fantasy management wants to show off, offices have some kind of purpose again, we get to work wherever we like and do actual work… What’s not to like?

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

#246

Post by conductr »

troupe wrote: post #48
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…

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. My guess is that most employers really have no way to measure if an employee is being productive or not so managers are just reporting what makes them look good...and now we are ba…

It’s because meetings and full calendars of check ins and touch bases is constant and actually is the productive work for an executive. They are the ones wanting productivity for themselves. The byproduct of this executive productivity is it causes the busy work for the people who are lower in the org chart. Busywork for them is a big source of their nonproductive time and what was freed up during mandatory WFH generating the productivity boost.

Then what happened was a lot of the pending and backlog of projects and busyness got moved over to a completed status. But the lack of productivity at the executive levels meant that the project funnel wasn’t keeping up. So the company was at risk of having a ton of people with not enough to do.

This is purely my personal anthropological perspective of the situation having been an active participant working closely with executives making these decisions the past few years as well as talking with colleagues that do the same. I’m aware it’s probably completely BS.

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

#248

Post by kadoban »

re-thc wrote: post #199
deaddodo wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Open offices are the literal reason (after commuting/traffic) that I no longer want to go into the office. My work doesn't require a ton of person:person engagement and it's much easier for me to just zone out in my own headspace to do it. When I was required in the office, I would just wear headphones to avoid distractions, but I would have to deal with 2-3hrs of driving/day on top of it. This meant that my employer…

> When I was required in the office, I would just wear headphones to avoid distractions That doesn't work for everyone. Some offices are louder than headphones and some people come around tapping your shoulders regardless.

> That doesn't work for everyone. Some offices are louder than headphones

Depending on your budget, you can block out anything short of jackhammers with either IEMs or earbuds+noise reduction earmuffs.

> and some people come around tapping your shoulders regardless

Do they expect to continue living? What monsters.

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

#249

Post by [deleted] »

bagacrap wrote: post #220
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.

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

[deleted]
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