71–80 of 157 posts
Considering the opposition to working from home from some parts of (USA) society, I have trouble seeing this get widely adopted. At least in the short to medium term. The anti-WFH people appear to fall into 3 camps: landlords and property owners, middle management who believe people are not as productive or efficient at home. And, as pointed out in a reply, there's also the group who believe that face to face communi…
> rent-seeking landlords, Mostly superfluous verb.
I know there are studies that show it can be better and more productive, but employers don't care. They want butts in seats as long as possible.
Considering the opposition to working from home from some parts of (USA) society, I have trouble seeing this get widely adopted. At least in the short to medium term. The anti-WFH people appear to fall into 3 camps: landlords and property owners, middle management who believe people are not as productive or efficient at home. And, as pointed out in a reply, there's also the group who believe that face to face communi…
I'm not even in the anti-WFH camp, but notice you've selectively omitted the most sympathetic camp (what is this argument tactic called? Strawmanning?). People who think teams will be more agile and innovative when they can have impromptu face-to-face conversations. I personally think that's true, but not a big enough deal to make me favor RTO. But it's not good to summarize an issue in such a way that the other side…
Otherwise, why does every place insists on destroying face-to-face interaction by adopting open-plan offices where any chat is disruptive?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not even in the anti-WFH camp, but notice you've selectively omitted the most sympathetic camp (what is this argument tactic called? Strawmanning?). People who think teams will be more agile and innovative when they can have impromptu face-to-face conversations. I personally think that's true, but not a big enough deal to make me favor RTO. But it's not good to summarize an issue in such a way that the other side…
Hasn't it been disproven now though? My employer at the time during lockdown saw productivity and collaboration increase, and they are a mostly agile approach organisation. And there are many companies large and small with mostly or fully remote teams delivering complex projects every day as we speak. Whilst I'm sure there are edge cases where that face to face actually is essential, the idea that for teams to be agi…
No, it hasn't. And there isn't much serious work being done on it afaics, but lots of anectdata and politics.
I think it is clear that it is possible to build productive fully remote teams, for at least some applications. It's not clear if it's optimal, or how broadly it applies in terms of applications or people.
If investors still expect the same returns, four-day work week being in effect a labor cost increase will be a no go. And before you mention “productivity”, keep in mind that from the looks of it, AI and tech driven productivity gains go to shareholders, those owning the IPs and the means of production. Yes you can push laws to push companies, but then you are over regulating your country and that too is problematic.
1. Those owning the means of production converging on amassing every surplus productivity gain 2. “Over regulating” my country I wonder which I would choose.
It's not clear to me how these things are connected. How does generative AI make it necessary or feasible to shorten the work week? Don't get me wrong, I'd love to try it, but I don't get the sense that generative AI has made people 20% more productive across the board. In certain cases, sure, but I'm skeptical about making that claim for every member of a large-sized company.
We could say "it's okay to be less productive but have a better work-life balance", and that's fine, but it doesn't explain the quoted sentence.
One of the best uses of the 3rd day off would be being able to do things that are usually closed on a weekend (doctor visits, bank transactions, etc). So if we implemented a 4 day workweek by simply adding Friday to the weekend we would lose this benefit.
What inthink would be great is if we keep the 2 day Sat/Sun weekend and then add a rotating 3rd day off, where some people take Monday, some Tuesday, some Wednesday, etc off.
Has anybody tried a 3x12h? I think I'd get just as much done and be way happier. I hate the commute, the meetings, the office bullshit. I just want a long list of tasks, some drum and bass music, and a fresh pot of coffee. Let me do 3 heavy sessions a week and give me freedom to be human the rest of the time.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
32 hour days? Don't know if I could handle that :)
Lazy ass. Back in my day, before walking up hill both ways to school, we had to wake up before we went to sleep and our parents would kill us every night!
Luxury! I used to dream of my parents killing us every night.