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Remote working: Is Big Tech going off work from home?

bbc.com

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Re: Remote working: Is Big Tech going off work from home?

#11

Post by toomuchtodo »

thinkingkong wrote: post #4
yepthatsreality wrote: post #3

They’re going to try. A lot of tech “benefits” revolve around quirky office space. When you remove that you have something missing. Furthermore if they didn’t press it, there would probably be an even greater collapse to the real estate market.

There is no collapse in any real estate markets, at all.

Midtown Manhattan RE is definitely seeing a contraction, as is retail across most of NYC. Can’t speak to California real estate, although my understanding is that several tech companies have paid large amounts (8 figures) to terminate leases early.

“Collapse” I’d agree is too strong of a word, but there is clearly distress in some RE asset classes.

Re: Remote working: Is Big Tech going off work from home?

#13

Post by ryandrake »

> "If they want to become a people manager, if they want to get increasing responsibilities, or if they want to build a culture within their teams, how are we going to do that remotely?" he asked.

I love how these executives are all of a sudden so worried about my career trajectory. Maybe you should assume I’ve thought about this trade-off and decided that I’m fine with no promotions if it meant I can work remotely.

EDIT: It just seems so suspicious that a whole bunch of things they never cared about in the past are now oh-so-important. Like those now-critical serendipitous hallway conversations. In the past, we’d be chastised for spending too much time at the water cooler, but now they are a vital reason to return to the office!

It’s almost like in the absence of measurable evidence they are scrambling to find something, anything, to justify their already-made decision after-the-fact.

Re: Remote working: Is Big Tech going off work from home?

#14

Post by thaumasiotes »

yepthatsreality wrote: post #3

They’re going to try. A lot of tech “benefits” revolve around quirky office space. When you remove that you have something missing. Furthermore if they didn’t press it, there would probably be an even greater collapse to the real estate market.

> A lot of tech “benefits” revolve around quirky office space. When you remove that you have something missing.

Trading one benefit for a different benefit is a pretty normal thing to do. If you can offer "work remotely", why would you need to offer "we have a quirky office"?

> Furthermore if they didn’t press it, there would probably be an even greater collapse to the real estate market.

...so what? Why would the companies care? To the extent they rent offices, that's just a huge, unalloyed benefit. To the extent they own extra offices and rent them out to other companies, sure, that's bad for the landlord, but that business model crucially depends on a bunch of other companies renting.

Re: Remote working: Is Big Tech going off work from home?

#15

Post by ajkjk »

tartoran wrote: post #7

I got the taste of remote work and nothing’s gonna convince me it’s better in the office. Im more productive remotely, I save money on transportation and food, I save time, I am close to my toddler son, I could save the company a lot by not wasting the office space on me and most of all Im an introvert and for a long time I haven’t felt so comfortable. Why change that? I will seek a remote position other place if my…

Completely depends on the person though. I wouldn't be surprised if companies end up with some remote orgs and other office orgs someday. Everyone wants their ideal working environment and, imo, ought to be able to get it simultaneously... By matching people into the right jobs.

Re: Remote working: Is Big Tech going off work from home?

#16

Post by outside1234 »

justaguy88 wrote: post #8

> Employees were also expected to "live within commuting distance" of offices. I can't see how the must-be-in-office companies think they win this in the long term. All the companies that want to poach from FAANG will offer remote work

They aren't going to win this without tossing titanic amounts of money around to land folks that are willing to do this.

Re: Remote working: Is Big Tech going off work from home?

#17

Post by PragmaticPulp »

outside1234 wrote: post #2

This is management's opening negotiating position. In the fight for talent, however, it is not clear that they have the upper hand, because, I, for one, will be more that willing to offer your employee the ability to work from home. I will ask that the team work out an appropriate culture, which probably includes coming to the office at least once a week -- but certainly not on the other hand four days a week. And I…

> I will ask that the team work out an appropriate culture, which probably includes coming to the office at least once a week

That's essentially what this article is saying: The big tech companies are requiring employees to live within commuting distance of offices and to come in for some portion of their time. The question now is where the line is drawn on how often they can work from home.

The companies aren't saying that everyone has to be in office. Most of these quotes suggest that companies will continue to support remote opportunities for some, but not all, of the workforce.

Re: Remote working: Is Big Tech going off work from home?

#18

Post by Guthur »

I can't personally say with confidence that these big companies are not being influenced by political motivations.

I'm confident that if CBDs essentially die because of remote working it will be a financial apocalypse. There is so much wealth tied up in inflated inner city property that if it is suddenly not in demand anymore there will be a huge correction that is going to hurt a lot.

Re: Remote working: Is Big Tech going off work from home?

#20

Post by yaacov »

ryandrake wrote: post #13

> "If they want to become a people manager, if they want to get increasing responsibilities, or if they want to build a culture within their teams, how are we going to do that remotely?" he asked. I love how these executives are all of a sudden so worried about my career trajectory. Maybe you should assume I’ve thought about this trade-off and decided that I’m fine with no promotions if it meant I can work remotely.…

When you learn more and take on more responsibility and have more impact it helps the company, not just you. So they’re incentivized to keep you on a growth trajectory, regardless of your preferences.
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