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Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office

fastcompany.com

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Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office

#11

Post by tstegart »

kevingadd wrote: post #3

"One worker’s company “had everyone come into the office for an outdoor luncheon a week ago,” according to a post" Some of the stuff companies do truly baffles me. It's only the beginning of June, you can't really assume your whole team is fully vaccinated. Why would you bring everyone in for lunch and then send them home? All downside and near-zero upside. It'd be another matter if it was a full day event where you…

I'm finding there are a certain group of people who are really struggling socially, and to them this is a good thing, even with the risks. Some people lost their whole social network when the office went home, and they long for it to come back.

As a person who can only handle so much social interaction, it is baffling, but to others, it is baffling to stay home all the time.

Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office

#12

Post by mech422 »

emc3 wrote: post #2

In-office work needs to be compensated differently than WFH. They will try to decrease WFH compensation initially, like the loss of benefits threat in the article, but the number of potential employers is higher for WFH workers, giving them leverage.

I've been WFH for 20 years now...

It gets easier all the time, the pay gets better, and I actually have a much better setup at home then I've ever had in an office (Granted, I've had 20 years to set it up...)

I'm not concerned about 'losing out' in any capacity going forward, especially now when its become so common.

Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office

#13

Post by aplummer »

commandlinefan wrote: post #6

Well, if remote work isn't feasible (for the reasons stated), neither is offshoring. Or outsourcing. Or physical satellite offices.

I’m not sure that sells it, because I don’t think offshoring and outsourcing is feasible…

Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office

#14

Post by bobthepanda »

kevingadd wrote: post #3

"One worker’s company “had everyone come into the office for an outdoor luncheon a week ago,” according to a post" Some of the stuff companies do truly baffles me. It's only the beginning of June, you can't really assume your whole team is fully vaccinated. Why would you bring everyone in for lunch and then send them home? All downside and near-zero upside. It'd be another matter if it was a full day event where you…

Outdoors is a pretty low risk for a lunch event given adequate distance between tables, no?

Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office

#15

Post by tibbydudeza »

post_break wrote: post #4

We were told for years, there is no flex time, don't even think about it. While the higher ups obviously flexed whenever they wanted to. Suddenly covid hits and I'm scrambling to get everyone setup so they can work remote. We go a whole year working remote with almost no issues or lost productivity. And now we're back in the office and the mood has definitely changed.

That sucks.

Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office

#16

Post by throwawayboise »

One worker complained that the manager “wanted butts in seats because we couldn’t be trusted to [work from home] even though we’d been doing it since last March,” adding: “I’m giving my notice on Monday.”

I've seen this with my current employer. Their message has been that going forward at some point, "Working remotely is not an option."

There's really no reason I can't work from home. I've been doing it since March 2020. I don't have any customer-facing responsibilities; I administer servers and write code. The only thing that requires my physical presence is the occasional need to install or replace hardware.

It was one thing to not support remote work in 2019 when it was an unknown. In 2021, we've proven it can work; workers know it, and employers should know it. There's no un-ringing that bell.

I'm older, and have no desire to return to the startup lifestyle again but there's no doubt I can find remote work. As I see it, the choice is mine, and taking a mini-retirement and looking for new opportunities if my employer wants to be inflexible is not exacly unappealing.

Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office

#17

Post by addicted »

As far as I can tell this article contains fewer arguments about whether work from home is better or not, and more arguments about how certain companies are messing up the transition through bad communication.

The one argument, #3, about corporate culture is in favor of not WFH. They are saying that research shows corporate culture is important, but the methods used to build corporate culture when people are WFH are failing badly. Which indicates that if corporate culture is indeed important, then the only way to really build it without pointless BS is by having people working together in a physical location.

Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office

#18

Post by mnd999 »

irq11 wrote: post #5
kevingadd wrote: post #3

"One worker’s company “had everyone come into the office for an outdoor luncheon a week ago,” according to a post" Some of the stuff companies do truly baffles me. It's only the beginning of June, you can't really assume your whole team is fully vaccinated. Why would you bring everyone in for lunch and then send them home? All downside and near-zero upside. It'd be another matter if it was a full day event where you…

Vaccines have been readily available to anyone who wants them (in the US) since mid April, even in the highest demand parts of the country. If you are not vaccinated, at this point, there is no excuse. (edit: obviously, I’m assuming the article is talking about a company in the US, since the article is about the US .)

Depends on the country.

Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office

#19

Post by the-pigeon »

emc3 wrote: post #2

In-office work needs to be compensated differently than WFH. They will try to decrease WFH compensation initially, like the loss of benefits threat in the article, but the number of potential employers is higher for WFH workers, giving them leverage.

> In-office work needs to be compensated differently than WFH.

Why?

A company hires an employee because they think they can make more profit than that employee costs them.

My expenses have nothing to do with the equation except when the company wants to be cheap and figures out they can up their profit margin per employee by lowering salaries due to low competition for employees.

Re: Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office

#20

Post by throwawayboise »

mech422 wrote: post #12
emc3 wrote: post #2

In-office work needs to be compensated differently than WFH. They will try to decrease WFH compensation initially, like the loss of benefits threat in the article, but the number of potential employers is higher for WFH workers, giving them leverage.

I've been WFH for 20 years now... It gets easier all the time, the pay gets better, and I actually have a much better setup at home then I've ever had in an office (Granted, I've had 20 years to set it up...) I'm not concerned about 'losing out' in any capacity going forward, especially now when its become so common.

Where do you find work? Is it all for one client or are you more of a consultant/contractor?
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