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Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

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Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#161

Post by rsync »

SenHeng wrote: post #139
benmw333 wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What struck me was the seemingly 1995 era laptops people were working on in the trains.

This is what benmw333 is referring to. The Panasonic Let's. Despite how bulky it looks, it weighs about the same as the macbook air. It's basically used by anyone who isn't a manager, designer or software developer. You see them everywhere . https://biz.panasonic.com/jp-ja/products-services/letsnote/l...

Wow - look at this picture:

https://content.biz.panasonic.com/jp-ja/fai/15800/raw

This is not from a wayback machine copy of dynamism.com - this is a new, Windows 10 laptop in 2020 (!)

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#163

Post by ghaff »

wontonzealot wrote: post #154
xtracto wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Unlimited vacation" is a deception. Real perks are to have 15 or 20 days of vacations, increasing with seniority at the company, and forced vacations (i.e., the company forces you to take the vacations every year). It is also good for the company health (ensure that no 1 person missing has a large impact).

"Unlimited vacation" is a deception. I see this being repeated over and over but I can't help but think that it's become a way to discourage giving employees time off from a company's perspective. I've successfully taken 30+ days off in an unlimited vacation environment (not consecutively) and not been reprimanded in any way because I was able to operate responsibly. Before I left for any length of vacation, I made s…

I had a fairly long conversation last year with someone who is a manager at a well-known "unlimited vacation" company. His take was that it works well but that's because there's clear leading by example from the top.

(It's also not necessarily a great system in general if you're someone who moves between jobs a lot as there's no unused vacation payout under such a system.)

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#164

Post by asdff »

onetimemanytime wrote: post #2

Covid might actually result in permanent changes. Sucks for a lot of commercial real estate companies. WeWork is probably 100% done

Wework was a parasite, it was done whenever landlords figured out they can just deal directly with the tenant and both would save an expense.

However, there might be promise for a sort of coop remote work environment, not necessarily tied to your company, but shared by your neighbors. For instance, I would love to have a work station in the neighborhood, in walking distance to my apartment. I only need a desk, a monitor, decent internet connection, but things like having a more secure shipping address and print/copy/fax/package dropoff would be great perks. I would gladly pay a membership fee for a small, hyperlocal, neighborhood-based incarnation of wework, where I would be guaranteed to have a desk whenever I choose to walk the block or two and get some work done. Basically, the local cafe, but I always have a seat, a monitor, and basic fedex functions.

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#165

Post by laurieg »

derefr wrote: post #119
cdavid wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It traditionally isn't. Japanese middle management practices would often make office space look good. Especially in software, the culture is quite antiquated, because software is traditionally seen as a cost center, and most companies externalize all their IT. If I had to describe most offices in Japan, it would be an unglamorous version of Mad Men. The culture of the customer is always right also implies making cont…

> The culture of the customer is always right also implies making contortions to please them, including many on site meetings where you have to be there just as a sign of respect. I've always wondered if there could be something like a badge you could put on your business, to signal that you're participating in a separate sub-economy where the customer isn't always right. There must be modern companies where both sid…

Perhaps one of the biggest barriers to fast moving SV style startups would be how difficult firing is in Japan. You need around 18 months to fire an ineffective employee. (And in contested cases I've heard of an employee who stayed on payroll for 4 years while the firing was finalised). It's one reason why people often face being harassed to the point of resignation rather than formally fired.

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#166

Post by asdff »

ghaff wrote: post #84
SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I think there's a currently underserved niche of single/DINK people who would enjoy the freedom of remote work but don't want to spend the working day socially isolated.

I'm not sure how underserved it is. I suspect that a lot of people just don't want to pay for a co-working space out of their own pockets and would normally content themselves with going to coffeeshops, etc. to get out of their apartments. Added: And people can make do with situations for a limited length of time whether working from their kitchen table or suffering through a 90 minute commute that aren't necessarily…

Maybe there is some in between? Personally, I like the idea of the cafe as a local work space I can walk to from my apartment, but would love it if there was some guarantee of having a desk and niceties like a monitor or print/copy/fax/ship. I would pay some membership dues for a coop space like this.

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#167

Post by bzbarsky »

nicoburns wrote: post #73
caymanjim wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really not out of reach unless you insist on living in a major metropolis. A young couple earning under $100k combined can afford a comfortable 3-bedroom home in all 50 states, just not in a large city. Mortgage rates are near all-time lows and the 20% "required downpayment" has been a myth since before you were born. You don't even need great credit to buy a home with a mortgage under $1500/mo all-in with taxes…

$100k? A quick google shows me that median household income in the US is closer to $60k. And that's the median, so half of households will be lower than that.

While true, ~30 percent of households in the US are single-person (see https://www.statista.com/statistics/242189/disitribution-of-...). And a number of others are single-parent. The parent specifically talked about a couple's combined incomes.

Looking at https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-p... (the "Married-Couple Families" section), the first data set ("All Races"), the numbers I see for median household income, by age, are:

25-29: $76.5k 30-34: $92k

30-34 is stretching the definitions of a "young couple", of course. I'd love numbers for 20-25, but this data set lumps in 15-24 all together, though the set of married couples under 20 is presumably pretty small.

$76k is still not $100k, of course.

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#168

Post by asdff »

buboard wrote: post #155
ajross wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> WeWork is probably 100% done WeWork specifically was failing anyway, but it strikes me that in a world where permanent workplaces are deemphasized and workers are inherently more mobile, the market for a broker of temporary spaces is probably larger, not smaller.

people dont want to pay 2 rents for no reason though, unless the rents are very cheap, so they won't be able to price these things high anymore. probably

Rents for this would be work from home space would have to be modest. Gym membership rates would probably most fair. The equinox priced areas will be painted smoke grey with dark wood desks, and be stocked with instacup coffee. The snap fitness type place will be like your high school library, and will be good enough for me if I have a few square feet of desk and a monitor.

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#169

Post by Tade0 »

chrisseaton wrote: post #103
cdavid wrote: post #97

I am quite bearish about the impact of WFH, especially for software engineers, but if there is one country where I think the coronavirus can have a huge positive effect for the economy, it is Japan. Japanese companies are generally extremely inefficient. Outside of a few powerhouses, partially thanks to a protected and large domestic market, Japanese labor practices are antiquated. There is a culture of overwork that…

How does this square with for example the Japanese car market, which I thought led the world in labour practices and efficiency? They've invented many labour practices that are considered the best we have today. And their cars are so cheap - how are they doing this if they aren't being efficient? For example are Toyota's engineering and factories running on wasted meeting time, fax machines, and hand-written letters?…

how are they doing this if they aren't being efficient?

As somebody driving a Toyota they simply don't add too many gimmicks and options are usually limited to just trim levels and maybe a few bundles you can buy separately. Overall it's a far cry from e.g. German manufacturers where the configuration form can have tens of items from which you can pick and choose.

Also apparently creative work such as software engineering lends itself to inefficiencies, because the outcome isn't easily measurable. You have to have a culture that accepts irreducible uncertainty to navigate in such an environment.

Re: Fujitsu announces permanent work-from-home plan

#170

Post by [deleted] »

skizm wrote: post #146
runawaybottle wrote: post #38

I’d love to see companies convert ‘Unlimited vacation time at your discretion’ over to ‘Unlimited remote at your discretion’.

There are a bunch of companies that technically have that, but you are pressured to work in the office and working from home more than once a month is looked down upon. I have noticed though that if you use kids as an excuse (valid or not) you're given much more leeway, and can get away with maybe 2-3 times per month without an negative social stigma. I think it needs to be a culture change.

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