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CEOs are running companies from afar even as workers return to office

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Re: CEOs are running companies from afar even as workers return to office

#231
post #218
post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’ll cause real pain for the management. Unless you pay near western market rates, you’re getting the bottom of the barrel in India or anywhere else, much like if you tried to hire US developers for even 50% of the market rate. The low priced contractors do such poor work it’s almost not useful.

Or they'll get hired, get taught really basic shit (chmod/chown) on the job, get a cisco/AWS certificate then leave 6 month later to join a better paying job.

But not before misapplying chmod/chown settings in your environment.

Re: CEOs are running companies from afar even as workers return to office

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Executives work insane hours. Often quite a bit less than it looks on-paper when you remove the "working lunch" and "client dinner" and "meeting (at the country club)" and "reading emails while lounging on the private jet" bits.

Hypothetically, if all the CEO did was, once a quarter, take a private jet to meet a potential client in person for lunch - and just one of those 4 meetings actually landed a customer - but a $1 billion revenue customer - is that a problem for you? CEOs shouldn't be measured by hours clocked in, like a factory worker.

This whole discussion is about double standards.

Hypothetically, if all a programmer did was, once a quarter, come in in person to maintain some piece of software that created $300k of value per year for the company, is that a problem for you?

Re: CEOs are running companies from afar even as workers return to office

#234
post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the real pain comes from many managers discovering that if they're going to have remote workers, might as well go whole hog and hire them in Bangalore for 1/10th the price instead of paying SV salaries.

That’ll cause real pain for the management. Unless you pay near western market rates, you’re getting the bottom of the barrel in India or anywhere else, much like if you tried to hire US developers for even 50% of the market rate. The low priced contractors do such poor work it’s almost not useful.

For the next manager, perhaps, but the first guy gets a promotion for cost cutting and leaves for greener pastures before the shit hits the fan.

Re: CEOs are running companies from afar even as workers return to office

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree that it can be annoying to see C-levels jetting around the globe while you're sitting in front of the same computer every day, likely feeling underpaid - what is the "asymmetry"? Or the remedy? Do you think that if they tighten their budget of perks, or reduce their compensation, some of that money will somehow flow to you? Because no, it won't.

Mostly I feel sorry for people whose lives are so empty that they feel the need to fly across the world to have a conversation about work. Stay home! Zoom works great and you can go for a walk with your spouse after you log off instead of drinking alone in a hotel bar.

"Zoom works great" - not for cultivating real relationships (friends, business, family, etc) it doesn't

Re: CEOs are running companies from afar even as workers return to office

#236
Many large corporations are just structured on modern feudalism with minor changes. They have a privileged nobility, an internal belief system (with attached clergy to match), and by definition a large majority "working the land".

If you're talking about a small company, to some extent this makes sense. I mean, if Alice or Bob starts a company, they're risking more than you are; of course they get to decide. When you're talking about a multi-national corporation with an employee count similar to that of a medium sized city in Europe, I'd argue that logic breaks down, because most people in positions of power are just men-at-arms brought in by the bureaucracy.

The CEOs are no longer the "founders", they're just exotic strangers from far-off lands that happen to know other CEOs and marry other CEOs. They dress differently, they talk differently, they act differently, and finally, just like the nobility, they often have personal agendas that may or may not align with the interest of the "company" (I'm referring here to the employees, not the shareholders).

There's a quote I really like said by a frenchman (can't remember the name, so sources are welcome) that goes something like: "You cannot manifest the republic in society as long as monarchy reigns in the factory". And sure, I realize for many readers this is just commie gobbledygook, but I'd encourage everyone to at least think about the area inbetween extremes, and alternate ways we could structure "work", because the older I get the more absurd this culture becomes, which is weird because I was kind of expecting my political skepticism to start wearing off with age.

Re: CEOs are running companies from afar even as workers return to office

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hypothetically, if all the CEO did was, once a quarter, take a private jet to meet a potential client in person for lunch - and just one of those 4 meetings actually landed a customer - but a $1 billion revenue customer - is that a problem for you? CEOs shouldn't be measured by hours clocked in, like a factory worker.

This whole discussion is about double standards. Hypothetically, if all a programmer did was, once a quarter, come in in person to maintain some piece of software that created $300k of value per year for the company, is that a problem for you?

Plenty of companies have consultants on call to do exactly that.

Unsolicited career advice: cultivating a reputation and a network within your industry, such that you're the one regularly receiving those calls, can be highly lucrative - look into it

Re: CEOs are running companies from afar even as workers return to office

#239
post #125
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the introduction of WFH during the pandemic hurt a lot of IT workers in the long-run. In the interests of “fairness” they are being ordered back to the office post-Covid even when their work processes mean they can be done perfectly well remotely, and even if they have widely geographically-distributed teams. Anecdotal, but we had a team that was split with 50% working remotely before Covid, and we saw an imp…

I see the opposite. Conversations that used to happen in ear reach so I'd know what was going on with various team members and be able to contribute when I knew a solution are now conversation that happen in private chat or private VC. Productivity is way down. Even more interesting, a team lead lives in another country 6 times zones away. Some times they visit the main office for 1-2 weeks. Productivity shoots throu…

Sounds like you need a group chat that people are willing to talk in. If that isn’t happening, then there’s a barrier to doing it that you need to resolve. Could be they’re fine with you listening in, but not the manager. Could be something else. Fix that, and get back to productive remotely.
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