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Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

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Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#381

Post by commandlinefan »

rqtwteye wrote: post #298
peatmoss wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me it beggars belief that companies spend so much on humans only to put them in an environment where it’s impossible to concentrate. I reckon at some point someone will figure out that the physical environment can be modified to make knowledge workers more productive, and start walloping their competition. I am on a distributed team with no in-person interaction, and I love commuting even though I don’t see anyone…

"To me it beggars belief that companies spend so much on humans only to put them in an environment where it’s impossible to concentrate." But "collaboration"....

Those hallway conversations where the real magic happens, man.

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#382

Post by fernandotakai »

skramzy wrote: post #193
mytailorisrich wrote: post #30

People who like WFH will never want to return to the office unless perhaps the office is a 5 minute walk from home (they may be forced to, but they won't want to). For many people the time and cost savings of avoiding a daily commute cannot be offset by a nicer office. Those who are happy to return to the office in general are those who do not like WFH and prefer more contacts and a change of scenery. A nicer office…

My office is across the street. I can see it from my window and still never go in.

mine is 10min bike ride.

i still go only once a week.

why? because i have more comfort, more silence and, most important, more privacy, at home.

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#383

Post by steveBK123 »

gitfan86 wrote: post #338
steveBK123 wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Precisely. He couldn't put it into words because the words wouldn't have looked good. But the obvious complaint was what are these slobs doing in my summer resort town, dining in the same establishment as me!! Rather than stuck in downtown Manhattan in the August heat. Or - the least they could do is go to Coney Island / Jones Beach / Jersey Shore or something eating some hotdogs.

I have not run into this attitude in tech from executives. Finance is much more of a heiracy culture I guess. I have run into this at a peer level though. I've negotiated WFH and extra vacation and have learned to keep it in the down low. They get mad at me, but I'm not the one that is their boss and I couldn't care less if they WFH.

Small biz bros are worse. My wife left finance to work for a small (50-200) person business for a few years. Couple brothers that inherited it from daddy. Got all their kids / kids friends nepobaby jobs.

Probably the worst scenario of business owners you can work for.

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#384

Post by thfuran »

FredPret wrote: post #318
flandish wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This example is a stark reminder that the complaints are most often not about details but about class . The CEO was upset others were allowed to perform as if they were of the same class. It’s always class when one boils it down, imho.

Not everything is a class dynamic. “Analyst at GS hanging out in the Hamptons” doesn’t scream working class. The CEO and analyst are both upper class, just different levels of power and seniority. That CEO is just a power-tripping asshole.

Someone who has made twenty million for just a single year isn't working class even if they choose to continue working. They could immediately retire and perpetually draw on investments for an income several times higher than that of a person who's working for 150k.

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#385

Post by ghaff »

nequo wrote: post #239
steveBK123 wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, also the typical career cycle in HCOL areas is you are 22 and live in a dumpy apartment with roommates but close to work. You maybe couple up with someone by 30 and get a nicer place a bit further, but still within a 20-40min transit commute. Finally you maybe decide to start a family by 40, and move out to somewhere 40-60min commute, if not further. Each step is just a small increment worse. But when you go fro…

In what way is transit worse in NYC and DC? Are trains and buses running on a sparser schedule today in these two cities than they were before COVID?

Like DC apparently, Boston has had some serious long-deferred maintenance. The commuter rail at least also has a reduced schedule and no longer has an express train from further out--so I'm a good 2 hours door to door if I use transit to go (rarely) into my city office. Driving is more flexible but it's just as slow at rush hour.

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#386

Post by fernandotakai »

webdood90 wrote: post #288
makingstuffs wrote: post #66

People need to stop trying to make things return to the original office model. Employees have realised we are equally as effective working from home and simply do not want to waste 2+ UNPAID hours of every day travelling to a corporate building for the sake of it. Nor do people want to spend £10+ a day on food and drinks which they have in their fridge, at home. Then there is also the social pressure of having to go…

I suspect the lines are typically drawn between introverts and extroverts, so it's unfair to generalize here. I work remote and we don't have an office near me, but I'd love to go back. My job is where I spend the majority of my life. I like to get to know the people I work with by socializing over lunch, after work social events, etc. It's how I meet people. Collaborating remotely also sucks. You miss out on a lot o…

i'm 100% an extrovert. i still prefer working from home.

why? because i like having my own office, with a door that i can close. i like that i have my own setup, specifically designed by me so i can be as comfortable as possible. i love that i can stop work for 30min and just play with my dog or talk to my wife. oh, and i LOVE that i have privacy and i don't have someone looking at what i'm doing for 8h.

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#387

Post by LatteLazy »

I find a lot of this amazing.

Management in many places seems to insist on getting people into offices, but cannot explain why?

And they think people will spend 2h a day and 100s of dollars a month because they shuffled some desks around and bough bagels?

And the idea that you just trust people to be productive or god forbid actually check Vs just relying on social pressure to "look" productive is out of the question

I'm just baffled.

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#388

Post by thatfrenchguy »

steveBK123 wrote: post #69
mytailorisrich wrote: post #30

People who like WFH will never want to return to the office unless perhaps the office is a 5 minute walk from home (they may be forced to, but they won't want to). For many people the time and cost savings of avoiding a daily commute cannot be offset by a nicer office. Those who are happy to return to the office in general are those who do not like WFH and prefer more contacts and a change of scenery. A nicer office…

My vaguely populist take is that the pandemic, WFH/remote and hybrid gave the mass white collar class a taste of what the C-suite has had for years.. flexibility. Sure, these guys might go into the office but they do so from their pied-a-terre / 3rd home / whatever within a 5 minute chauffeured drive. They do this while maintaining a nearby suburban/exurban estate and maybe a lake/beach/ski houses where they spend th…

> US commuters might have had a boiled frog scenario where you slowly just get used to having a worse & worse commute as you age

You never have to move to the exurbs though :)

Re: Want employees to return to the office? Then give each one an office

#390

Post by fernandotakai »

laserlight wrote: post #291
jwells89 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, schedule flexibility. If I hit a point where my brain is a smoldering pile of ash I can get up and go do chores or get some sun by checking the mail or something, instead of sitting at my desk staring at my screen praying to the gods of productivity that my brain will start functioning again.

So much this. Doing chores is a great way to have a break: physically engaging and functional.

oh yes!

i go for a quick walk to a nearby park and i listen to an audiobook for 30min. or i walk my dog. or i get my steamdeck and play something for 30min (with baldur's gate 3, it's hard to stop after only 30).

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