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Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'

#71

Post by chrisseaton »

Phenix88be wrote: post #50
chrisseaton wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t understand - don’t people already have home offices for at least doing their bills and things?

> doing their bills and things Like bills do require a full office in 2021. I pay all my bills by pressing a button on my smartphone. And that's because I like to review them, I could pay them automatically if I really want to.

Do you not have any personal arrangements more complex than 'pressing a button'? Investments? Correspondence with people? Reviewing agreements and portfolios? Do not you do things like budget? What about hobbies that require desk-work and making calls? Volunteering and work with charities? What room do you do these things in?

Re: Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'

#72

Post by bollorior »

voisin wrote: post #65
bollorior wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rent per square foot in the city center where my company's office is located is at least ten times rent per square foot on a house like mine in the suburb I live in. The rent per square foot for a desk in a serviced office near where I live is about halfway between the two. In fact the rent on a small three bedroom house in my neighbourhood and the rent per employee for office space where I work are comparable.

I think you would be surprised to what the ratio of office square foot to employee headcount looks like. Most modern offices are designed to 150-250 sf per employee including circulating space, common meeting rooms, kitchens, and washrooms. Also, if what you say is correct, that office space is 10x suburban housing rent, that is most certainly an anomaly unique to your city. That would mean a high end market, like NY…

My city is unusual, fair. But 5x ratio would be far from unusual. One could easily find an apartment in Staten Island (not even a suburb, not very far from the city center) for less than 1/5 Manhattan office rent per sq ft.

I'm not sure of your point about sq ft per employee. 10 times 150 sq ft seems like quite a nice three bed.

5 times the office space per employee is going to be huge, especially given that most people already have kitchens and bathrooms.

Re: Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'

#73

Post by chrisseaton »

OJFord wrote: post #48
chrisseaton wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t understand - don’t people already have home offices for at least doing their bills and things?

It's probably a better indicator for class divide these days than the classic 'bookshelf'. But.. bills ? As in receiving letters to find out how much I'm supposed to pay and then somehow manually paying them? No, I'm young enough that I've never had to operate like that, but I can barely remember my parents doing so either, certainly not in the last 20 years. Your profile indicates also UK - don't you just pay by DD?…

> But.. bills? As in receiving letters to find out how much I'm supposed to pay and then somehow manually paying them?

No obviously not literally 'paying a bill'. I mean managing your personal life. Investments, preparing data for your accountant, budgeting, that kind of thing. Do you not have any hobbies that involve managing things or focused reading and writing? Any volunteering that involves managing an organisation and people? The need to take non-work calls to organise things? What room do you do these things in? Do you not have a desk and chair somewhere?

Re: Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'

#74

Post by pdimitar »

Yeah, he wishes.

It's undeniable that some work absolutely mandates 100% physical presence. Denying this would be delusional. So when the job absolutely _mandates_ physical presence, sure, do that then.

But if anything, the pandemic very clearly has shown -- to me and my circle of colleagues and friends at least -- that insisting on a physical presence for IT workers is just being stubborn and backwards 99% of the time.

I am also not very convinced of the social aspect, watercooler discussions etc. I mean yeah, I miss them too sometimes but strictly speaking they are not a prerequisite for a productive IT worker. It's just a nice bonus. I found out that I can live without them (I am fully remotely working for 10 years now).

Re: Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'

#75

Post by pdimitar »

eertami wrote: post #63
bottled_poe wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt that WFH options are a significant factor for the best employees. There are so many other incentives/rewards/perks that imo should rank above this. Eg. Remuneration, opportunities, connection to colleagues (particularly those involved in promotional decisions). > if your competitor is offering it you might want to do it as well. That factor only seems relevant in isolation. Financial remuneration is surely th…

>Financial remuneration is surely the primary factor Personally, I wouldn't quit WFH even if someone offered to triple my salary to come work in an office.

Same. The conditions I cultivated at my home office are unbeatable in many ways, very expensive standing desks and chairs included. Not to mention a world-class quality display that makes most other displays seem like toys.

I invested in my home office and it's perfect for me. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Re: Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'

#76

Post by alibarber »

pram wrote: post #12
alibarber wrote: post #5

Whilst all this work from home is nice and lovely and whatever, for me I still struggle to overlook this cynical fact: I had a space dedicated to work in that my employer paid for. Now I must make a part of my house that space and foot the bill.

On the other hand my home workspace is an actual office, and not some nightmarish open space where my desk was 7th in a row of 8. So the space dedicated to work in that my employer paid for actually sucks and they can have it back.

This is good - but I unfortunately don't have the space, time or money to dedicate to building an office at home - any more than I have to build a gym or pool.

Re: Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'

#77

Post by alibarber »

chrisseaton wrote: post #33
alibarber wrote: post #5

Whilst all this work from home is nice and lovely and whatever, for me I still struggle to overlook this cynical fact: I had a space dedicated to work in that my employer paid for. Now I must make a part of my house that space and foot the bill.

I don’t understand - don’t people already have home offices for at least doing their bills and things?

I want to have a garage where I can build projects and do stuff that is not looking at a computer.

I just, don't want to have an office in my home. If I need an office for work then someone else can pay for it. I have no desire to own a computer with Linux, but I need one for my work. Guess who paid for it? Not me. And sure yes - I do life admin on my computer on the kitchen table when things are quiet - but I don't spend 40 hours a week doing that.

Re: Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'

#78

Post by alibarber »

chrisseaton wrote: post #70
darkport wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What year is it?

It's 2021. Maybe if you had a calendar in your office you'd know? Do people not ever need to sit down to manage any of their finances, personal life, or organisations they volunteer in in 2021? Do you do everything from your phone on your sofa? Where do you keep physical books and things? Do you never need to focus and write?

I do it in my kitchen or living room - for a couple of hours a week at most.

If I had a room that I could devote to something that I barely spend any time doing I would have made it into something more fun - like a workshop, or home-gym, or sauna, or whatever. I'll use it how I please - and my employer can keep on paying for somewhere for me to work.

Re: Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'

#79

Post by tankenmate »

bottled_poe wrote: post #44
Agingcoder wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if I can 'pay' the employee a lot more just by letting live somewhere cheaper where he'll happy ( say, somewhere with a house, garden, and peace and quiet, an unaffordable luxury to most in large European cities such as London/Paris ), then wfh and compensation suddenly become linked. Furthermore, by allowing full WFH, you also expand your recruitment pool to people outside your immediate geographical area. Tha…

Sure, it’s all linked. I think a big factor overlooked here is the interest in hiring locally... I suspect the people paying wages are somewhat invested in the local economy - especially the property market. I wouldn’t expect a major shift before those investors have adjusted their portfolio accordingly ... I.e. no time soon. Just a suspicion, what would I know.

Anyone wondering what GS is doing now with property ETFs? Obviously this is pure speculation, but... GS have form so...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3goSYkVPNE&t=338

Re: Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'

#80

Post by Phenix88be »

chrisseaton wrote: post #71
Phenix88be wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> doing their bills and things Like bills do require a full office in 2021. I pay all my bills by pressing a button on my smartphone. And that's because I like to review them, I could pay them automatically if I really want to.

Do you not have any personal arrangements more complex than 'pressing a button'? Investments? Correspondence with people? Reviewing agreements and portfolios? Do not you do things like budget? What about hobbies that require desk-work and making calls? Volunteering and work with charities? What room do you do these things in?

All those things don't require an office. You can do all that from a sofa... Come on...
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