Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

fortune.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 222 posts

Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#71

Post by futureshock »

charlie0 wrote: post #60
TexanFeller wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes it bearable to live more cheaply in the suburbs and make the long drive to downtown only a couple times a week. Live in MCOL suburb and work a couple days in HCOL city seems like a fair compromise to me.

Really depends on the area though. In LA for example, you'd have to move 1-2 hours away to get into MCOL or LOCOL. What would be really cool is reconceptualizing hybrid work as quarterly retreats, where the company provides housing and other amenities for 1 to 2 weeks every quarter. This gives everyone time to bond and work on harder problems. I get this wouldn't work as well for those with families because being awa…

And that would be perfect if you only have to go in once a week. Many of my coworkers are in that situation and had been commuting 4 hours round trip for years before the pandemic.

Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#72

Post by unshavedyak »

charlie0 wrote: post #15

Hybrid work is the worst of both worlds. Can't move out of a HCOL and now you have to co-ordinate with your co-workers to reap any "benefits" of being in-office. What would be really cool is reconceptualizing hybrid work as quarterly retreats, where the company provides housing and other amenities for 1 to 2 weeks every quarter. This gives everyone time to bond and work on harder problems. I get this wouldn't work as…

I agree about the issue with not being able to move, but i'd hardly call some of the many benefits "worst of both worlds". Avoiding the traffic, avoiding crowded offices, avoiding distractions, gaining life time back (no commute), etc - if you like it and have a proper space for it i'd still say it's a net benefit to hybrid WFM.

I'm fully remote atm, but i've also done hybrid. WFM was always a benefit to me personally.

I don't advocate that it's for everyone, ofc. Just saying many of the benefits hold true even if you have to work hybrid.

Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#74

Post by datascienced »

theandrewbailey wrote: post #2

A lot of business executives fall into the demographic that heavily invests into commercial real estate, which is facing some substantial depreciation. Telling everyone they need to get back to the office would help to keep those prices up. To everyone else, they have no incentive to keep fighting traffic every day (and paying for it) to go to an uncomfortable place full of maybe awful people.

That doesn’t make sense unless the CEO owns the building the company rents. If you have money in REIT then your company’s little decision wont affect it. Anymore than buying a single share of Apple will affect the price.

Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#75

Post by maerF0x0 »

atleastoptimal wrote: post #18

I agree that there is a real difference between being at work vs working from home. You build a connection to the workplace. Your brain shifts into "work mode" by default. People talk to each other, culture develops, etc. These are obviously all good things. The problem is, most jobs people do have an element of mindlessness and aren't cutting edge, innovating spaces. Most white-collar jobs people work in are satelli…

> Your brain shifts into "work mode" by default.

I never found this to be the case in office.

However I would agree with you on the shift out. 30 mins into the gym or drive home and I was able to stop thinking about work. Whereas now it's often 8-9pm at home before I go "whoa, I should dim these blue lights and do something with my life"

Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#76

Post by ghaff »

charlie0 wrote: post #60
TexanFeller wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes it bearable to live more cheaply in the suburbs and make the long drive to downtown only a couple times a week. Live in MCOL suburb and work a couple days in HCOL city seems like a fair compromise to me.

Really depends on the area though. In LA for example, you'd have to move 1-2 hours away to get into MCOL or LOCOL. What would be really cool is reconceptualizing hybrid work as quarterly retreats, where the company provides housing and other amenities for 1 to 2 weeks every quarter. This gives everyone time to bond and work on harder problems. I get this wouldn't work as well for those with families because being awa…

That's not an unreasonable commute 1-2 days per week though. I've done it in the past. The Bay Area is probably particularly difficult to get far enough out for housing to be reasonable but many areas are not.

Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#78

Post by kcrwfrd_ »

cookie_monsta wrote: post #69

My boss (middle management) is very staunchly opposed to more than 1 day per week of WFH. She spends about 90% of her time on video calls, so I was always confused by that until she was telling me that when she does WFH she's always distracted by other things which doesn't happen in the office. Maybe a lot of the WFH opposition is really just managers projecting their own work ethic onto others?

When I work in the office I’m distracted by other things which don’t happen at home

Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#79

Post by BobaFloutist »

diggernet wrote: post #32
nickff wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a source for the view that executives invest in commercial real estate, or is the view based on anecdotes? I have not observed any such trend/relationship, and am under the impression that most MBA-types are generally averse to CRE and similar markets, but this is anecdotal, and I have no data to support it.

I have heard rumors (yes, completely lacking proof) that some major banks with huge commercial loan portfolios are using those loans as leverage to coerce companies into loudly demanding return to office. That's actually pretty easy to believe, because they'd really be hurting if commercial real estate values were to plummet.

How are they using those loans as leverage? The terms are set, your student loan company couldn't make you, I don't know, tweet something you didn't want to.

Re: Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay

#80

Post by BobaFloutist »

stavros wrote: post #24
Lammy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The drive to get people back into the office isn't due to any sunk cost on commercial real estate — it's a strategy to prevent workers from working multiple jobs simultaneously.

That's all well and good until you're the second job people are working.

And then you notice that they don't produce any work and fire them. What's so hard about that?
Post reply on HN