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Microsoft is officially sending employees back to the office

businessinsider.com

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Re: Microsoft is officially sending employees back to the office

#851

Post by aurareturn »

jon-wood wrote: post #839
aurareturn wrote: post #673

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shouldn't we trust that the execs have this data and can see productivity metrics that aren't available to the public? Unless you think all RTO is a conspiracy.

It’s absolutely all being done on vibes. The execs don’t have some super-secret productivity dashboard giving them a breakdown of employee output by work location. Maybe, if they’re really on the ball, they have employee profit contributions divided by that, but that would then immediately show all the support staff as unproductive.

I agree that a lot of smaller companies would do it on vibes. I don't think Microsoft would.

Re: Microsoft is officially sending employees back to the office

#852

Post by Difwif »

dragonwriter wrote: post #513
zero_shift wrote: post #190

At $org, we too are undertaking a mandatory RTO order, enforced with door access logs. People are up in arms, particularly those in our smaller locales, where the offices we have are perfunctory at best. The rationale is the usual one: collaboration, watercooler chat, unspecific evidence / "research" about productivity (that we are told definitely exists, but is yet to be shared). I remain baffled by executives' obse…

RTO mandates are about many things, but actual business value of being in the office to the business doing the mandate is low on the list. Among the things it is about: (1) Executives with emotional attachment to certain leadership styles that are enabled by physical presence, (2) Interest in the investor class for the commercial real estate market. The business impacted may not be invested in it, but the businesses’…

(2) Seems like a media narrative rather than truth. I don't think that would be anywhere remotely high on a CEO's priority list unless they were a commercial real estate company.

It's far more likely a mixture of (1) and actual results - in-person/hybrid teams produce better outcomes (even if why that's true hasn't been deeply evaluated or ultimately falls on management)

Re: Microsoft is officially sending employees back to the office

#853

Post by neves »

ponector wrote: post #634
neves wrote: post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's just one solution: unionize. As you can see, your bosses already did.

Can you unionize your offshore teams? Oh wait, that was one of the reasons to move your jobs overseas...

You will need to create new organizations in a global economy.

Re: Microsoft is officially sending employees back to the office

#855

Post by amradio1989 »

Generally I believe RTO is about control. Secondarily, I believe that the corp office culture is still a thing many execs take pride in.

Most of them have dedicated their lives to getting that sweet corner office with the mahogany L-desk. Then theres that sweet nameplate.

I don’t think there’s any reliable data on RTO vs Remote productivity.

Re: Microsoft is officially sending employees back to the office

#856

Post by cutemonster »

aurareturn wrote: post #784
cmiles74 wrote: post #753

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there were clear metrics showing that in-person teams “out perform” remote teams, we would be hearing about it constantly. The supposed rationale for keeping such data secret sounds far-fetched to me.

The rationale is that there is no upside and pure downside for releasing these metrics to the public. It opens them up to scrutiny. The evidence is that there have been more RTO calls than companies switching to pure WFH post-Covid.

If more people eat hamburgers than vegetables, you'll start saying that that's evidence that hamburgers are more healthy?

Re: Microsoft is officially sending employees back to the office

#857

Post by wiseowise »

jimbokun wrote: post #841
wiseowise wrote: post #624

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Love how when it comes to RTO there’s always “some people”, “some work”, “for reasons we don’t completely understand”.

But for work from home you have cold hard objective metrics?

Yes. The world didn’t collapse overnight when everybody worked from home.

Worst case output is the same, so why should workers suffer more?

Re: Microsoft is officially sending employees back to the office

#858

Post by wiseowise »

Aeolun wrote: post #771
wiseowise wrote: post #591

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only it was possible to dress up at home…

It only works if people see you. Dressing up for sitting at home feels silly.

So everyone has to suffer because Dick the fashionista needs to show off his attire?

Re: Microsoft is officially sending employees back to the office

#859

Post by HDThoreaun »

wiseowise wrote: post #588
RHSeeger wrote: post #506

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You /s, but that's actually a fair point - Some people work better at home, away from the office - Some people work better in the office, with their co-workers around them Those two facts are at direct odds with each other. It's unfortunate, but you can't give both groups what they want.

So when it’s my idiosyncrasy I’m supposed to shut the fuck up because it’s unprofessional, but when it aligns with whatever goals of some middle manager I’m supposed to take one for the team, because Bob the baby needs a grown up man sitting next to him?

You should find an employer that caters to your idiosyncrasy instead of your coworkers

Re: Microsoft is officially sending employees back to the office

#860

Post by LightBug1 »

odie5533 wrote: post #93

Top employees, ones that can easily get jobs elsewhere, are just going to leave and find ones without RTO. Employees that don't feel confident in their abilities to perform in the job market are going to show up in the office to keep their job.

Worse, the rest will stay and just coast ... ask me how I know, lol.
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