Demand for Remote Work Clashes With Expectations

[applegrove]

Demand for Remote Work Clashes With Expectations

June 2, 2021 at 12:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 137 Comments

https://politicalwire.com/2021/06/02/demand-for-remote-work-clashes-with-expectations/

"SNIP.......

“With the coronavirus pandemic receding for every vaccine that reaches an arm, the push by some employers to get people back into offices is clashing with workers who’ve embraced remote work as the new normal,” Bloomberg reports.

“While companies from Google to Ford Motor Co. and Citigroup Inc. have promised greater flexibility, many chief executives have publicly extolled the importance of being in offices.”

“But legions of employees aren’t so sure. If anything, the past year has proved that lots of work can be done from anywhere, sans lengthy commutes on crowded trains or highways. Some people have moved. Others have lingering worries about the virus and vaccine-hesitant colleagues.”

......SNIP"

[Wingus Dingus]

1. If you can't stand the thought of actually physically showing up to work, then quit.

I'm not sure what the problem is.

[applegrove]

2. Why should you show up if you can do just as great a job from home?

Why put up with a nasty manager or colleagues who are not vaccinated? Why pay for expensive transportation?

Pandemics ended cerfdom in europe and created the middle class. There was a power shift. Maybe people like having 2 extra hours in the day to spend with family since they have not commuted for a year.

[Wingus Dingus]

4. Then do that. If your employer thinks it's better for everyone to be at the worksite,

he/she/they will have to hire someone else.

[Moostache]

6. Very dangerous to assume that all cases are amenable to long term off-site work...

Owners and companies will begin recalling personnel to the office soon and unless someone wants to start their own consulting business and contract with the employer for deliverables (and a likely loss of benefits as an independent contractor) I would advise people who work for someone else to get ready to report to work once more instead of logging in half-dressed from the couch or home 'office' / desk...

[Voltaire2]

3. how about: if there is no valid reason for herding people into cubicles then stop doing that.

I'm not sure what the problem is.

[Wingus Dingus]

5. Apparently some employers have what they believe to be valid reasons.

Again, if you don't like your work conditions, then quit and find something that better suits you.

[hurple]

8. How very Republican of you to say that

Just sayin'

[spooky3]

12. Why aren't you advising employers to review the research

on remote work and make the best decisions that will lead to the best profits?


And, employment at will works two ways. With all the whining about how hard it is to find and keep good employees, you would think businesses would want to find ways to make work attractive—especially when it may cost them far less than raising wages, etc.

[Wingus Dingus]

14. I completely agree--employers will have to decide what is more important in terms

of profit and success, physical presence vs. employees that can take their skills elsewhere.

[Dave says]

21. What exactly is wrong ...

... with fighting for changes in work conditions? Hasn’t that brought us the 40 hour workweek and minimum wage?

[Wingus Dingus]

22. I don't see this as "work conditions". I see WFH as a benefit/option available to

SOME workers, mostly white collar people who do phone or computer/IT based work. I wouldn't characterize having to sit in an air conditioned or heated office and seeing/hearing your bosses and coworkers nearby as some sort of hardship--especially compared to the sort of dire conditions in history that brought about changes in labor laws. It's a perk of SOME jobs. A good chunk of America had to keep showing up to a wide range of jobs, and got literally nothing extra for facing the pandemic in person. I do not have sympathy for people who were able to both avoid the illness AND maintain their same paychecks, AND get bonus time off AND save money on gas, etc. I see a lot of whining (article after article in every newspaper) from employees fearing they have to give up their cushy arrangements.

[GoodRaisin]

15. Some employers don't believe that the workers will work hard unless they can

see them in their cubicles. They also like to see them in their cubicles before and after work hours giving free work. They especially love free weekend work, in their cubicle, of course.

[meadowlander]

7. Open plan offices inherently discriminate against some workers.

As one example only 15% of people with high functioning autism and college degrees are in full time employment. A big part of that is sensory issues that make it tortuous to sit for eights hours a day and try to get any kind of work done in a noisy environment. Those same people would be the best employees in the company if they were allowed to sit somewhere quiet (or where they could choose their own lighting, or temperature, etc.)

To a lesser extent, the same open plan office also decreases the productivity of introverts and other people who need to do work that requires high levels of concentration.

It's not good enough to tell someone with HFA "sorry if you don't like our noisy cubicle mill you can just quit - and lose your house and car and ability to live independently".

Making work more accessible for people with disabilities makes it more pleasant and accessible for everyone.

I'm just starting a new job with an organisation that cottoned on during the pandemic that opening up it's recruitment to people who live further away from the main office and want to work remotely vastly increased their pool of qualified applicants. They got so many applications it took them almost three months just to short-list for the interviews.

[Wingus Dingus]

9. Before Covid, most people showed up to work just fine.

People with disabilities, and their arrangements, are a whole separate matter.

[meadowlander]

13. No they aren't.

The point is that pre-Covid open plan offices were not accessible which is part of why the stats for HFA employment are so abysmal. Because it's an invisible disability many people are afraid to disclose to their employers because they will face discrimination. Many otherwise qualified people will also not bother applying or will give up at the interview stage if it becomes apparent that the working environment will set off their sensory issues.

Employers are legally required under the ADA to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities - whether those disabilities have been disclosed to them or not. They don't wait until they get a successful applicant in a wheelchair before they retrofit the office with ramps and accessible toilets. They shouldn't wait until they get a successful applicant with disclosed HFA before they think about how their work environment might affect people with sensory issues.

Making workplaces accessible to people with disabilities makes them more accessible for everyone. If it benefits people with HFA to have a quiet, controlled environment to work in you can bet it also benefits some people without disabilities to also have that option.

"Suck it up cubicle-drone" is not good enough. Not for people with disabilities and not for anyone else. It is pointless and unproductive and smart employers know better.

[Wingus Dingus]

17. I'm baffled as to why you keep bringing up disabilities. That's an entirely separate matter

from able-bodied people who just prefer staying home. Also, I'm not sure what is wrong with working in an office/cubicle. I did it at one job at a particular point in life, and didn't find it objectionable at all. In fact, it was mostly pleasant. Maybe because before that I was a nurse and worked in hospitals and nursing homes, and before that worked in several retail and fast food jobs as a youngster.

[meadowlander]

18. Different people have different working styles.

Disability is one example of difference. It is not the only one.

A good employer provides a working environment that is inclusive of different people and enables everyone to do their best.

A bad employer says "suck it up - this environment works for me. What's wrong with you?"

[Wingus Dingus]

19. Well, it will come down to what makes a business or organization the most successful

and/or profitable, in any case. So many different industries and types of jobs, there's no one-size-fits-all--each business or agency will have to decide what to do going forward. One of my brothers works in sales, and has been WFH for a year now, and will continue that as long as his employer lets him--it makes perfect sense for what he does, which is mostly independent phone/computer work. My one son is hoping to get a WFH IT gig straight out of college, we'll see. My husband and my other son do not currently have careers that allow it, they both worked in person through most or all of the pandemic. But in any case, if people feel they can't go back, they can quit--there are probably going to be many more WFH positions than pre-Covid, and it's not a bad job market.

[kcr]

23. People with disabilities are not a "whole separate matter"

but the fact you continue to repeat this shows quite a bit about you.

[tenderfoot]

10. Unless you own the company - then you can stay home

and still get that bonus.

[genxlib]

11. There is one flaw in this discussion

Personally, I don't think everyone can really correctly assess how productive they are working at home.

Certainly many can so save yourself the time of biting my head off. But I think a lot of them can't really.

Some industries are better suited to than others. Call center work should never need to be in person again for instance. Many office jobs are fairly independent but not all are.

But I work in consulting engineering and we are a collaborative field. It helps to be together. Even so, many people don't want to come back. The problem is that our productivity is off about 20%. That is across the board on tens of thousands of employees. The productivity loss is real but individuals don't want to acknowledge it.

[Amishman]

16. If employees are happier and just as productive working remotely, it makes sense to continue

If employees are all having difficulty doing their jobs, bring them all back in.

If some are able to do their job remotely and others can't; set requirements accordingly by individual.

If managers can't tell if their employees are getting their work done or not, eliminate the manager

Much of the resistance to continuing with remote work seems to be from fairly useless layers of middle management that are at risk of being exposed as useless and/or incompetent.

[SoonerPride]

20. For jobs that can be done remotely, productivity is higher.

Employees save on commute times, weekday lunches, gas money and stress.

They get as much or more work done and often work more at home than when forced to sit a cubicle in a big building.

For many jobs, there is no need to dress up, start a car or hop a subway, commute, and sit there at a screen when you have a screen right there at your house.

[budkin]

24. Offices are sh*t

These corporate stooges just can't stand not being able to "see" their employees working. It inflates their value to have people around them at all times.

[applegrove]

25. They want the controlling people they hire as managers to keep employees

Last edited Wed Jun 2, 2021, 10:50 PM - Edit history (1)

back on their heels with little slights. Can't do that over the internet.