Remote work may not be working any more

[brooklynite]

Axios

The challenges of remote work are getting harder and harder to ignore, as employees and bosses alike grapple with the realities of indefinite separation from the office.

The big picture: A growing number of corporate executives want to put an end to the work-from-home revolution. But workers have gotten used to the flexibility, and they have the leverage to demand it.

...snip...

State of play: The convenience of hybrid working is being tempered by the limits of virtual collaboration, which empirical data are now starting to identify.
-- One University of Chicago study found that remote workers put in longer hours but were less productive — effects that were especially pronounced among parents. Workers spent more time in meetings, the study found, but lost out on important face time with their managers.
-- A September 2021 study of Microsoft workers found that the software giant’s business units became “less interconnected” over time, and that an over-reliance on email and messaging made it “more difficult for workers to convey and/or converge on the meaning of complex information.”
-- And a Webex study published last month found high degrees of “meeting fatigue” among remote workers.

[jimfields33]

1. I don't like meetings, but I hate them on zoom!

As soon as safe, hopefully everyone will get back to offices.

[ProfessorGAC]

25. I Can See That

I considered meetings part & parcel of the job.
But, i did some video meetings, often with overseas sites, and i hated them
I especially hated them in the earliest days with ultra compression, blurry images & audio that sounded like it was coming through a downspout.
That stuff got better, but not enough to make me feel like the meetings were productive.

[Demsrule86]

29. No, never going back. I don't need the commute, the wear and tear on my car...I can work

from home.

[Jedi Guy]

35. I'll never work in an office again if I can help it. Ever.

I worked remotely for two years before the pandemic hit and I was far, far more productive. Last year my then-employer tried to reel us all back into the office, and I found a new WFH job within two weeks and quit. Every single member of my team did likewise in the months after I left, and the brain drain has continued steadily across other teams in the organization, or so I'm told by friends who are still there. It wasn't broken, but some dumbshit vice president got a bug up his ass and decided he'd "fix" it. Now they're hemorrhaging people faster than they can hire new ones since all the prospective hires want to work from home.

In my current role, I log in early and stay late pretty much every day. If my employer has enough consideration for my work/life balance, I don't mind going the extra mile. I'd just be sitting in traffic for my commute anyway. It's much easier to focus on tasks without the distraction of other people around me. I can ignore non-critical messages when I'm working on something important, whereas it's a bit harder to ignore someone who just walks up to my desk and starts yapping about something.

Employers are going to find that the genie isn't going back into the bottle.

[MoonlitKnight]

43. Plus infinity

Countless hours of wasted time from people just yapping. It’s also the reason people hate zoom meetings- needless talking.

I get far more work done from home than at any office.

[ripcord]

2. Considering the explosion in popularity of mouse jigglers

It is clear a large number of people want to work from home so they can do less, employers have a right to be concerned.

[ret5hd]

3. Those poor mistreated corporations.

Something must be done to save them.

[ripcord]

4. We are on a great road the companies and the workers are crooked nt

[ret5hd]

6. Not sure exactly what you are saying, but...

[Chainfire]

7. So what is wrong with making and extra buck off of your employees?

If you can't steal from your workers, who can you steal from?

[CentralMass]

13. Bullshit. I've been working remotely since the start and I understand that my

ability to do so is up to my employer to decide. However in a world where many companies have been working globally with teams collaborating online for many years now and with home offices with high speed internet it is an extremely productive environment.
While commutes vary, ehy is it necessary to drive an hour into work to have to more then likely go onto a conference room to disscuss a project related issue with your coworker who is sitting next to you because others in the area get disturbed by the conversation. Or going into a large room as a group to meet with another team across the globe via a video conference. When in the remote office we have all the tools to be able to do it more efficiently? Why risk the spread of the next pandemic illness ?
I spend my day with a heads set on. Our phone has been our laptops for years now. We use either a USB or Bluetooth headset. While we rarely use our work telephone number we have a full suite of sharing/collaboration tools. That let us schedule meeting and fully share our computing environments.. If a coworker(s) and I are having a messing chat and need to turn it into a call it can be done with a click and then we can share our environments without having to walk over to someone's desk and look over their shoulder at monitor that may or not be setup for everyone's eyes to see easily. I spent the bulk of my career driving 45 minute - 1hr + commutingtng to/from work each day and would then often times have to log back into to work st home and do additional work or call into meetings with groups on the other side of the globe at some odd hour. Not to mention the gallons of gas and tail pipe emissions saved and wear and tear on my vehicle.

[Jake97]

40. My bosses office is 15 feet away from mine and we still meet virtually

It’s much easier for us to share screens back and forth.

[CentralMass]

41. Yes, it is so much easier.

[Demsrule86]

28. I disagree. First of all employers are stealing money from employees by making them work

overtime and not paying them. The 40-hour weeks is a joke now. I went to a job interview not long ago and was informed I would be paid for 40 hours per week but should expect to work 60...I said no and left.

[Jedi Guy]

36. Then the onus is on companies to weed out the mouse jigglers and leave the rest alone.

Simply trying to reel everyone back into the office isn't going to work. I've seen it tried, and I've seen the massive brain drain that results when the organization starts hemorrhaging people faster than new ones can be hired.

If an employer's workforce is working from home, it should be pretty easy to do a time/productivity study and determine which people are putting in the work and which are screwing around doing nothing. Keep the former and fire the latter. All the company has to do is put in the effort to figure out who's who.

[empedocles]

5. Suspect that managers can be more bossy in person. Not worry about being taped either.

[Hugin]

8. "Less productive" seems like a subjective measure.

If one’s work involves programming and concentration. It is a boon.

If you are a narcissistic corporate executive, then I can see it cutting into your feelings of self worth. Especially, if your side gig is owning shares in commercial real estate and business travel.

Japan has operated for decades with a cottage industry model quite successfully.

[uponit7771]

12. +1, its hard for employees be "less productive" if there are SMART objectives & they are being ....

... meet or exceeded.

[Amishman]

38. This! Set reasonable, measurable goals. Good workers will achieve them remotely

Discipline or replace those that can't.

If a manager can't manage without physically looking over their team's shoulders - them the manager is the problem and is the one who should be fired.

[uponit7771]

39. +1, managers don't need the other 3 senses to be effective with the people they work with

[CentralMass]

15. Bingo.

[meadowlander]

32. Exactly.

I'm autistic and working in an open-plan office was sensory hell for me. I actually have something like PTSD from my last job from being forced to sit for 8 hours a day in an environment where I couldn't concentrate with constant sensory triggers while being expected to do high stakes critical thinking work with no tolerance for errors. I would get stressed out to the point where all I could do was stare blankly at the screen and shift between opening my emails and opening my web browser so I looked busy. I spent all weekend semi-catatonic and dreading having to go back into work on Monday or scrambling to do all the work at home on the weekends that I couldn't get done in the office during the week.

Now I work full time at home, can actually do my job in peace and quiet, my stress levels have plummeted, my productivity is way up, I have two hours a day back from my commute. And the team dynamic in my current team is better than any other place I have ever worked because we're not constantly irritating each other with loud conversations, unnecessary interruptions, weird food smells, overpowering perfume, desk thumping, etc. It's hard to build strong workplace relationships when all your energy is going into stopping yourself from screaming at your coworkers to shut up and leave you alone.

I would quit my job in a heartbeat before I would go back to working in an open plan office.

[Hugin]

42. I'm sorry your previous work experience was so stressful.

It was and is an anachronism.

You wouldn’t believe how many times I have heard a story similar to yours over the past two and a half years.

I’ve also heard the flip side from those who have spent most of the time in their worksites.

Believe it or not for a variety of reasons they like it better, too. Probably the most common reason is more space and quiet as well.

[uponit7771]

9. There's more to it 👉🏾 "Remote Work Has Vastly Improved the Black Worker Experience"

For many in America WFH enables more objectivity in the work place

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-05/return-to-office-black-workers-are-happier-more-valued-working-from-home

Over the past year, Black workers in so-called “knowledge” roles, like graphic design or data analysis, are more likely to say they’ve been treated more fairly, value their co-workers more and feel more supported by management, according to a survey by the Future Forum, a research consortium created by software maker Slack Technologies.

[gulliver]

10. White boards and body language for meetings

I feel hamstrung in remote meetings sometimes. You can't get up, go to the whiteboard and draw. Also, you can't tell who is looking at you or who is looking at whom. The room becomes unreadable.

But that's nothing compared to the benefits of remote work. Personal life has suffered dramatically due to in-office work, but we simply didn't see that because it was assumed to be a fact of life. It's not.

And, remember: Less commutin' means less money for Putin.

[PJMcK]

11. I've been working remotely since long before it was called that

I went independent in 1992 and with a cell phone and a laptop, I discovered that my clients really didn’t care where I was as long as the work got done.

Every business has its own issues, of course. Although I’ve always had a NYC office, I’ve never felt tied down and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

[ismnotwasm]

14. Well I am a Nurse not in management so it was never an option

Last edited Sun Jun 5, 2022, 02:17 PM - Edit history (1)

But I do love zoom meetings. Went to a face to face class for a couple days for the first time since Covid. It was awful. The particular information could have been presented just as effectively via zoom where I can have coffee right there

[gldstwmn]

16. What a load of crap. Our corporate overlords are afraid of losing control.

Studies show WFH workers are more productive, not less.

[brooklynite]

17. Your supposed "corporate overlords" have no "control" over mid-level staffers...

...and probably don't know who they are. And if in person work wasn't desirable, they could save money by reducing office space and IT costs. Businesses do what they think is best for business.

[gldstwmn]

19. And the politicians want workers to come back into their inner cities and spend money there.

You know, like that one in the borough next to you. Some jobs need to be done in person but a lot of white collar jobs don't. It always comes down to control and someone's pockets. And I don't buy for one minute they don't know about the rank and file. They know but for the most part do not care.
Asking people to work in crowded, poorly ventilated buildings in assumptive that the pandemic is over. It is not and is contributing to larger issues like supply chain gaps which in turn drive inflation. Good luck selling people on commuting with higher gas prices. Since Mitch McConnell doesn't want to feed kids lunch at school the parents have it coming at them from all sides.
Also maybe we should take care of our gun problem before we ask people to leave their homes again.

[Voltaire2]

23. Exactly.

[oioioi]

18. I smell the corporate real-estate and fossil fuel lobbies - and they stink!

[gldstwmn]

20. Build and consume ain't really pretty.

[Arazi]

21. I'll never go back to work in an office. WFH is now a mandatory "perk" for me

[gldstwmn]

24. I am with you on that. I could retire in a few years instead of ever having to return.

Those days are over for me.

[Jedi Guy]

37. Ditto. I'll never set foot in an office again if I can help it. N/T

[iemanja]

22. I find remote work more productive

I can get more done in less time without the distractions of the office.

[Demsrule86]

26. That is not true...many jobs can de done at home...and my daughter just took a job

where she can work at home...she was called back to the office and didn't want to go...she started looking and a week later had a job with more money and no commute. Her sole reason for leaving was the required attendance at the workplace. She is an accountant and a recent college graduate. She lives in the Tremont area of Cleveland.

She has seen her income almost triple in this competitive environment. Her fiance is a programmer and works for a California company at home...he gets paid California money but lives in Cleveland. Many employers can get talent and think allowing work at home gets them the best workers...not just the ones who live nearby.

[sarcasmo]

27. Thought Elon Musk might have written this piece.

Last edited Sun Jun 5, 2022, 06:27 PM - Edit history (1)

[ret5hd]

30. Oh my...whatever will the corporations do:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/apr/27/inflation-corporate-america-increased-prices-profits

The analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission filings for 100 US corporations found net profits up by a median of 49%, and in one case by as much as 111,000%. Those increases came as companies saddled customers with higher prices and all but ten executed massive stock buyback programs or bumped dividends to enrich investors.

[Sympthsical]

31. The peasants were enjoying something

That's a shame.

I'm sure this tears some people up.

I'm not even sure some of those things stated by the study were bad things. "Less face time with managers." I'm a manager. I do not need to be having the number of zoom meetings I am. It's only to satisfy other corporate types who want constant proof that I'm "doing something".

If you'd stop bothering me all day, I'd be doing more.

[nolabear]

33. It's not one or the other.

Sometimes it works better, sometimes worse. Mr. Bear works from home and is able to have meetings with people all over the world at times he’d never want to be in an office. They try to rotate a bit for everyone’s convenience but an 8pm Zoom isn’t infrequent. He trades off the time for stretched midday he’d otherwise never have. Works pretty well, actually.

[Catherine Vincent]

34. My employer has us working Mon-Wed at the office

And we work from home Thurs-Fri. I like it and hope they make it permanent.