Permanent changes to how we work?

[jrmasm]

For those with employers who are insisting on a return to in-person work when it’s not necessary nor desired by staff, what is their reasoning? Why are they hellbent on making you drive in to an office during a pandemic to do the exact same work you could be doing more comfortably at home?

There is no explanation that I’m aware of. Certainly not one that I’ve heard. My best guess is a combination of politics and “optics”. IE if government workers aren’t in the office, they’re not working. That’s total bs because in my experience, the people who aren’t productive at home are the same people that weren‘t productive in the office.

 

[lovesmurfs]

For those with employers who are insisting on a return to in-person work when it’s not necessary nor desired by staff, what is their reasoning? Why are they hellbent on making you drive in to an office during a pandemic to do the exact same work you could be doing more comfortably at home?

They haven't said, but I suspect it's about using space they've got an extended tenancy on. They've got a 10 or 15-year lease on four floors of prime Chicago space (Michigan and Wacker), and I'm sure they want to use it all. They can't get out of it, because there were significant build-outs they negotiated as part of the lease 4 years ago.

Here's the view from my office, when I was there.

 

[tvguy]

For those with employers who are insisting on a return to in-person work when it’s not necessary nor desired by staff, what is their reasoning? Why are they hellbent on making you drive in to an office during a pandemic to do the exact same work you could be doing more comfortably at home?

1) It is in the best interest of the company.
2) Corporate IT is wants to cut off remote access to prevent hacking.

 

[tvguy]

What would that be, a 2 1/2 hour drive?

Several busses from a central pickup point in Sacramento directly to HP campus seems more efficient than dealing with airports, even private ones.

With the morning commute it would be 2 1/2 to 3 hours each way versus 25 minutes flight time each way. So it cuts at least 4 hours a day out of the commute. They flew out of Roseville Airport. Not much going on there, so easy in and out of there, not sure what airport they used in San Jose. Only reason I know about this is a woman on board committed suicide in 2000 by opening a door and jumping from the plane on the way to San Jose. https://apnews.com/article/e783a3c7cb0df533c60683b9572bd9cb

 

[JLTraveling]

There is no explanation that I’m aware of. Certainly not one that I’ve heard. My best guess is a combination of politics and “optics”. IE if government workers aren’t in the office, they’re not working. That’s total bs because in my experience, the people who aren’t productive at home are the same people that weren‘t productive in the office.

Yeah....my dad was an industrial engineer with the DoD. He had to go out in the field to visit contractors once every couple of months. Other than that, literally nothing about his job had to be done in the office. When he became disabled, he would have been able to work just fine from his home office and make the contractor visits as needed. But we lived 54 miles from the office, and the daily commute plus 8-10 hours in a cubicle was just too much. He begged for a telecommute option (not yet offered in his specific office but available for his exact same position in a couple of other identical offices in other cities). They absolutely refused, so he ended up having to retire on disability instead. Sad to see that nothing has changed in 22 years.

 

[easyas123]

Here's the view from my office, when I was there.

That is a great view-

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

not saying it's anyone's fault-it's the reality of their life experiences. gone from home to dorm, many dorm to apartment while retaining university meal plan, did summer sessions with meal plans or internships with same coffee/snacks/meals the employers offered their paid staff, right into the jobs that offered it as a benefit. not to be sexist but i've seen the same dynamic happen with people (largely men) who went from home to college dorm to their shared marital homes where their wife did the meal planning based on the budget and did the shopping. good number of the guys were fantastic cooks but they had no clue how much the ingredients cost UNTIL something went south with their marriages, they ended up singletons and were faced with their first adult experiences with grocery shopping. again, no ones fault-just happened that way.

I guess I'm confused then are you talking about young adults (as you mentioned your non-tech kid realized it) or are you talking about people raised in the 1940s and 1950s who largely are at retirement age or well beyond it.

 

[runwad]

My office was remote for a year then called everyone back June 2021 but there are some that got to stay remote. A lot of employee's asked to stay home for various reasons but they said NO! So those people quit and got other jobs causing a worker shortage at an inopportune time at our place.

In January they announced they are going to a hybrid schedule. Not sure what the details are, it hasn't come out yet, but I feel bad that we lost good workers because they wouldn't be flexible.

I'm one of the lucky ones that's been remote for 2 years and I don't want to go back at all! I can retire if I so choose so a decision may have to be made by me if they try to play hard ball. I've been doing my job fine for 2 years remote there is no reason I have to go back. I wouldn't be opposed to going in for meetings or any other events once in a while, but to just go in to work, nope, I'll stay home and save my commute time. They are redoing the freeways where I live and it's a total PITA, I'm not dealing with that nightmare.

Right now it seems the employees have the upper hand because they keep losing good people, so fingers crossed this lasts. It's about time the tide has changed to favor workers!!

 

[TipsyTraveler]

They haven't said, but I suspect it's about using space they've got an extended tenancy on. They've got a 10 or 15-year lease on four floors of prime Chicago space (Michigan and Wacker), and I'm sure they want to use it all. They can't get out of it, because there were significant build-outs they negotiated as part of the lease 4 years ago.

Here's the view from my office, when I was there.

View attachment 647143

Looks like a great spot for some Millenial-owned condos!

 

[dvcgirl67]

I just looked it up for NJ Transit, and Bloomberg News said it's "rising"....it's up to 40% of pre-pandemic levels again. It had dipped down to 30% with Omicron. I don't think it'll ever go back to what it was before the pandemic. I hear it constantly from my customers who are still working from home, but still want us to come to walk their dogs daily, or a couple/few times a week. These were all die-hard NYC commuters and they all tell me that they're not going back....that things have permanently changed.

I definitely do think it'll go up from where we are now in the NY Metro area....from 40% pre-pandemic levels. But back to what it used to be...with people packed on those trains for the last few stops before Penn Station....no way. The world has changed.

 

[AussieFan8]

For those with employers who are insisting on a return to in-person work when it’s not necessary nor desired by staff, what is their reasoning? Why are they hellbent on making you drive in to an office during a pandemic to do the exact same work you could be doing more comfortably at home?

Where I work, some people could do their job fully remote but others need to be in some or all of the time. I am one who could my job remotely. We were told it would not be fair if some were remote and others weren’t. I envy those who are fully remote and would be thrilled to even have a hybrid option. Relatively close to retirement so hanging in there regardless.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

1) It is in the best interest of the company.
2) Corporate IT is wants to cut off remote access to prevent hacking.

1 doesn’t make much sense. My home responsibilities are inelastic so the hour plus I lose commuting has to come from somewhere. I currently work well past the time I used to pack up and leave while working in the office.

 

[georgina]

My DS worked as a software engineer in Manhattan for 2 years. When the new World Trade center opened, his company moved their office there. Five and a half years ago he decided he wanted to live in the Seattle area where his buddies are and has been working from home ever since. His company gave up their office space during the pandemic (yay no more NY state taxes!). I don't think they have a new office yet. They must be OK with him working remotely; when he was home in Dec he said they had laid some employees off but not him.

DD who is based in SF has been happily working remotely from a variety of places around the country. (her company was one of those that served 3 meals a day on site, good vegetarian food too)

Where we live in the DC area metro ridership is definitely down, plus they had to pull a bunch of cars out of service after a derailment.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Due to the pandemic and the restructure of our company, I work 99% from home now. The team I'm in is spread across the country, my boss is in Florida, and pretty much everyone in our team works from home. When I do go in the office, I'm the only person in an 8-man office suite, and none of the coworkers I used to socialize with are anywhere around. When I do leave the office suite I have to put my mask on anywhere I walk indoors. I only walk to the kitchen for hot water, or to the restroom. I rarely need to use the office printer (twice a year maybe?). It's just much more convenient to work from home.

I do miss the friendly work environment that I used to be in where we had daily, personal, interactions with coworkers. On the other hand, it's nice to be able to take a break from work to do a couple of chores or play with the house pets (my daughter's bird is in front of me chirping as I type, lol).

 

[tvguy]

1 doesn’t make much sense. My home responsibilities are inelastic so the hour plus I lose commuting has to come from somewhere. I currently work well past the time I used to pack up and leave while working in the office.

I agree. But that is what the company says. My most productive work schedule in 42 years was 14 months I worked form home.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

My sister's office building was first damaged by riots, then theft and crime skyrocketed in the area so her company told them they were going to make work from home a permanent option. She's worked out of cabins in the woods, a condo in Mexico, and the beach in SC. She loves it, especially as a parent. It was hard at first with her son bouncing around the house, but people got used to the fact that people have families.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

My husband, on the other hand, hated being at home and is thrilled to be back in the office. He worked so much more at home. The temptation/pressure to pop into the office after kids were in bed to finish a task was real. He never felt like he actually left work.

The new office life seems to be more flexible. We live close to the office and often see a car parked there on our way home from dinner. A few people come in early, some work from home when they need to for a week or two. But that's the exception, not the rule. It works for us.

 

[barkley]

I guess I'm confused then are you talking about young adults (as you mentioned your non-tech kid realized it) or are you talking about people raised in the 1940s and 1950s who largely are at retirement age or well beyond it.

given that some tech companies have been doing the free food benefit for over a decade at this point there are 30 somethings who could fall under this realization. my kid's employer has done it for going on 22 years so there are people in their 40's in this case, a similar phenomenon happened with a couple of extended family members who went from parental homes to college and then into jobs that provided free housing. they didn't fully fathom the dollar value of those benefits until they left those positions (i remember one just assuming that when people complained about the high cost of their house payments that cost included water, sewage, electricity, gas and garbage pickup b/c it was always there as a part of their 'housing benefit'-talk about sticker shock when he went looking for housing).

 

[NotUrsula]

For those with employers who are insisting on a return to in-person work when it’s not necessary nor desired by staff, what is their reasoning? Why are they hellbent on making you drive in to an office during a pandemic to do the exact same work you could be doing more comfortably at home?

For many, it's because they can. If leadership has a power dynamic that says that it's important to impose managerial will for the sake of making the chain of command clear, then this will be par for the course.

DH (an attorney) has worked in such environments all his life. Law firms have a concept they call "face time" that is, the number of hours you are visibly at your desk working, with the door open, where any partner who happens to walk by will be sure to see you. His employer made no changes whatsoever for the pandemic lockdown; they simply ignored it as if it didn't exist. My company sent us home, and he was constantly telling me that I needed to go in so I could be seen. My company had a guard sitting at the entrance to the parking lot to prevent non-essential folks from coming in without permission; DH simply could NOT wrap his head around that.

 

[LYSE]

I've been full time remote for almost 10 years now and just got another job also remote, I'm glad I have more options now because after that much time of having freedom to live (have lived in 3 states in that time) and work almost anywhere you would have to pay me an unrealistic amount to be tied to an office and deal with lost time and money getting to and from.