9 ms·

It feels lonelier at the top with everyone working from home

107 points by mnming 5y ago

pcbro141 5y ago
https://archive.ph/yPq53 https://archive.ph/yPq53
adamnemecek 5y ago
It took me longer than it should have to realize that it was satire.
- Darmody 5y ago
  It's been happening to me lately a lot with certain kind of news. And the other way around too. I think it's satire but nope.
- daenz 5y ago
  Same. It went from "wow the arrogance and ego of this person" to "this person is seriously disturbed" to "this can't be real."
  - raducu 5y ago
    This must be satire. A CEO taking writing lessons and maybe trying too hard, I give it 8/10 satire.
- nokya 5y ago
  And I almost feel bad I didn't give more attention to my intuition. I will not delete my other comment immediately though :) To repeat another commenter, I have also noticed increased difficulty in spotting satire when browsing the web. I guess this is one consequence of the C19 crisis. A little bit out of topic but just to share: 2020 taught me that the people I love(d) the most could fall prey to disinformation. 2021 is teaching me even worse: I am slowly coming to the realization that people very dear to me have totalitarian values.
- tedunangst 5y ago
  The subhead says it's an imaginary memo.
  - adamnemecek 5y ago
    I read that as “memo I wish I could send”.
motohagiography 5y ago
> I am the boss but I am part of the Global Cryptobank team, and I value honesty almost as much as making money. This one is a gem. Banking work culture is alien to me. Whoever figured out that you can get legions of people to debase themselves to each other for the promise of a ledger entry and some toys was brilliant. It's still funny, even if such a malign intelligence would be a threat to our species, but I have to admire the craftiness and give the devil his due.
- liaukovv 5y ago
  I'm pretty sure they are doing it for a house near central park with a roof deck.
- deagle50 5y ago
  "Gazing down on the expensive apartments in Tribeca where some of you live, thanks to our generous bonuses, I see bankers on video calls with cameras switched off, sipping wine." LMAO
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
mesaframe 5y ago
Man say whatever you want. I am feeling lonely working at home too. You can't focus on your family while working but colleagues aren't there too. A lot of time I feel the need to talk about work but there is no one to talk to. It's hard to ping a colleague for some chit-chat.
- Consultant32452 5y ago
  Please ping a colleague for chit-chat. You'll figure out pretty quickly who is interested in this. Just like face-to-face some people will want to talk and others won't. I chat about kids, hobbies, side-projects, etc. with coworkers on a daily basis via Slack. I really stepped this up during the lockdowns specifically to help maintain sanity. One coworker was in Canada with her son while her husband was trapped in the US and they could not see each other due to travel restrictions. I checked in on her regularly and she seemed to really appreciate it. This has lead to one former coworker and me starting our own small business and significantly increasing our income. As well as other friendships where we do things like vacation together even though we don't see each other on a regular basis.
- zamalek 5y ago
  I hold an extreme view on the "work at home" situation: my working at home not only improves my life, but also the lives of those who work in jobs that causally require their presence (baristas, doctors, construction workers, etc.). You're absolutely right, though: the office is a fantastic place to get a regular social fix. I absolutely understand where you're coming from, because social experiences are as important as food and water to humans, but here's the thing: The concept of an office wasn't created to solve human socialization. Why not try and solve the socialization problem, and ignore the notion of an office? Set up a lunch group with your street, see if you can create a coworking space in your apartment/condo building, rent a coworking space close to home, or something else. As a socialization solution, offices are a comfortable rut/local minimum. You can absolutely have your e-commute, as well as your social experience. The problem is that we've been doing offices for so long, that we kinda forget that we need to rethink/replace what they were doing.
  - 5y ago
gedy 5y ago
> If I am called chief executive officer but cannot behave like a chief or take executive decisions, the only part of the role left is officer, which means being in the office. Haha brilliant :-). Love seeing this in Financial Times
giantandroids 5y ago
> “If you want to get paid New York rates, you work in New York. None of this ‘I’m in Colorado . . . and getting paid like I’m sitting in New York City,’” he said. This is interesting. I wonder if companies will start to try and tier wages according to where the possible new hire resides.
- reallydontask 5y ago
  The British civil service has London and National salaries. I think based on your home address but not sure.
  - helsinkiandrew 5y ago
    And in academia and many large companies with standard rates of pay - “London Weighting”
- wrs 5y ago
  “Start to try?” Many, many companies do this.
- alexives 5y ago
  This is definitely done already. GitLab (where I work as an engineer) has done it for a number of years. They used to publish the numbers and ranges for every role/location but they made it internal only a year or so back for reasons that I can't remember. You can still see the old calculator thanks to the internet archive - https://web.archive.org/web/20200606161551/https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/total-rewards/compensation/compensation-calculator/calculator/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200606161551/https://about.git... I don't want to debate whether this is the best approach in terms of treating employees fairly, but it certainly seems to have it's advantages for the company - they get to save money by hiring people in places with a lower compensation rate.
  - danenania 5y ago
    Apart from saving money, another aspect of their reasoning iirc was that paying a single rate would create a very lopsided team in terms of geography: the company would be offering the “best” salary to employees in the lowest cost of living places, and so the incentives would lead these places to be dramatically over-represented relative to higher cost of living places. That’s the theory anyway. I haven’t heard people in favor of geography-agnostic salaries address this concern, which seems legitimate from the company’s perspective. I suppose there are tradeoffs either way.
nokya 5y ago
He makes 35m/year, he makes more than enough to rent fully consenting adults to give him company while he is sitting all powerful at his throne. Oh I get it: he misses feeling all powerful in front of submissive employees. For one CEO like him, there are 99 CEOs nicer I will gladly rather work for.
- danuker 5y ago
  Boy the tables have turned. CEOs used to say "there are 99 other candidates who would take your position".
- geodel 5y ago
  > For one CEO like him, there are 99 CEOs nicer I will gladly rather work for. That's an interesting planet. Here on earth 99% CEOs seems to be power hungry sociopaths.
- thrashh 5y ago
  Yes, the non-existent ‘he’ of a satire piece.
- stu2b50 5y ago
  Did you miss this sentence at the top of the article? > The imaginary all-staff memo of a highly paid CEO driven to distraction by his empty office In any case, your conclusion is correct, in the fashion that a judgement on the ethics of Scrooge McDuck is correct.
- charcircuit 5y ago
  Buying friends is not the same as having real friends.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
smoldesu 5y ago
All it needs is a mention of an expensive ring-shaped campus and we can migrate this from "satire" to "depressingly realistic"
- musicale 5y ago
  What makes it good satire is its proximity to reality. Pecking order, and the desire for social status and power over others, drives so much of human behavior, especially in companies but also in schools, prisons, churches, hospitals and all other human organizations and social groups. In companies, much of this has depended on in-person interaction. For a spacious walled office to be a sign of high social status, it must be visible and everyone else must be stuck in open plan misery. Asserting and enhancing a manager's social status (for example by humiliating underlings) is much more effective when done publicly and in person.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
erhk 5y ago
If I had a nightvision telescope which i used to spy on others I would certainly not be blogging about how I use it to spy on others. I am often apppalled at the ability of executives to completely flounder their one responsibility. Crying in a blog and oversharing does not develop my confidence in this persons leadership, but I suppose crypto trading might have already been a red flag to warn of the nature of this article.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
draw_down 5y ago
I think there is truth being told here, but that what it reveals is sad. People like this, their lives and identities are work and business. With no people in the office, who even are they?
zahrc 5y ago
Nice piece, made me chuckle but then think “there probably is someone thinking like that.” Then I thought about my old job where the CEO hasn’t been seen since the beginning of the pandemic, while people had to go in the office because of “training” which had been done via video call anyway, due to restrictions.
cirrus3 5y ago
> The imaginary all-staff memo of a highly paid CEO driven to distraction by his empty office No "satire" disclaimer?

107 points by mnming 5y ago

pcbro141 5y ago

https://archive.ph/yPq53 https://archive.ph/yPq53

adamnemecek 5y ago

It took me longer than it should have to realize that it was satire.

Darmody 5y ago
It's been happening to me lately a lot with certain kind of news. And the other way around too. I think it's satire but nope.
daenz 5y ago
Same. It went from "wow the arrogance and ego of this person" to "this person is seriously disturbed" to "this can't be real."
- raducu 5y ago
  This must be satire. A CEO taking writing lessons and maybe trying too hard, I give it 8/10 satire.
nokya 5y ago
And I almost feel bad I didn't give more attention to my intuition. I will not delete my other comment immediately though :) To repeat another commenter, I have also noticed increased difficulty in spotting satire when browsing the web. I guess this is one consequence of the C19 crisis. A little bit out of topic but just to share: 2020 taught me that the people I love(d) the most could fall prey to disinformation. 2021 is teaching me even worse: I am slowly coming to the realization that people very dear to me have totalitarian values.
tedunangst 5y ago
The subhead says it's an imaginary memo.
- adamnemecek 5y ago
  I read that as “memo I wish I could send”.

motohagiography 5y ago

> I am the boss but I am part of the Global Cryptobank team, and I value honesty almost as much as making money. This one is a gem. Banking work culture is alien to me. Whoever figured out that you can get legions of people to debase themselves to each other for the promise of a ledger entry and some toys was brilliant. It's still funny, even if such a malign intelligence would be a threat to our species, but I have to admire the craftiness and give the devil his due.

liaukovv 5y ago
I'm pretty sure they are doing it for a house near central park with a roof deck.
deagle50 5y ago
"Gazing down on the expensive apartments in Tribeca where some of you live, thanks to our generous bonuses, I see bankers on video calls with cameras switched off, sipping wine." LMAO

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

mesaframe 5y ago

Man say whatever you want. I am feeling lonely working at home too. You can't focus on your family while working but colleagues aren't there too. A lot of time I feel the need to talk about work but there is no one to talk to. It's hard to ping a colleague for some chit-chat.

Consultant32452 5y ago
Please ping a colleague for chit-chat. You'll figure out pretty quickly who is interested in this. Just like face-to-face some people will want to talk and others won't. I chat about kids, hobbies, side-projects, etc. with coworkers on a daily basis via Slack. I really stepped this up during the lockdowns specifically to help maintain sanity. One coworker was in Canada with her son while her husband was trapped in the US and they could not see each other due to travel restrictions. I checked in on her regularly and she seemed to really appreciate it. This has lead to one former coworker and me starting our own small business and significantly increasing our income. As well as other friendships where we do things like vacation together even though we don't see each other on a regular basis.
zamalek 5y ago
I hold an extreme view on the "work at home" situation: my working at home not only improves my life, but also the lives of those who work in jobs that causally require their presence (baristas, doctors, construction workers, etc.). You're absolutely right, though: the office is a fantastic place to get a regular social fix. I absolutely understand where you're coming from, because social experiences are as important as food and water to humans, but here's the thing: The concept of an office wasn't created to solve human socialization. Why not try and solve the socialization problem, and ignore the notion of an office? Set up a lunch group with your street, see if you can create a coworking space in your apartment/condo building, rent a coworking space close to home, or something else. As a socialization solution, offices are a comfortable rut/local minimum. You can absolutely have your e-commute, as well as your social experience. The problem is that we've been doing offices for so long, that we kinda forget that we need to rethink/replace what they were doing.
- 5y ago

gedy 5y ago

> If I am called chief executive officer but cannot behave like a chief or take executive decisions, the only part of the role left is officer, which means being in the office. Haha brilliant :-). Love seeing this in Financial Times

giantandroids 5y ago

> “If you want to get paid New York rates, you work in New York. None of this ‘I’m in Colorado . . . and getting paid like I’m sitting in New York City,’” he said. This is interesting. I wonder if companies will start to try and tier wages according to where the possible new hire resides.

reallydontask 5y ago
The British civil service has London and National salaries. I think based on your home address but not sure.
- helsinkiandrew 5y ago
  And in academia and many large companies with standard rates of pay - “London Weighting”
wrs 5y ago
“Start to try?” Many, many companies do this.
alexives 5y ago
This is definitely done already. GitLab (where I work as an engineer) has done it for a number of years. They used to publish the numbers and ranges for every role/location but they made it internal only a year or so back for reasons that I can't remember. You can still see the old calculator thanks to the internet archive - https://web.archive.org/web/20200606161551/https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/total-rewards/compensation/compensation-calculator/calculator/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200606161551/https://about.git... I don't want to debate whether this is the best approach in terms of treating employees fairly, but it certainly seems to have it's advantages for the company - they get to save money by hiring people in places with a lower compensation rate.
- danenania 5y ago
  Apart from saving money, another aspect of their reasoning iirc was that paying a single rate would create a very lopsided team in terms of geography: the company would be offering the “best” salary to employees in the lowest cost of living places, and so the incentives would lead these places to be dramatically over-represented relative to higher cost of living places. That’s the theory anyway. I haven’t heard people in favor of geography-agnostic salaries address this concern, which seems legitimate from the company’s perspective. I suppose there are tradeoffs either way.

nokya 5y ago

He makes 35m/year, he makes more than enough to rent fully consenting adults to give him company while he is sitting all powerful at his throne. Oh I get it: he misses feeling all powerful in front of submissive employees. For one CEO like him, there are 99 CEOs nicer I will gladly rather work for.

danuker 5y ago
Boy the tables have turned. CEOs used to say "there are 99 other candidates who would take your position".
geodel 5y ago
> For one CEO like him, there are 99 CEOs nicer I will gladly rather work for. That's an interesting planet. Here on earth 99% CEOs seems to be power hungry sociopaths.
thrashh 5y ago
Yes, the non-existent ‘he’ of a satire piece.
stu2b50 5y ago
Did you miss this sentence at the top of the article? > The imaginary all-staff memo of a highly paid CEO driven to distraction by his empty office In any case, your conclusion is correct, in the fashion that a judgement on the ethics of Scrooge McDuck is correct.
charcircuit 5y ago
Buying friends is not the same as having real friends.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

smoldesu 5y ago

All it needs is a mention of an expensive ring-shaped campus and we can migrate this from "satire" to "depressingly realistic"

musicale 5y ago
What makes it good satire is its proximity to reality. Pecking order, and the desire for social status and power over others, drives so much of human behavior, especially in companies but also in schools, prisons, churches, hospitals and all other human organizations and social groups. In companies, much of this has depended on in-person interaction. For a spacious walled office to be a sign of high social status, it must be visible and everyone else must be stuck in open plan misery. Asserting and enhancing a manager's social status (for example by humiliating underlings) is much more effective when done publicly and in person.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

erhk 5y ago

If I had a nightvision telescope which i used to spy on others I would certainly not be blogging about how I use it to spy on others. I am often apppalled at the ability of executives to completely flounder their one responsibility. Crying in a blog and oversharing does not develop my confidence in this persons leadership, but I suppose crypto trading might have already been a red flag to warn of the nature of this article.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

draw_down 5y ago

I think there is truth being told here, but that what it reveals is sad. People like this, their lives and identities are work and business. With no people in the office, who even are they?

zahrc 5y ago

Nice piece, made me chuckle but then think “there probably is someone thinking like that.” Then I thought about my old job where the CEO hasn’t been seen since the beginning of the pandemic, while people had to go in the office because of “training” which had been done via video call anyway, due to restrictions.

cirrus3 5y ago

> The imaginary all-staff memo of a highly paid CEO driven to distraction by his empty office No "satire" disclaimer?