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>unless some magical productivity innovation or goods/services advance emerges But there has been the development and deployment of a major productivity innova

by scythe 5y ago

>unless some magical productivity innovation or goods/services advance emerges But there has been the development and deployment of a major productivity innovation over the last two years. It's called Zoom. Or WebEx/Teams/Meet/etc. And while it doesn't work for everybody, the fact that tens of millions of people suddenly have experience working and running their business remotely means that if it does work for someone, their efficiency goes up.

mlac 5y ago
I think about stagnating innovation, and think that Zoom/Webex focus tends to keep things in the status quo. I’ve just got a feeling that there will be some hidden cost to innovation at large companies (less chance encounters) and a hit to culture (building a good remote culture is really hard) over time. These are not easily quantified, and I’m not sure the costs outweigh the benefits of a remote work force (health and safety, candidate pool, retention, flexibility, etc.). But it may be a trend in 5-10 years where companies with an in-person focus start eroding market share of remote-first established companies.
- pm90 5y ago
  I think this is kinda wishful thinking, tbh. The labor market was pretty tight before the pandemic and has just become even tighter. Americans are less supportive of permissive immigration policies, birth rates are falling precipitously which means there is no end in sight. So companies which figure out how to do remote right (rather than accept is as a temporary adjustments) will have the edge as they can access a broader labor market (entire NA plus EU, maybe others if they can figure out time zones and outsourcing).
- tessierashpool 5y ago
  if you switch to Zoom, you don’t need a building. this is an intense and dramatic change to the overhead of a business. your employees might not need a car any more, either. the number one depreciating “asset” in the average person’s life becomes optional. this innovation’s been around in tech for decades, and people have started billion-dollar companies this way. (for example, GitHub was profitable for years before it set up its first physical office.) but it’s not just tech now; it’s finally going mainstream. this is a very big deal.
yobbo 5y ago
> It's called Zoom Does zoom increase or decrease productivity relative to email and phone calls? I suspect it decreases productivity.
- nikau 5y ago
  It should really be compared to in person meetings

by scythe 5y ago

mlac 5y ago

I think about stagnating innovation, and think that Zoom/Webex focus tends to keep things in the status quo. I’ve just got a feeling that there will be some hidden cost to innovation at large companies (less chance encounters) and a hit to culture (building a good remote culture is really hard) over time. These are not easily quantified, and I’m not sure the costs outweigh the benefits of a remote work force (health and safety, candidate pool, retention, flexibility, etc.). But it may be a trend in 5-10 years where companies with an in-person focus start eroding market share of remote-first established companies.

pm90 5y ago
I think this is kinda wishful thinking, tbh. The labor market was pretty tight before the pandemic and has just become even tighter. Americans are less supportive of permissive immigration policies, birth rates are falling precipitously which means there is no end in sight. So companies which figure out how to do remote right (rather than accept is as a temporary adjustments) will have the edge as they can access a broader labor market (entire NA plus EU, maybe others if they can figure out time zones and outsourcing).
tessierashpool 5y ago
if you switch to Zoom, you don’t need a building. this is an intense and dramatic change to the overhead of a business. your employees might not need a car any more, either. the number one depreciating “asset” in the average person’s life becomes optional. this innovation’s been around in tech for decades, and people have started billion-dollar companies this way. (for example, GitHub was profitable for years before it set up its first physical office.) but it’s not just tech now; it’s finally going mainstream. this is a very big deal.

yobbo 5y ago

> It's called Zoom Does zoom increase or decrease productivity relative to email and phone calls? I suspect it decreases productivity.

nikau 5y ago
It should really be compared to in person meetings