3 ms·

While I understand her worries, isn't it a bit too early to speak out publicly about this even before she talked to the company itself and before the new office

by pvorb 4y ago

While I understand her worries, isn't it a bit too early to speak out publicly about this even before she talked to the company itself and before the new office opened? If she has important reasons why she can't work from an office, they just might accept that and make an exception for her?

ehutch79 4y ago
I've seen this with a couple of friends. They won't make that exception. Corporations are not your friend. They are not actually family, despite what HR platitudes you might heat. They will do the cost effect thing, end of story. If the cost of exceptions is $5million, and the cost of lawsuits will total $4.9million, they WILL chose the lawsuits. Especially at the C level, where they can and will be fired and sued for not increasing shareholder value.
- sublinear 4y ago
  Remote work is cheaper and more productive for many workplaces and the numbers prove it. Remote work is still here to stay, not because anyone gives a rat's ass what the employee wants, but because it just makes sense.
  - ehutch79 4y ago
    I'm just going to shrug here. If it's cheaper why wouldn't they keep doing that?
    - msandford 4y ago
      I've heard a phrase that I think paints a parallel picture. "The market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent" Sure businesses are supposed to be cruel uncaring bean counting machines. But they're corrupted by all these damn apes that make all the decisions. There's no law of economics that that's that humans have to act in a perfectly rational self interest. It's an assumption that many economic theories make, for various reasons but it's far from inviolable.
      - sublinear 4y ago
        What about the current economic climate makes you think anyone can afford to be irrational?
    - skipkey 4y ago
      What many people don’t realize is that some large corporations actively manage for mediocrity. Oh, they won’t say that is what they are doing, but it is the outcome of things like micromanagement, constant meetings interrupting flow, high levels of process bureaucracy. But there is a rational reason for it. It reduces risk and makes output more predictable. If you have a 10x developer who is actually producing 10x, how do you plan for that? What if he leaves? If you reduce him to 2x or so, it’s much more likely he can be replaced.
      - abrichr 4y ago
        Interesting point. Do you know if there is a term for this in the management literature? i.e. is it ever discussed in the open, or is it more an unspoken/emergent behavior?
  - freeone3000 4y ago
    But you can’t micromanage or “team build” remotely
    - sublinear 4y ago
      Oh yeah you can. Nobody said pointless and long meetings, getting pulled into big group chats and mentioned, getting voice calls and DMs every 5 minutes, etc. were going anywhere.
klyrs 4y ago
People who management see as irreplaceable may get exceptions. That isn't helpful for most of us. People who feel that their job security is tenuous will not even ask for fear of being cut. As people are being laid off by the thousands, that's basically everybody.

by pvorb 4y ago

ehutch79 4y ago

I've seen this with a couple of friends. They won't make that exception. Corporations are not your friend. They are not actually family, despite what HR platitudes you might heat. They will do the cost effect thing, end of story. If the cost of exceptions is $5million, and the cost of lawsuits will total $4.9million, they WILL chose the lawsuits. Especially at the C level, where they can and will be fired and sued for not increasing shareholder value.

sublinear 4y ago
Remote work is cheaper and more productive for many workplaces and the numbers prove it. Remote work is still here to stay, not because anyone gives a rat's ass what the employee wants, but because it just makes sense.
- ehutch79 4y ago
  I'm just going to shrug here. If it's cheaper why wouldn't they keep doing that?
  - msandford 4y ago
    I've heard a phrase that I think paints a parallel picture. "The market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent" Sure businesses are supposed to be cruel uncaring bean counting machines. But they're corrupted by all these damn apes that make all the decisions. There's no law of economics that that's that humans have to act in a perfectly rational self interest. It's an assumption that many economic theories make, for various reasons but it's far from inviolable.
    - sublinear 4y ago
      What about the current economic climate makes you think anyone can afford to be irrational?
  - skipkey 4y ago
    What many people don’t realize is that some large corporations actively manage for mediocrity. Oh, they won’t say that is what they are doing, but it is the outcome of things like micromanagement, constant meetings interrupting flow, high levels of process bureaucracy. But there is a rational reason for it. It reduces risk and makes output more predictable. If you have a 10x developer who is actually producing 10x, how do you plan for that? What if he leaves? If you reduce him to 2x or so, it’s much more likely he can be replaced.
    - abrichr 4y ago
      Interesting point. Do you know if there is a term for this in the management literature? i.e. is it ever discussed in the open, or is it more an unspoken/emergent behavior?
- freeone3000 4y ago
  But you can’t micromanage or “team build” remotely
  - sublinear 4y ago
    Oh yeah you can. Nobody said pointless and long meetings, getting pulled into big group chats and mentioned, getting voice calls and DMs every 5 minutes, etc. were going anywhere.

klyrs 4y ago

People who management see as irreplaceable may get exceptions. That isn't helpful for most of us. People who feel that their job security is tenuous will not even ask for fear of being cut. As people are being laid off by the thousands, that's basically everybody.