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I don't know about biotech, but my brother works in a lab with lasers and he's still WFH 3-5 days/week. Experiments are done in the office, but planned and ana

I don't know about biotech, but my brother works in a lab with lasers and he's still WFH 3-5 days/week. Experiments are done in the office, but planned and analyzed at home.

kibwen 4y ago
For the purpose of this conversation, there's no practical difference between "work from home only some of the time" and "never work from home". If you have to be in the office two days a week, that implies both the purposeful existence of an office and a need to live somewhere that's not a zillion miles away from that office.
- re-thc 4y ago
  There definitely is impact. Shops can't survive being only open 2/7 of the time. As in things like coffee shops, restaurants, etc and this cascades. Even malls are impact as people might buy random things at lunch or after work.
  - kibwen 4y ago
    Coffee shops and lunch restaurants--the places people going to an office might frequent--sure. But other shops will still exist (or if they don't, it will be because of Amazon, not because of WFH). As for reduced foot traffic, that problem will solve itself if commercial rents plummet; look at the storefronts in any depressed town or dying mall and marvel at the weird, low-traffic uses that empty storefronts get put to when landlords get desperate ("Sure, you want to open a store for bouncy-ball enthusiasts that's only open on Mondays? Keep the pipes from freezing over and it's yours."). And if there are 2/7ths as many Starbucks, that'll still leave two Starbucks within eyeshot at any given moment.
    - re-thc 4y ago
      > And if there are 2/7ths as many Starbucks, that'll still leave two Starbucks within eyeshot at any given moment. It doesn't work. It'll go to 0. None can cover the costs. > But other shops will still exist You might be surprised the number of people that sneak out during work or during "breaks" and/or before/after work. Have seen people with all sorts of things from the shop in the office that isn't food.
      - kibwen 4y ago
        > It doesn't work. It'll go to 0. None can cover the costs. There will be plenty of places with sufficient population density to cover the costs of operating a coffeeshop (or whatever business). > You might be surprised the number of people that sneak out during work or during "breaks" and/or before/after work. Anyone who sneaks out of work-from-office to do some shopping can just as easily (more easily!) sneak out of work-from-home to do some shopping.
        re-thc 4y ago
        Those may not occur in the city center. It will be spread out, which is a lot different than say a few streets of shops or even a shopping mall. Those that "sneak out" might not even leave near a shop. It could be a 30mins drive. A lot of WFH-er have moved to lower cost of living areas. Your city centers (where a lot of offices are) will be a lot different.

I don't know about biotech, but my brother works in a lab with lasers and he's still WFH 3-5 days/week. Experiments are done in the office, but planned and analyzed at home.

kibwen 4y ago

For the purpose of this conversation, there's no practical difference between "work from home only some of the time" and "never work from home". If you have to be in the office two days a week, that implies both the purposeful existence of an office and a need to live somewhere that's not a zillion miles away from that office.

re-thc 4y ago
There definitely is impact. Shops can't survive being only open 2/7 of the time. As in things like coffee shops, restaurants, etc and this cascades. Even malls are impact as people might buy random things at lunch or after work.
- kibwen 4y ago
  Coffee shops and lunch restaurants--the places people going to an office might frequent--sure. But other shops will still exist (or if they don't, it will be because of Amazon, not because of WFH). As for reduced foot traffic, that problem will solve itself if commercial rents plummet; look at the storefronts in any depressed town or dying mall and marvel at the weird, low-traffic uses that empty storefronts get put to when landlords get desperate ("Sure, you want to open a store for bouncy-ball enthusiasts that's only open on Mondays? Keep the pipes from freezing over and it's yours."). And if there are 2/7ths as many Starbucks, that'll still leave two Starbucks within eyeshot at any given moment.
  - re-thc 4y ago
    > And if there are 2/7ths as many Starbucks, that'll still leave two Starbucks within eyeshot at any given moment. It doesn't work. It'll go to 0. None can cover the costs. > But other shops will still exist You might be surprised the number of people that sneak out during work or during "breaks" and/or before/after work. Have seen people with all sorts of things from the shop in the office that isn't food.
    - kibwen 4y ago
      > It doesn't work. It'll go to 0. None can cover the costs. There will be plenty of places with sufficient population density to cover the costs of operating a coffeeshop (or whatever business). > You might be surprised the number of people that sneak out during work or during "breaks" and/or before/after work. Anyone who sneaks out of work-from-office to do some shopping can just as easily (more easily!) sneak out of work-from-home to do some shopping.
      - re-thc 4y ago
        Those may not occur in the city center. It will be spread out, which is a lot different than say a few streets of shops or even a shopping mall. Those that "sneak out" might not even leave near a shop. It could be a 30mins drive. A lot of WFH-er have moved to lower cost of living areas. Your city centers (where a lot of offices are) will be a lot different.