3 ms·

No one is asking you to come into an office just to boost their landlord's property values. That would be a money losing proposition for the company.

jacknews 3y ago
Indeed they're not asking ...
- CyberDildonics 3y ago
  If a company wants someone to come back to the office, it isn't for their landlord's property value. If they have lots of free space they can sublease it out, it doesn't make any sense to force people in to an office just to burn money and miss out on revenue.
  - PartiallyTyped 3y ago
    That’s not true. Companies get tax breaks when opening offices and warehouses / factories from local authorities and landlords have quite the sway with the latter.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    What if the leaders of the company, or company itself, is invested in similar properties?
    - voisin 3y ago
      Do you have any data to show how prevalent this is? I suspect worker retirement plans have more exposure than leaders of companies, and it seems only the largest, most stable and slower growing companies own their own real estate.
      - lotsofpulp 3y ago
        No, I was just positing a motivation.
      - HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
        My former employer's CEO (a small business) owned the floor of the building we were in and leased it back to the company. I've known other smaller companies that owned their own building, but it would be interesting to see how prevalent it is. I suspect it's more common than we think.
        voisin 3y ago
        In North America at least, having condo or strata units by floor of office buildings is relatively rare. I’m not saying it is ever a motivation but I just don’t think it is as big a motivation among tenants/employers as I see people on HN claim it is.
        HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
        I realized that owning an office floor, condo style is unusual. My point is that I've known of several small businesses that owned their own buildings outright.
  - xg15 3y ago
    What do you think are the reasons then?
  - jacknews 3y ago
    It's quite embarrassing to be paying the lease on an empty office though. But I suspect this groupthink is not originating from individual companies.
    - mycall 3y ago
      Even for businesses that own buildings but are losing money, they can't sell their building in this market. So, they expect you to use it even though they would rather sell the building for the cash flow.
    - hdjjhhvvhga 3y ago
      > It's quite embarrassing to be paying the lease on an empty office though. While I agree, and I can imagine CEOs/CFOs in a hard spot over a 10-year lease with an empty office, what is better: to just pay what you had promised if downsizing is not possible, or pay and have disgruntled employees, with most of them immediately starting to look for another job and leaving as soon as they manage to find it?
  - sylens 3y ago
    sublease to who? the other companies whose workers don't want to work in an office?
- sys_64738 3y ago
  No employer can force you to do anything. Saying No or just ignoring the demand is always an option.
colordrops 3y ago
This is a public discussion forum, not your living room.
- CyberDildonics 3y ago
  I don't know what this is supposed to mean. Do you think a company is asking someone to come in to the office because they're worried about their landlord's property values?
  - simoncion 3y ago
    They're definitely being asked to come in (in many cases) because the cities in which the buildings exist are granting the companies tax breaks (and/or other monetary incentives) to "encourage" workers to work from the office in order to prop up local property values. (see the story here: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36835843 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36835843>) And also, yeah, I expect there are some companies that are seriously concerned about propping up the value of the building in which their office is located.
  - colordrops 3y ago
    You changed your comment from this short text: > No one is asking you. Quite dishonest to act confused.
    - CyberDildonics 3y ago
      My comment never said that, so either you misread or you are being dishonest. It said "No one is asking you to" (come into the office to boost property values). That's a lot different than "No one is asking you". I think you owe me an apology.
tedivm 3y ago
In some cases the companies are the landlords.

jacknews 3y ago

Indeed they're not asking ...

CyberDildonics 3y ago
If a company wants someone to come back to the office, it isn't for their landlord's property value. If they have lots of free space they can sublease it out, it doesn't make any sense to force people in to an office just to burn money and miss out on revenue.
- PartiallyTyped 3y ago
  That’s not true. Companies get tax breaks when opening offices and warehouses / factories from local authorities and landlords have quite the sway with the latter.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  What if the leaders of the company, or company itself, is invested in similar properties?
  - voisin 3y ago
    Do you have any data to show how prevalent this is? I suspect worker retirement plans have more exposure than leaders of companies, and it seems only the largest, most stable and slower growing companies own their own real estate.
    - lotsofpulp 3y ago
      No, I was just positing a motivation.
    - HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
      My former employer's CEO (a small business) owned the floor of the building we were in and leased it back to the company. I've known other smaller companies that owned their own building, but it would be interesting to see how prevalent it is. I suspect it's more common than we think.
      - voisin 3y ago
        In North America at least, having condo or strata units by floor of office buildings is relatively rare. I’m not saying it is ever a motivation but I just don’t think it is as big a motivation among tenants/employers as I see people on HN claim it is.
        HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
        I realized that owning an office floor, condo style is unusual. My point is that I've known of several small businesses that owned their own buildings outright.
- xg15 3y ago
  What do you think are the reasons then?
- jacknews 3y ago
  It's quite embarrassing to be paying the lease on an empty office though. But I suspect this groupthink is not originating from individual companies.
  - mycall 3y ago
    Even for businesses that own buildings but are losing money, they can't sell their building in this market. So, they expect you to use it even though they would rather sell the building for the cash flow.
  - hdjjhhvvhga 3y ago
    > It's quite embarrassing to be paying the lease on an empty office though. While I agree, and I can imagine CEOs/CFOs in a hard spot over a 10-year lease with an empty office, what is better: to just pay what you had promised if downsizing is not possible, or pay and have disgruntled employees, with most of them immediately starting to look for another job and leaving as soon as they manage to find it?
- sylens 3y ago
  sublease to who? the other companies whose workers don't want to work in an office?
sys_64738 3y ago
No employer can force you to do anything. Saying No or just ignoring the demand is always an option.

colordrops 3y ago

This is a public discussion forum, not your living room.

CyberDildonics 3y ago
I don't know what this is supposed to mean. Do you think a company is asking someone to come in to the office because they're worried about their landlord's property values?
- simoncion 3y ago
  They're definitely being asked to come in (in many cases) because the cities in which the buildings exist are granting the companies tax breaks (and/or other monetary incentives) to "encourage" workers to work from the office in order to prop up local property values. (see the story here: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36835843 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36835843>) And also, yeah, I expect there are some companies that are seriously concerned about propping up the value of the building in which their office is located.
- colordrops 3y ago
  You changed your comment from this short text: > No one is asking you. Quite dishonest to act confused.
  - CyberDildonics 3y ago
    My comment never said that, so either you misread or you are being dishonest. It said "No one is asking you to" (come into the office to boost property values). That's a lot different than "No one is asking you". I think you owe me an apology.

tedivm 3y ago

In some cases the companies are the landlords.