6 ms·

I honestly think it's mostly a huge ego boost to flex with. "Look at how GIANT our new billion dollar HQ is, and look at all of these people working for ME!"

by rabuse 3y ago

nine_zeros 3y ago
> I honestly think it's mostly a huge ego boost to flex with. "Look at how GIANT our new billion dollar HQ is, and look at all of these people working for ME!" This may sound like a joke but having gleaming, globally distributed offices is absolutely is a matter of great pride and ego for the C-Suite. They absolutely fantasize about how they are jet setting from one office to another and how all the employees roll a red carpet for them.
- AtlasBarfed 3y ago
  And of course the mountains of deductions and balance sheet games you can play with a lot of real estate. We already know the C-suite is oligarchical in nature with wage suppression in Silicon Valley, so we know they meet and communication. And things like corporate real estate is garden variety MBA stuff that these guys can freely talk about at the get-togethers. Not having employees in buildings means those buildings aren't really worth anything. A collapse in the value of office space is something none of these companies want. It would impact share price, options, and executive pay, because these things are 30-50 year investments at a minimum.
MBCook 3y ago
Don’t forget that a lot of offices are leased for many years or even purchased/built. Do you know what looks REALLY bad? A giant fancy office with five people in it. Better force people to fill it up. We are stuck, we spent the money, can’t have it look bad.
- ekianjo 3y ago
  Who cares what it looks like. Sunk cost fallacy
  - MBCook 3y ago
    Executives who dream of big fancy offices? Workers certainly don’t.
- ornornor 3y ago
  Maybe they could hire all these movie extras who will soon be replaced by AI generated alter egos and be out of work? Everybody wins: extras get to not be homeless and pay their bills, companies look busier than ever, extras can act whatever fantasy management wants to show off, offices have some kind of purpose again, we get to work wherever we like and do actual work… What’s not to like?
  - petre 3y ago
    That would totally be a thing in Japan where you can pay people to act like they are your family.
  - rs999gti 3y ago
    Bernie Madoff staged busy trading floors to fool auditors and investors, so this is not far off the mark

I honestly think it's mostly a huge ego boost to flex with. "Look at how GIANT our new billion dollar HQ is, and look at all of these people working for ME!"

by rabuse 3y ago

I honestly think it's mostly a huge ego boost to flex with. "Look at how GIANT our new billion dollar HQ is, and look at all of these people working for ME!"

nine_zeros 3y ago

> I honestly think it's mostly a huge ego boost to flex with. "Look at how GIANT our new billion dollar HQ is, and look at all of these people working for ME!" This may sound like a joke but having gleaming, globally distributed offices is absolutely is a matter of great pride and ego for the C-Suite. They absolutely fantasize about how they are jet setting from one office to another and how all the employees roll a red carpet for them.

AtlasBarfed 3y ago
And of course the mountains of deductions and balance sheet games you can play with a lot of real estate. We already know the C-suite is oligarchical in nature with wage suppression in Silicon Valley, so we know they meet and communication. And things like corporate real estate is garden variety MBA stuff that these guys can freely talk about at the get-togethers. Not having employees in buildings means those buildings aren't really worth anything. A collapse in the value of office space is something none of these companies want. It would impact share price, options, and executive pay, because these things are 30-50 year investments at a minimum.

MBCook 3y ago

Don’t forget that a lot of offices are leased for many years or even purchased/built. Do you know what looks REALLY bad? A giant fancy office with five people in it. Better force people to fill it up. We are stuck, we spent the money, can’t have it look bad.

ekianjo 3y ago
Who cares what it looks like. Sunk cost fallacy
- MBCook 3y ago
  Executives who dream of big fancy offices? Workers certainly don’t.
ornornor 3y ago
Maybe they could hire all these movie extras who will soon be replaced by AI generated alter egos and be out of work? Everybody wins: extras get to not be homeless and pay their bills, companies look busier than ever, extras can act whatever fantasy management wants to show off, offices have some kind of purpose again, we get to work wherever we like and do actual work… What’s not to like?
- petre 3y ago
  That would totally be a thing in Japan where you can pay people to act like they are your family.
- rs999gti 3y ago
  Bernie Madoff staged busy trading floors to fool auditors and investors, so this is not far off the mark