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"My advice to the many CEOs tasked with this decision? Just own it." It would be nice if we could get this level of honesty from CEOs - but let's not pretend t

"My advice to the many CEOs tasked with this decision? Just own it." It would be nice if we could get this level of honesty from CEOs - but let's not pretend that firing people is the only driver for RTO. Some other motivations include: - We took a tax break that specifies some level of in-office time per employee and we already spent the money - We're getting pressured from local governments to bring customers into the city to spend money at local businesses - We've sunk cost into our little in-person fiefdom and upper management needs the powertrip to justify the headache that is working in upper management Obviously this is not an exhaustive list - but it's annoying to deal with the deception when looking for jobs or trying to determine if a company is going to pull the rug out for the purposes of "business". So yes - the CEOs should just own "it", but so should the politicians and real estate owners/investors who are also concerned that their tax base or investment value don't hold up to this new model of working.

tenebrisalietum 3y ago
> We took a tax break that specifies some level of in-office time per employee and we already spent the money > We're getting pressured from local governments to bring customers into the city to spend money at local businesses Extremely interested in any examples if you have them handy. If I'm in the office simply because of a tax break, then I feel I'm productive and revenue-generating by doing absolutely nothing while in said office. I mean they could hire homeless people to do that and solve a lot of problems at once.
- hotnfresh 3y ago
  Don’t have an example with citation handy, but anecdote that I’ve seen such programs used at small businesses, with tax advantages tied to having employees within the city limits or in a certain district, and I’ve seen bigger bespoke incentive plans to draw larger businesses include similar language. X jobs at Y location, that kind of thing.
MaxHoppersGhost 3y ago
Is it crazy to think that working from an office is just more productive? Especially if you’re a big company and have a lot of new grads/inexperienced hires that are harder to train up remotely?
- daveoc64 3y ago
  It's crazy to think that without having anything to back it up.
  - MaxHoppersGhost 3y ago
    Do you have any proof you’re more productive at home other than staying you don’t have to commute and can do laundry during the day? Edit: I’m not sure why I can’t reply to the guy below me but plenty of Google results about surveys that show WFH is less productive.
    - jemmyw 3y ago
      That would be the same data wouldn't it. Provide some data that it goes one way or the other.
    - ethanbond 3y ago
      Yes, there's tons of evidence that distractions are incredibly costly, especially for complex or creative work, and that modern offices are super distracting places. Sure you could imagine a hypothetical world in which offices were designed differently, but for the most part RTO is return-to-open-office, with multiple distractions per hour.
      - unethical_ban 3y ago
        Yes, there's tons of evidence that distractions are incredibly costly, especially for complex or creative work, and that home offices are cramped places where work intrudes on the home sanctum; where the chores and unfinished personal tasks of one's life haunt the mind of the worker and distract them from the undivided attention of their work tasks and interactions with coworkers. I am more on edge from waiting for someone to message me while at home than I ever was when I thought someone was going to walk up to me. Disclaimer: like everyone else here, this is an opinion. Thinking WFH is magical is also an opinion. WFH has some upsides, and some people get more upside than others.
taylodl 3y ago
You've hit the nail on the head. The workers know it's BS, they know they're having smoke blown up their ass, and they know they're being lied to. The next thing you know there's going to be companies complaining of poor employee morale. Wow! Who would have thought continually lying to your employees would produce poor morale? Then what really burns my ass is these are the same people who are going to be whining to the major "news" outlets that "nobody wants to work anymore." No, we just don't want to work for assholes like them.
topspin 3y ago
A big part being CEO is deliberately not owning things. Diluting responsibility is a key survival skill for top management.
DueDilligence 3y ago
[dead]
dgunay 3y ago
Really frustrating that instead of moving towards making city centers cheaper to live in and attract more local customers that way, municipal govts and corporations want to just force working-class people to waste time and money commuting on infrastructure already well past its carrying capacity. More and more working professionals I know are essentially forced to live dozens of miles away from where they work in a heavily urbanized area, or give up the dream of ever owning a house.

tenebrisalietum 3y ago

> We took a tax break that specifies some level of in-office time per employee and we already spent the money > We're getting pressured from local governments to bring customers into the city to spend money at local businesses Extremely interested in any examples if you have them handy. If I'm in the office simply because of a tax break, then I feel I'm productive and revenue-generating by doing absolutely nothing while in said office. I mean they could hire homeless people to do that and solve a lot of problems at once.

hotnfresh 3y ago
Don’t have an example with citation handy, but anecdote that I’ve seen such programs used at small businesses, with tax advantages tied to having employees within the city limits or in a certain district, and I’ve seen bigger bespoke incentive plans to draw larger businesses include similar language. X jobs at Y location, that kind of thing.

MaxHoppersGhost 3y ago

Is it crazy to think that working from an office is just more productive? Especially if you’re a big company and have a lot of new grads/inexperienced hires that are harder to train up remotely?

daveoc64 3y ago
It's crazy to think that without having anything to back it up.
- MaxHoppersGhost 3y ago
  Do you have any proof you’re more productive at home other than staying you don’t have to commute and can do laundry during the day? Edit: I’m not sure why I can’t reply to the guy below me but plenty of Google results about surveys that show WFH is less productive.
  - jemmyw 3y ago
    That would be the same data wouldn't it. Provide some data that it goes one way or the other.
  - ethanbond 3y ago
    Yes, there's tons of evidence that distractions are incredibly costly, especially for complex or creative work, and that modern offices are super distracting places. Sure you could imagine a hypothetical world in which offices were designed differently, but for the most part RTO is return-to-open-office, with multiple distractions per hour.
    - unethical_ban 3y ago
      Yes, there's tons of evidence that distractions are incredibly costly, especially for complex or creative work, and that home offices are cramped places where work intrudes on the home sanctum; where the chores and unfinished personal tasks of one's life haunt the mind of the worker and distract them from the undivided attention of their work tasks and interactions with coworkers. I am more on edge from waiting for someone to message me while at home than I ever was when I thought someone was going to walk up to me. Disclaimer: like everyone else here, this is an opinion. Thinking WFH is magical is also an opinion. WFH has some upsides, and some people get more upside than others.

taylodl 3y ago

You've hit the nail on the head. The workers know it's BS, they know they're having smoke blown up their ass, and they know they're being lied to. The next thing you know there's going to be companies complaining of poor employee morale. Wow! Who would have thought continually lying to your employees would produce poor morale? Then what really burns my ass is these are the same people who are going to be whining to the major "news" outlets that "nobody wants to work anymore." No, we just don't want to work for assholes like them.

topspin 3y ago

A big part being CEO is deliberately not owning things. Diluting responsibility is a key survival skill for top management.

DueDilligence 3y ago

[dead]

dgunay 3y ago

Really frustrating that instead of moving towards making city centers cheaper to live in and attract more local customers that way, municipal govts and corporations want to just force working-class people to waste time and money commuting on infrastructure already well past its carrying capacity. More and more working professionals I know are essentially forced to live dozens of miles away from where they work in a heavily urbanized area, or give up the dream of ever owning a house.