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It was never about productivity. It was about power and control. And commercial real estate investments.

by 2d8a875f-39a2-4 3y ago

YetAnotherNick 3y ago
How is this about real state investment?
- e_i_pi_2 3y ago
  If you own a big office building and companies don't need as much office space then you can't charge as much for rent, and the property loses value. Similar to how online shopping has led to a bunch of malls closing down
  - jvmboi 3y ago
    Do you mean that the landlord is instructing the employees of it's tenants to RTO so that he can keep his income and property value? How does that work? "Hello CEO of Awesome Inc, it's me CEO of Rentalz Co. Your people have to return to office so that I can keep collecting the rent". CEO of Awesome Inc: "No." CEO of Rentalz Co.: "shucks!"
- scaryclam 3y ago
  This is something that gets trotted out every time this topic comes up. It's got little to do with the actual conversation, and it only relevant to some companies. Basically, some companies own buildings that need to be leased out and some companies have long leases which would mean money "down the drain" if they're not utilised. That's wrapped up to equate being told to come into the office as a profit driven thing, rather than a productivity driven thing. As a blanket statement it's not true as not all companies care about it, and when we're talking just about productivity, it's irrelevant as it's not actually a consideration. If we're talking about motivations for coming back into the office, then sure, it's a very relevant topic there.
reducesuffering 3y ago
Please tell us how you’re so certain companies that have productivity affecting their $1T net worth are more concerned with their $5b real estate. Please don’t let it be that a VP is manipulating productivity numbers so that their drop in the bucket action will move the price of their SFH they own.
- dymk 3y ago
  The commercial real estate market is a lot bigger than $5B.
  - reducesuffering 3y ago
    But FAANG doesn’t care about the commercial real estate market, so why would they make any decisions based on it?
    - gnz11 3y ago
      Why single out FAANG? FAANG companies aren’t the only ones pushing RTO. The study analyzed 43 different industries.
      - reducesuffering 3y ago
        FAANG are the best case scenario for your argument, with billion dollar real estate portfolios and more RTO-heavy. Just because this study reached a conclusion doesn’t mean that it’s the same conclusion other companies’ reach. Especially when those companies’ have their bottom line at stake, “skin in the game.” Again, by what plausible incentive do you think non-FAANG companies, with tiny real estate assets, usually leases for a multi-billion company, would impact their productivity for tiny help in the overall real estate market?
        2d8a875f-39a2-4 3y ago
        I admit I was being a bit flippant. But there's a case to be made from the "same people owning all the companies" argument that the investors in all these tech companies are also invested in commercial real estate returns. So basically it's Larry Fink who wants you back in the office, and hey he owns your co so the board will listen to him (being flippant again here).

It was never about productivity. It was about power and control. And commercial real estate investments.

YetAnotherNick 3y ago

How is this about real state investment?

e_i_pi_2 3y ago
If you own a big office building and companies don't need as much office space then you can't charge as much for rent, and the property loses value. Similar to how online shopping has led to a bunch of malls closing down
- jvmboi 3y ago
  Do you mean that the landlord is instructing the employees of it's tenants to RTO so that he can keep his income and property value? How does that work? "Hello CEO of Awesome Inc, it's me CEO of Rentalz Co. Your people have to return to office so that I can keep collecting the rent". CEO of Awesome Inc: "No." CEO of Rentalz Co.: "shucks!"
scaryclam 3y ago
This is something that gets trotted out every time this topic comes up. It's got little to do with the actual conversation, and it only relevant to some companies. Basically, some companies own buildings that need to be leased out and some companies have long leases which would mean money "down the drain" if they're not utilised. That's wrapped up to equate being told to come into the office as a profit driven thing, rather than a productivity driven thing. As a blanket statement it's not true as not all companies care about it, and when we're talking just about productivity, it's irrelevant as it's not actually a consideration. If we're talking about motivations for coming back into the office, then sure, it's a very relevant topic there.

reducesuffering 3y ago

Please tell us how you’re so certain companies that have productivity affecting their $1T net worth are more concerned with their $5b real estate. Please don’t let it be that a VP is manipulating productivity numbers so that their drop in the bucket action will move the price of their SFH they own.

dymk 3y ago
The commercial real estate market is a lot bigger than $5B.
- reducesuffering 3y ago
  But FAANG doesn’t care about the commercial real estate market, so why would they make any decisions based on it?
  - gnz11 3y ago
    Why single out FAANG? FAANG companies aren’t the only ones pushing RTO. The study analyzed 43 different industries.
    - reducesuffering 3y ago
      FAANG are the best case scenario for your argument, with billion dollar real estate portfolios and more RTO-heavy. Just because this study reached a conclusion doesn’t mean that it’s the same conclusion other companies’ reach. Especially when those companies’ have their bottom line at stake, “skin in the game.” Again, by what plausible incentive do you think non-FAANG companies, with tiny real estate assets, usually leases for a multi-billion company, would impact their productivity for tiny help in the overall real estate market?
      - 2d8a875f-39a2-4 3y ago
        I admit I was being a bit flippant. But there's a case to be made from the "same people owning all the companies" argument that the investors in all these tech companies are also invested in commercial real estate returns. So basically it's Larry Fink who wants you back in the office, and hey he owns your co so the board will listen to him (being flippant again here).