Posted on 01/26/2024 5:23:57 AM PST by Vigilanteman
Executives spent the better part of three years enticing, coaxing, cajoling, asking, and then finally demanding their employees return to the office.
White-collar employees wanted the flexibility to work remotely, while companies decided coming to the office was non-negotiable, and lax suggestions to return to the office eventually became clear directives—even threats. In the latest example of the latter, Bank of America recently sent “letters of education” to workers who repeatedly skipped out on the office, warning them that a failure to come in within the next two weeks could lead to “further disciplinary action.”
For as much as some bosses hate it when people refuse to come in, workers hate being forced to have to return to their offices, according to a new study from the University of Pittsburgh. Companies that issued return-to-office mandates to their employees experienced no improvement in financial performance, 99% of them saw a drop in employees’ overall job satisfaction, according to the research, which examined 137 S&P 500 firms between June 2019 and January 2023.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
You don't get it? Let me count the ways in which working from home is better.
I don't have to take at least 45 minutes each way dealing with heavy traffic.
I don't have to pay $15 per day just to park. That's the cheap parking lot. I'll still have to walk about 8 blocks to get to the office.
I don't have to pay for doggy daycare, food/drinks, gas, etc.
I don't have to put up with the non stop noise of people talking in any of the various cube farms on every floor of one of the big banking towers I previously worked in.
As a White Male and therefore target numero uno, I am beyond the ability of HR or anybody else to make up any BS to get me.
I don't have to dress up - shorts and t-shirt are fine
If I have nothing to do which happens periodically in just about every role I've done, I don't have to sit there and pretend to look busy. I can just turn on the TV and watch whatever until somebody needs me for something.
I can get household chores done during the workday instead of having to leave it all to the weekends.
Why the hell wouldn't I much prefer working from home? I don't need work to provide a social life for me. I can handle that all on my own.
LOL! Go ahead. Try that. How's that working out for the banks? Here's a hint: It isn't. At All. They've been losing this game of chicken. There aren't enough people who have anything like the education and experience they want who are willing to come into the office. So take massively less qualified people or show some flexibility wrt allowing remote work.
And no, you can't just go find all the skills you want in India. If they could do that, they'd have done it long ago.
Coffee badging. Come in. Swipe badge. Get a cup of coffee. Leave. Work from home. Its happening at lots of companies.
I don’t have a “study” but I do know where I worked (which must remain nameless for a variety of reasons) pre Covid we had one division that worked entirely in the office and another division that worked almost entirely at home.
The at home folks were far more productive.
Some of the reasons why:
—They were able to recruit out of the geographical area to get the best experts around the country to join the team without relocating.
—Only the best managers had the intelligence and skills necessary to manage the work at home teams. Those who couldn’t cut it went to the other division.
—Morale was sky high in our division. That mattered—a lot.
—No commute time meant our teams were available for longer hours during the day.
—Any stupid mandatory attendance meetings could be listened to while multitasking—greatly increasing productivity.
—There were many distractions in the office—social interactions were disruptive to neighboring cubicles.
—Once we left the office the claims of sexual harassment and racism went away—just gone.
and a lot lot more....
Our division’s productivity was at least triple the other divisions by standard measures.
These days everyone in that organization works at home—and the managers that can’t keep up are gone.
I worked from home starting in 2009. I supervised people from Korea to Maine. I never felt like I needed to see people- I would just call them up. I told my people that I was not going to track their hours- make mission. I did not care if they took their kids to doctor appointments during the day. But if I called at 1100 PM on Saturday, they better answer their phone. I had no problems. And yes, they answered the phone regardless of the hour, but I can assure you that those phone calls were the important ones.
Yes, it sure is. Right now at just past 1:00pm eastern all the managers have left and there are only 4 of us worker bees left. Soon we’ll all leave and log in at home.
Agreed
I started working from home back in 2008. I lived in Green Bay, WI and my teammates worked in the downtown Chicago office.
Every morning, I would get up, shower, and be at my desk eating breakfast by around 7:45. My teammates would arrive from their train ride a little after 9am. At 4:15 they were all heading out to catch the train home, while I continued to work at my desk until 6-ish (sometimes much later). I got way more done than wasting time and money going to the office.
That said, there is value to being face to face, especially with new hires. It’s also important for everyone involved to be using the available technology to communicate properly and regularly.
Another thing to think about is the available labor pool. If an employer requires you to be in the office that means they’ve limited the potential labor pool to those who are close by. Remote working means you can find the best, no matter where they choose to live. Another consideration is that for a very long time, I’ve had team members in different offices. What purpose does it serve to drive into the office to sit on conference calls with people who drove into other offices?
Lastly, many companies have a stated goal of going “ green”. How does having employees drive into an office square with that stated goal? It doesn’t of course.
Exactly. I’ve been a contractor for large banks for almost 20 years. Invariably between the consulting firms I work for and the banks, some people in the meeting will be in North Carolina others in New York, California, Arizona, Iowa, Overseas, etc etc.
What is the point of going into the office for that? We could do it just as well from home. We’re not going to get the team together in the office anyway since they’re scattered all over the place.
Then they asked for five. I told them I would do the three as recently agreed and train my replacement before I retired. They could decide whether that was sooner or later.
They wisely chose later.
Return to work or be fired it’s legal.
for the most part people are way more productive WFH then in the office with constant interruptions stupid meetings called for no reason and produce nothing. I was way more productive WFH. when I had a boss who knew what they were doing and didnt hide projects that needed to be completed.
the team did cost recovery, we took back money over paid to dr’s hospitals, etc. she had zero claims experience. so when covid hit and they sent us all home. she instituted a policy of each of us had to come into the office 1 time a week. all the while keeping her pregnant butt home. i was never so glad when i got my layoff video in june 2020.
they are not slackers moron..
I for one of sick of the BS about WFH. mores of the slackers are Gen z’s who and just lazy.
try having a manager who is WFH and her kids all home come in to a video meeting. not smart.
Don’t try to pimp sob stories for a slacker you have to call them what they are useless and bad for business.
Thanks.
HEY moron
you have zero idea what you are talking about.
typical authoritarian Freeper. everyone needs to listen to you
Helps prevent hiring bots as well, which is coming whether we see it or not. Most manual labor can be roboticised already just not cheap enough for everyone yet. White collar workers will not fare any better in the near future.
Obviously your one of the stooge slackers that know nothing about everything you must be one of the quota count.
Noticed your home page I was right
There is no hard answer. Some teams and their respective work are better collocated. Some people and their individual work are best remote. Some, it won’t matter either way.
In many companies, the teams are scattered so why be in the office since they are only doing internet web conferences anyway.
I worked for a Fortune 50. We had thousands of people scattered around the globe with hundreds of teams. They are still not back into an office after three years at home. Only two software development teams found they had less productivity after 2 years at home, but they corrected and are back at home.
Productivity increased for all other teams and the two teams after corrective managerial actions.
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