I really dont get it.
My place is super flexible. We find that when we run good events and interesting things in the office, people choose to come in more.
Everyone settling on a happy medium of 2 days per week.
I just dont understand why you would try and force anything else.
Because youâre a middle/upper management loser whose entire feeling of self worth is wrapped up in your little fiefdom of worker drones and them not being in the office accentuates the clear fact that you arenât needed and in fact are a huge net negative at the one thing in your life you thought was valuable. Instead of addressing your deep personal issues you want to just go back to how it was before, when the knowledge of your worthlessness was just under the surface your conscious mind and you could block it out with enough all hands planning meetings and midweek booze.
Itâs billions of square feet of real estate sitting empty. Canât have that.
Thatâs weird. Iâm a middle/upper management loser with my entire self worth derived from my fiefdom of worker drones and I get a buzz out of everyoneâs life being significantly and markedly better when they can work from home.
Fly my pretty worker drones ⌠fly!
Yeah I donât see much difference in âmy worthâ or contributions to the company between when we all pretty much worked on sight to now, when we all work remote. If I am worthless now, I already was before. But me and my team being remote or not has nothing to do with it.
I think the original point was that there are a ton of middle management folks who contribute nothing, and that only becomes particularly obvious when everybodyâs home and things are humming along without their micromanagement. Bad for both their ego and their job security.
IDK I think I can micro manage just as easily (perhaps more easily) under our remote working arrangements than I ever could in the office. Itâs way easier to press a button and be on a video call with a report than it was to go walking around the building looking for them.
I see certain people on Linked that have new jobs with nice middle management titles and think about how big a fuckups they were when I worked with them.
some of the most fulfilling projects of my career were in full WFH or early hybrid days
Iâve been in public accounting for a decade and I keep getting raises and promotions and I really donât work hard at all. Ever.
Promotion by attrition is fun
Basic economics would suggest that WFH equates to an increase in the labour people will supply. So I think it will put downward pressure on prices.
I think this will be across the board. Theres a separate set of factors driving wage increases at the lower end, so that may be why we see a divergence.
With inflation, Iâve had a pay cut every year for the last 4 yearsâŚ
Skilled workers are in high demand and I only see that demand increase even with the current downturn. Boomers retiring is a big part of it but also countries like India and China no longer having a large underpaid skilled workforce that is looking to emigrate. Their schools and universities canât keep up with demand. So I donât see WFH having an impact on wages. It is just a benefit in addition to higher wages that companies offer to attract skilled people.
Perhaps. But at a simple glance. theres a demand side effect and a supply side effect. Your factors may increase wages. But all other things being equal (which they arent) WFH should decrease wages.
Possible. But it may allow them to access or maintain jobs they wouldnt otherwise.
Single anecdote: my wife just started a new job on Monday. Iâm guessing the salary might qualify as âlow endâ of high income? Itâs a decent salary, at any rate, but not so high that it couldnât be turned down.
She was fortunate to get several job offers. The original one for this job was $5,000 less than the other finalist. My wife liked both companies, but felt more kinship with this one that she ultimately took, so fit was certainly the #1 factor in the comparison. But this one also only asked her to come in to the office once a week, while the other one was three times per week, a difference that my wife seriously considered - she very well may have been ok with less money for less commute.
In the end, she negotiated for her bonus to be rolled into her salary, so the salaries ended up the same. Now she gets to WFH most of the time with a company that fits her personality perfectly. Also, they are giving her up to $600 to spend on technology to improve her workspace. The big ticket purchase is going to be a laptop docking station with connections for two monitors (her previous company gave her all that equipment and let her keep the dual monitors when they laid her off, but took back the docking station).
EDIT: Example of the kind of boss she has now: she really got the higher salary because the boss told her to ask for more if she wanted it. My wife did, the boss took it to the parent company, and the request was approved.
So Iâm retiring from doing real science and joining the WFH revolution; any tips for a noob? Any advice on a decent standing desk?
Yeah skip it and plan on kicking back on the couch like me.
By standing desk, did you mean hot tub?
The wife has the home office. Iâm a work hobo in my own home, doing calls and soreadsheets from the couch, the kitchen table, or the bedroom.
The chihuahua prefers any situation where she can Velcro to my hip.