Interesting. When the impact of individuals on the environment is discussed, a huge number of users here can’t stress enough how the effort of the people doesn’t matter and is irrelevant.
Stop eating meat and dairy, not buying plastic wrapped stuff, using public transport,… That’s all of no use and no one should even dare to mention it since this is all just propaganda by big corporations.
Unless it’s about home office. Suddenly there is great agreement that we have to do home office to save the climate! It almost seems like for a lot of people it’s not so much about protecting the climate, but about not taking up responsibility when it’s uncomfortable.
SURE!!! Because aside from the fact of all the carbon-neutral farms out there at this point, which aside from them going that way for tax credits is irrelevant, that actually puts back into the soil and regenerates our literally dead soil. Pretty different story from all the mono-cropping destruction that’s happening otherwise.
But those evil cow farts right??? When cows aren’t fed trash corn and grain and actually graze on grass like they’re supposed to, the gas isn’t a problem, not that it is anyways. But then you’d lose the talking point for plant based eating, wouldn’t ya? Most emmisions are from transportation, which is happening either way. Nice try.
Well, I’ve traded burning fuel for burning internet and electricity at my home. My electricity at home is mostly solar (from my roof) and hydro from the grid (I live in Washington State).
Working from home spares me ~20 uncompensated transit hours a week, so the emissions difference (whether I use transit or drive) is substantial and so is the cost savings (in fuel and parking). FWIW, my employer will pay for my transit fares (but not fuel or parking) and that’s nice and all, but I’m squeamish about transit during flu/covid season because of all those coughing people going in to jobs that don’t encourage them to stay home while sick.
I’m able to work more hours when I do it from home because I’m not constrained by transit schedules/catching the last train out of town, and that way I still come out ahead in terms of having time with my kids, and I have time to take grocery shopping and meal planning and prep off of my wife’s plate.
It’s better this way, not just in terms of cost and environmental impact and quality of life, but productivity-wise.
Transporting millions of people dozens of miles twice a day OF COURSE has resource costs, in carbon and pollution and energy consumption. This shouldn’t be rocket science. Sadly it is for people who are afraid of change.
It also saves the workers money (as they don’t have to pay for fuel or public transit), it saves the company money (as they don’t have to pay for office space), it saves the environment (as you don’t have pollution from commutes), it reduces traffic (as you don’t have as many commuters at rush hour), and it’s generally good for just about everybody except commercial real estate developers renting out overpriced office buildings and Starbucks that’s paying absurd rents to be in the bottom floor of those overpriced office buildings. And of course middle managers who think that hounding their employees in person somehow accomplishes something.
Yes, as an American that prefers to drive small cars I feel like driving is no longer safe. I can’t see past any of the tank sized cars that make up 75% of the vehicles on the road and I know, from experience, how destructive getting hit by one of those vehicles can be. I’m down to driving 1-2 times per month and I’m terrified every time I get behind the wheel. The only reason I keep a car is to visit family that lives about 130km away since the Republicans in my area have killed every train project between my hometown and my parents’ town.
Wouldn’t they just hire a truck if they ever need that? I mean that’s what we did, we moved twice in the last 20 years and one involved moving over 300 miles away to another city
I mean there are companies that do this for you, carry everything over (from the front of house to placing them inside as well, like couches and tv and everything) so you don’t do anything really except paying them money (and ask for refund if they broke something 😡). Like I guess it’s called forwarding
The sad thing is, I really want a truck for transporting stuff for hobbyist gardening and woodworking, but it’s so hard to find a truck that isn’t 20ft tall with more cabin than bed space. Two door trucks are getting harder to find.
If your job really can be done as well 100% from home (as many people insist) then you’ve got a problem - because that means it can be done as well 100% from home by some onefrom India or similar and they’ll be cheaper. Be careful what you wish for.
I’m of the view that actually this isn’t true for a lot of jobs, particular anything that involves interacting in a team, just people wish it was.
Exactly - it’s the calibre and competence - and implicit in your comment is the idea the person from India isn’t as good. This isn’t my experience- I know plenty of amazing engineers from India. And it’s not outsourcing if they’re employed by the company- it’s just the job currently done by you.
My experience with outsourced folks from extremely low wage countries is that the quality of the work is extremely low.
I read once that in many of those countries that many companies outsource to there’s 3 tiers of tech workers, and every tech worker is trying to get to the third tier as quickly as possible: those good enough to work in tech locally, those good enough to work in tech locally for an overseas firm, and those good enough to work in tech for an overseas firm and gain a visa to get the heck out of the country.
The poor quality work from low wage outsourced labor makes it very easy to let sentiments in the same vein as racism sink in, so one always has to be careful not to let those sentiments transition into racism. But just because some anti-outsourcing sentiment comes from racism and some comes from poor quality work doesn’t mean that complaints of poor quality work from outsourced workers directly comes from racism
My job can be done 100% remotely. While in office I am “remote”, because team is displaced among different cities.
If an Indian can do better than me, it’s fair, they can take it. I am not racist. If my company outsource my job in India to save money, I am happy I won’t be working there anymore. A company that value a quick, short term saving over its employees is a bad company. They’d have anyway to re insource my position in 5 years anyway, we know how this things work
It’s not outsourcing if they’re employed by your company, just remote working - they’ll be the employee and the company can care for them as much. They’ll just be more productive because of lower cost of living where they happen to live. If your job can be done fine 100% why would they ever change it back? Remote working isn’t the same as insource/outsource
WFH allowance should be mandated – anyone that wants it for a job where it’s possible must be allowed it. it’s such a dramatic quality of life difference.
They don’t lose that they gain that because they no longer have to pay for a building.
The companies that lose out are the ones that decide to do this stupid hybrid system which is literally the worst of both worlds. The company has a building that they have to pay upkeep on, while also having the IT costs of managing a off-site VPN.
Just to be clear, I’m not arguing against WFH, just providing possible reasons big companies are against it.
They don’t lose that they gain that because they no longer have to pay for a building.
That only applies to companies that rent. If they own the building, then an empty office becomes a waste
The companies that lose out are the ones that decide to do this stupid hybrid system which is literally the worst of both worlds.
I disagree on that one. Not everyone wants to WFH or do it full time. Also if they meet with outside persons regularly, like customers and want to do it in person, having an office is useful. Obviously this does not apply to all companies, but it’s wrong to say that the hybrid system is the worst.
As someone who works at a company that’s permanently hybrid I have to disagree. We now literally have more employees at our corporate office than we have desks, and because all of our employees are 60-90% remote we can pull talent from a larger distance while still being able to have in-person meetings and in-person power sessions for large projects. But by continuing to have an office we have a central location for shipping and receiving, a secure and static space for meeting, working on projects and training plus core infrastructure and roles that don’t work well remotely can still be on premises. Its literally the best of both worlds.
Idk how legit it is, but I have read that companies got deals on taxes and such for building their office in the specific city/state and that’s with the expectation that the workers will either live in the city or will be from the city, in turn creating tax income from those workers buying things in the city. Basically because wfh employees also move to cheaper cities the companies are losing their benefits
I’m privileged to have a boss not caring where we work from, but i prefer to come into the office once in a while because of my social needs. It’s depressing to stay home day after day, but it’s more productive.
My boss allows people to WFH officially, but also establishes several small office spaces so people can come to hang out if they feel lonely, or want to get to know their colleagues more. I think this is the best of both world.
I bike to work and turn off my AC/heat and power strips at home before I ride off. I wish everyone could experience how easy this is, I fucking hate driving through traffic.
I wish I could do that again like I did in college.
But we just had 2 months straight with temperatures over 100 degrees where I’m at, and affordable housing is 30 miles from where people work. So going to work would take forever, be miserable, and require a shower upon arrival.
I just got offered an awesome new job that pays half again more than I make now, but it’s further into the city, and a 300sft studio apartment within 15 miles of my new job is $2,500/month.
The cheapest home in the City is 1.8 million dollars, and the median price is 2.6 million.
Paying the car note, gas, and rent on 1200sft where I’m at saves me a thousand dollars a month versus moving closer, AND the new job actually pays a fuel stipend because literally nobody at the company lives within a half-hour drive of the office, so it’s even better to live where it’s cheaper.
We’d move the office, but we’re municipal employees and It’s hard to justify moving City Hall out of the city
I can’t say exactly where I’m at for fear of doxing myself, but the general Austin area has gotten very expensive, and there are some small cities in the area that are among the most expensive in the country.
I would ride to work but there’s so many reasons not to. I’ve tried before, and almost died several times because of asshole drivers and half asleep morons still putting on makeup or drinking coffee or whatever. The bike lanes are a joke and people treat them like passing lanes to get one car length ahead in stop-go traffic. I’ve ridden with pants on once and got a giant oil stain on my leg from the bike chain. Even if none of that happens, it’s extremely hot and humid where i live almost year round, and I wear business casual so I’m drenched in sweat before too long. I wish I could make it work but…no…and of course there’s no reliable public transportation.
Nope not even close. I hear some buildings have gyms downstairs so I suppose I could keep work clothes in the locker and ride to and from in street clothes. I’m in the job market so I’ll look into it.
I’ve tried before, and almost died several times because of asshole drivers and half asleep morons still putting on makeup or drinking coffee or whatever. The bike lanes are a joke and people treat them like passing lanes to get one car length ahead in stop-go traffic.
Yeah man, I completely understand. I’m very very lucky to live in a cooler climate, only a few miles from my work, with somewhat decent bike lanes (although a joke compared to anywhere in Europe), and I don’t sweat too bad lol.
I try to convince a lot of my friends to give bicycling a try but I totally understand if they’re afraid of traffic. It’s fucked up that we’re forced to ride completely unseparated from cars and giant fucking trucks swinging all over the road.
I went from commuting close to 2 hours daily, with much of that spent stuck in traffic, to working fully remotely. I’d have to get gas every week. Now I go weeks at a time before needing to get gas.
Even better, I used to work for a chemical company part of one of the big oil and gas corporations. Now I work for a green energy company. It cracks me up just how different the two situations are.
There are so many CEOs putting their own private portfolio over the companies they supposedly run having a high staff attrition, and yet “they command such big salaries because they take on so much risk”.
$100 says you’re company is either stuck in a lease with their building or owns it outright…so glad I work for a WFH company that started that way 20 years ago and never went to having offices.
$100 says you’re company is either stuck in a lease with their building or owns it outright
But why exactly would that mean “no WFH”?
Stuck in a lease? Its not like if people WFH or W in the office the lease would decrease. On the contrary. less people means less bills to pay. (Same for owning the building), in this case just rent it for something else.
I’m not saying it makes sense, it’s just old school idiots running these companies who think ass in chair is more productive. They’re just sociopath control freaks.
I’ve actually started… walking to work. It takes me like 45min. So it’s not a short walk, though it’s a very short car commute. But the world is so different now that I’m walking. Having lived in car dependency vs walking is so different. And it’s healthy for you too. More people should try it, if i’s possible.
its not hyperbole to say it was a contributer to my depression before. slept 5 hours a night most nights. next to no family time and absolutely zero me time. high stress job. those lost hours didnt help
If it’s a nice walk I’m game. I’m continually impressed with how walkable many cities are (except mine of course). If it’s ball sweating hot, walking through endless sprawl, dodging cars, on noisy highways, forget it.
I actually started on the day when it was 40°C / 104°F in humidex. Significantly less than favorable conditions. But I figured, if I can do that, I can do any other day. I do have the entire path with sidewalks though. And even a little bit of a park I can cut through.