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Almost all remote-work news is negative now but was positive in the beginning of the pandemic. Have you noticed this or am I going crazy?

Earlier in the pandemic many news and magazine organizations would proudly write about how working from home always actually can lead to over working and being too “productive”. I am yet to collect some evidence on it but I think we remember a good amount about this.

Now after a bunch of companies want their remote workers back at the office, every one of those companies are being almost propaganda machines which do not cite sound scientific studies but cite each other and interviews with higher ups in top companies that “remote workers are less productive”. This is further cementing the general public’s opinion on this matter.

And research that shows the opposite is buried deep within any search results.

Have you noticed this? Please share what you have observed. I’m going paranoid about this.

Stinkywinks ,

Middle management wants to have a reason to exist. They want people driving to work spending money on the way there and back. Landlords care about their giant office buildings not being rented that should instead just be replaced with affordable housing.

BeardedGingerWonder ,

No doubt you’re right about some middle management and I see this said a lot. Anecdotally I don’t believe I’ve met any middle management that want to be back in the office. If I’m honest I don’t think I’ve ever met middle management that enjoys middle management, it’s a ton of fucking stress keeping senior management happy with heir batshit detached requests and interpreting it into something moderately sensible so individual contributors can be productive and actually achieve the shit that needs done.

Meanwhile Steve can’t seem to wrap his head round the fact that just because he likes formatting his code a particular way isn’t a good reason to ignore the team coding standards, Cheryl and Sushant have decided to book expensive holidays for the same week without clearing the leave first - so I’ll be spending Christmas supporting the app on top of everything else even though I booked it off in the system in January and ultimately I hate this fucking job because I can’t do the thing I’m actually fucking good at.

hibsen ,

Preach. I hate almost every day as a manager of managers, and I don’t give a rat’s ass if any of them or their employees ever come into the office ever again. If their content is completed on-time and it’s quality work, they could make it while living in Nepal for all I care, but of course we’re being forced to come back to the office 50% of the time to do the same work we did at home for three years.

I’m doing what I can to encourage people to apply for exemptions and approving all of them that I can before someone decides I’m “not supporting the return-to-work initiative” enough and fires me. Frankly at this point it’ll be a relief.

Ninja9p5 ,

I think the companies were lying to us when covid started. They said working from home was awesome and we could still do our jobs well so investors wouldn’t get scared. But now they want us to come back to the office and they say working from home is bad for us. They are just trying to trick us into doing what they want.

whofearsthenight ,

I mean, it’s just capitalism. Beginning of the pandemic: thank god for remote work, don’t worry investors we’re not going out of business. End of pandemic: welp, I have to justify my position and why we’re paying all this real estate get back in the office so I can micro-manage you and create useless meetings no one needs so no one realizes that I don’t really do anything around here.

Strayce ,

A lot of these companies are locked in to 5,10 or 20 year leases. If they were sensible they’d just eat the loss and take the extra productivity and happier staff, but that’s not how the corporate hivemind works. They’re paying rent so they have to justify it by having bums on seats, or they’re bleeding money for what looks like no reason.

Anticorp ,

Most of them get tax breaks from the city, but only if they maintain a minimum occupancy. So they’ve lost their tax breaks and they want them back. As always, it comes down to money.

randon31415 ,

Productivity was never the point of work. Increases in productivity thus was never a boon to those in charge.

stackcheese ,

but the ai revolution though

art ,
@art@lemmy.world avatar

In a lot of ways it’s still more marketing than a revolution. AI can’t do my job yet. Not saying it never will but we’re a lot farther away from that than most people think.

Aux ,

A lot of people love WFH, a lot of people hate WFH. This forced experience has caused yet another split in society.

HerrLewakaas ,

Why? Just let people work wherever the fuck they want to, no reason to divide society. If anything, division is just a tool for companies to manipulate us into doing what they want us to

Gingernate ,

I think it was forced because of covid. Now that covid isint an issue, I completely agree

Aux ,

Because people are different.

meldroc ,

I think a lot of it is crappy control-freak managers, used to “managing by walking around”, who feel lost when all the peons are out and working remote.

The companies that let workers act on their own recognizance are most likely far more pleasant to work for, while the companies that have a million little rules and do things like forced RTO tend to be the ones with asshole bosses that are miserable workplaces.

steakmeout ,

Nobody hates WFH.

meekah ,
@meekah@lemmy.world avatar

Only a sith deals in absolutes

Mikina ,

I really don’t like WFH, it’s not working for me personally, and I’m really glad that we have an office I can go to.

paddirn ,

I’ve got small kids, so while I generally like WFH, there have been times where I absolutely just wanted to GTFO and go into the office. Our company did full WFH for awhile, then gradually phased us back in to the office, but for me the best schedule we had was where we were one week in-office, one week WFH, that was the absolute best and gave me the best of both worlds. Without kids though, I would probably prefer WFH a good portion of the time, just so I could have some freedom during lulls in the workload to catch up on home stuff.

meldroc ,

I’m sort of like that - I LOOOOVE WFH, and do it all the time, but at the same time, I work for a brewery that is probably one of the few genuinely good and decent workplaces, and going to the office at the brewery is genuinely fun. Helps when you have cool coworkers, and can drink beer while you work (though that’s rough on productivity…)

itsJoelle ,

Nobody hates optional WFH with no strings for doing so.

Personally, I love WFH. I love being home and by myself. Additionally, I may end up not leaving my house until the weekend and I love it since I despise driving. But I understand that would drive people insane. However, for me, I needed to recharge my introvert batteries over the weekend instead of seeing friends. Now I’m a social butterfly in my off time ☺️

Zink ,

Is it possible for me to love WFH but also avoid it most of the time because my productivity is shit at home?

Having a nearby office with the option to work from home is the best of both worlds for me. I guess for those of you who do better working from home, you could take or leave the nearby office part!

hydrospanner ,

Key difference is that you realize that different people work differently.

My workplace is full of talking heads in upper management who constantly repeat what boils down to, “I’m more productive in the office than at home, therefore everyone must be more productive at the office than at home, therefore we need to bring everyone back.”

Which is obviously horse shit.

I live alone, and working from home not only means no commute, no parking costs, comfy clothes, and all the conveniences of home…it also means having all my notes and documents at hand, not having to function from a random empty cubicle, no distraction from constant non-work-related chatter, no interruptions from coworkers walking by and deciding to talk, and when we’re in crunch time, it also means I’ll consider working OT to help speed things along! Working in the office means “don’t even bother asking me to work OT”.

I work harder, get distracted less, and somehow have better technology uptime from home, so it benefits my employer and I prefer it. All my meetings still have to be online because there’s rarely ever a time where all parties are in the office at the same time.

The only reason for me to come into the office is because someone 3+ grades above me said so.

Zink ,

Yeah, looking for a one size fits all solution to something with so many effects on people’s daily activities is asking for trouble.

It’s great that now the wfh option exists much more substantially than a few years ago, but it sucks that so many seem to want to stuff that cat back in the bag. It seems counterintuitive if your goals are maximizing profits and talent retention. It makes me wonder how much of it is driven by the order class trying to protect real estate investments.

ycnz ,

Mediocre executives loathe it with every fibre of their being.

kogasa ,
@kogasa@programming.dev avatar

I don’t hate it as a concept, but I recognize that it contributed to my burnout during the pandemic. I would personally prefer a hybrid schedule over pure WFH.

Aux ,

A lot of people hate working from home. People with kids, who want to spend some time of the day in peace. People living in house shares with bad neighbours. People living with abusive partners or parents. People with mental issues who feel more comfortable with people around them. Don’t be an ignorant dick.

wintermute_oregon ,

deleted_by_author

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    Anticorp ,

    It’s about money. Large corporations get city tax breaks to build their headquarters. The government gets a lot of money from the employees that report to those offices. The catch is that those tax breaks usually require minimum occupancy of the building. If everyone works from home then the government doesn’t get all their road tolls, gas tax, parking fees, sales tax on food, speeding tickets, parking tickets, etc. Since the government isn’t getting their kickback they stop giving the company tax breaks. So basically millions of people are being forced to do stuff they don’t want to do, just so really rich entities can be richer.

    lemmyseizethemeans ,

    It is mostly about the commercials mortgage backed securities market

    platysalty ,

    I'm split in the middle. I manage projects and also help with sales administration. I prefer in-person meetings for bigger discussions because human communications are built for face to face.

    Deep discussions are just much more effective when you can read the room.

    ItsMeForRealNow OP ,

    Yeah I think its about the control too. So fucked up.

    solstice ,

    I work remotely at the moment since March 2020 and I’m over it, can’t stand it anymore. I’m single with no kids and work a LOT. I’ll frequently wake up, work twelve hours, go to bed, never leave the house. I’m looking for jobs in my field so I can at least get out of the house, go to an office and socialize a bit with colleagues and other office tenants, get lunch at outdoor cafes etc.

    I also miss learning through osmosis from overhearing colleagues discussing technical concepts I’m unfamiliar with, and teaching others similarly about things I know that they don’t.

    My experience working with other people all fully remotely is that it’s very difficult to coordinate as a group, and individually many people are terrible communicators. This is magnified by remote work. (Pet peeve: answer the phone and turn on your fucking camera, I want to know who I’m working 80 hours a week with ffs.)

    All that said I totally agree that a lot of work can and should be done at home. A hybrid approach is difficult though unless everyone is at the office and WFH at the same time. Otherwise what’s the point of me being at the office while you are at home and vice versa. It’s very tricky and I’m not sure how to resolve.

    assassin_aragorn ,

    I don’t know if I’m necessarily more productive in the office, but I do think I prefer that vibe for a workplace. Still, I’m going to go with remote for all the other benefits. I hated commuting.

    It’s just different strokes for different folks.

    recursivesive ,

    Sounds like a YOU problem. Why should we, WFH productive advocates, have to pay for your sins? Get therapy if you need it.

    “I need to get back into commuting, which involves time and money, just so Jane Doe doesn’t feel lonely, because they can’t socialise on their own”.

    YourBestFriendShane ,

    Jeez, who pissed in your Wheaties?

    half_built_pyramids ,

    Search Bloomberg and remote lol

    wagesj45 ,
    @wagesj45@kbin.social avatar

    I will not, but I'm guessing they're all opinion pieces by people who own massive business real estate holdings (directly or through a hedge fund they run) and think "getting back to work" is good for the American spirit, or something.

    half_built_pyramids ,

    It’s much more ghoulish than you can ever imagine.

    Here’s what one said with his real human mouth:

    Ross said. “The employees will recognize as we go into a recession, or as things get a little tighter, that you have to do what it takes to keep your job and to earn a living.”

    You have to do what it takes to earn a living. Spend 40m risking your life in a car every day to come back to my 8bln portfolio so it doesn’t lose value. Or you won’t be able to feed yourself.

    wagesj45 ,
    @wagesj45@kbin.social avatar

    Wonder what they taste like? 🤔

    SocialMediaRefugee ,

    It isn’t propaganda to look at the real-world ramifications of this.

    1. The hard drop in commercial real estate is going to end in a lot of big loans going unpaid. Might end in some bank failures.
    2. The drop in assessed value is going to hit cities hard in the pocket as they depend a lot on these property taxes from commercial properties to pay theirs bills (social programs, subsidized public transportation, police, fire, public housing, roads, etc).
    3. It will increase sprawl as more people can now live anywhere and push into wilderness areas and we lose more open space.
    4. A lot of small businesses depend on those dense commercial areas. You’ll see more contractors, restaurants, etc having to close and downtowns getting deserted like happened in the 70s as people fled to suburbs.

    You see a lot of people saying “just turn them into residences!”. It is very difficult and expensive to turn buildings designed as open office spaces into residences.

    ItsMeForRealNow OP ,

    But corporations have achieved very difficult things in a very short span that cost very many billions like - pivoted to AI which was very difficult until ChatGPT became popular.

    monobot ,

    Well… mabye they shulould have been nice to workers and have normal apartment prices.

    I wouldn’t call those examples real world, they created their own problem. Real world is worker trying to live semi normal life.

    MechanicalJester ,

    Re: Sprawl. The world is actually rather empty. A lot of changes are going to happen in domino fashion.

    MajorHavoc ,

    Indeed. And work location is still only one of many reasons to prefer city life. Cinemas, grocery stores, bars, stadiums and playgrounds aren’t going to instantly spread into our most rural areas.

    MajorHavoc ,

    Good points. Regarding point 2, I think we’re going to see cities shift to trying to attract people rather than corporations.

    Attracting an employer is now a less reliable way to attract their staff to a community.

    I suspect we will soon find that policies that attract great grocery stores into a walkable neighborhoods are more effective for cities than implementing lax corporate tax policies.

    drdabbles ,
    @drdabbles@lemmy.world avatar

    Landlords trying to charge rent again. All of the real studies happening show employees are happier, more productive, and consider not going through a hellish commute to sit in a building with a bunch of people they don’t know or like to be a benefit. It’s only executives and commercial real estate owners desperate to get people into offices so they can feel useful again.

    imekon ,

    I changed jobs during the pandemic. I asked if I could work remotely permanently, they said yes. It’s in my contract I work from home, not the office. I’ve been watching the “sea change” as working remotely has been removed from various companies and wondering why? If all the research points to it being better, then - again - why? The speculation about it being related to real estate is depressing!

    Feathercrown ,

    I’ve actually still been seeing positive news

    Roody15 , (edited )

    Mega corporations have been running dictating government policy and controlling news narratives for quite some time.

    snek ,
    @snek@lemmy.world avatar

    My manager wanted me to come to the office daily because the laptop I had couldn’t handle the company VPN (which we need to access some systems, the alternative is of course being physically in the office and connecting to the office WIFI).

    He gave me some crap about it and reminded me of the ‘office first’ policy at my workplace.

    I looked him dead in the face and said, “You can’t force anyone back to the office. You know that it’s not going to fly with the employees. You can try but it won’t work”.

    He didn’t look too happy about that, but he knows it’s reality.

    Ended up finally getting an new old laptop for the VPN issue, which some other employee left behind, because the budget was “too tight” even though I couldn’t do my work efficiently. And a few days ago I was told I’d be laid off. Also because of the budget.

    So hooray!

    Shimitar ,

    I prefer work from office. Its better for me having kids & dogs and tons of duties at home. Work from home more than once a week is just a waste of time for me which translates to double workload or sorse when at the office.

    Said that, i love WFH because i get things (real things, life things, not work things) done properly and timely… But just doping more than 1 day per week is twice as stressful for me than not.

    My commute is 35km each way, so not even a short one.

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