Is the office dead?

[Chewbacca 7730]

It'll be a boomerang of sorts.  Companies will TRY to make WFH hybrid be the long term solution, but they will find that ultimately it doesn't work effectively (enough).  While rent is a big line item on a company's balance sheet, it is insignificant it profitability suffers significantly. 

Balance sheet?

[Chewbacca 7730]

We have always been 100 percent remote. I see no reason to change that.

[Brew 3047]

Screw full time work from home arrangements. We have been back in for quite a while now. People want to interact and also it provides a separation from their home life. We don’t really have commutes which helps. A lot of my friends have been coworkers, so hanging out at work, going to lunch, grabbing a beer after work, etc was all a big part of what made it enjoyable. Sitting in my office at home by myself for extended periods sucks. My wife wants something, the kids need something, the dog wants to play ball, I just need to knock out some work in peace and quiet. I have a home office setup that mirrors my office setup and have been that way for years. If I don’t want to go in, I work at the house. If I want to go to the beach, I work from there. I probably work 60+ hours most weeks, so that also gives me a place to work nights/weekends. M-F 8-6 though, I’m going to be sitting in my real office most of the time.

The best thing about is I haven’t worn khakis or tucked in my shirt since this shit started. Shorts all summer, nice jeans all winter. I have clients make remarks occasionally and I just tell them I can handle their issues in flip flops just as well as dress shoes.

Edited March 14, 2021 by Brew

[F250 28689]

I've been remote for over a decade except a couple of years where I traveled as a consultant. At one point, I took a job with an actual office and commute. I lasted less than 6 months before going back to remote. Fuck commuting and going to an office, it's ass.

Obviously the benefits of remote work is industry dependent.

I have direct reports with most of my staff spread out over India, Europe, and South America and about a dozen people across the U.S. An office just isn't practical. We used to meet up twice a year but since Covid struck that hasn't happened. I don't see it happening anymore either, there doesn't seem to be any drawbacks to not meeting in person compared to the costs of flying in a bunch of international people twice a year.

Slack, Gitlab, Jira and occasional Zoom meetings is all that is needed. Email is for olds. Don't need people farting around inside an office shooting the shit.

 

 

 

[F250 28689]

Another benefit of remote work is the health benefits if you put in the effort. About 10 years ago I built a home gym and have added to it over the years. I don't need to wait until after I get home to work out, just need an hour to get in a lift session and about twenty minutes to run sprints or forty five minutes to mountain bike.

Very little eating out at restaurants. Since I eat at home, I eat very clean and know exactly what goes into my meals. Step outside to shoot some hoops or batting cage if my son's are home, lately it's been soccer with my daughter. Plenty of time to stay active and fit while eating clean.

 

[ndawg 1242]

On 3/11/2021 at 2:20 PM, Brisketexan said:

Agree.  When it comes to dealing with clients, a lot of what I'm selling is "myself."  My presence, my approach, my personality.  It's a LOT harder to do that over Zoom.  I have had to appear before clients several times recently, and it really bothered me not to be there in person.  That just can't be replaced.

Please tell me your zoom background is a ledge with a mushroom cloud off in the distance and a glass of bourbon nearby.

[Brisketexan 104624]

2 hours ago, ndawg said:

Please tell me your zoom background is a ledge with a mushroom cloud off in the distance and a glass of bourbon nearby.

I have used various scenes of disaster as a background, yes.

[NameAlreadyInUse 5106]

On 3/12/2021 at 10:20 AM, YChang said:

Yeah, trying to brainstorm over WebEx, Zoom etc sucks.

Office’s aren’t dead, it’ll just change. What I’m hoping is that this WILL kill the stupid open office.

We had an open office before this.  One of the reasons I would never go up there except when I could fill my entire visit with meetings is because that was too god damned distracting.  We were told last week that our office is being redesigned and will no longer be just desks stacked row after row with no separation at all.  It wasn't as bad as the chicken coop setup that Walmart IT has/had over at their headquarters, but it wasn't great Bob.

[YChang 3430]

11 minutes ago, NameAlreadyInUse said:

We had an open office before this.  One of the reasons I would never go up there except when I could fill my entire visit with meetings is because that was too god damned distracting.  We were told last week that our office is being redesigned and will no longer be just desks stacked row after row with no separation at all.  It wasn't as bad as the chicken coop setup that Walmart IT has/had over at their headquarters, but it wasn't great Bob.

Yeah, this is a stupid fad that does not foster better collaboration or whatever bupkus management tells us. I mean, when the inventor of this is aghast at the practice, that should tell you something. What's hilarious is that one of the home offices in CA is open setup and it's in a small building dimension wise. I can't imagine colleagues are thrilled to go back to that anytime soon. 

[Neonmoon 38127]

Open Office isn’t about fostering collaboration. That’s the sell line. It’s about packing more people in a smaller space. 

Edited March 16, 2021 by Neonmoon

[Guest Lobo]

I dunno man, my best thinking gets done on Spirit Airlines. 

[DonkeyCigars 144]

I think Open Office was born out of orgs that needed to maximize the SqFt. Organizations that have double the employees than what they have room to comfortably office. My organization moved to a “hoteling” model where you just find an empty spot and it’s yours for the day. People camping out in conference and breakout rooms, it’s chaos.

That said we looked into a last minute ski jaunt and the lack of domestic and international business travel last year has finally caught up. I’m still coming out of my ears with free flights but the no more Marriot points for free family vacations sucks. I was usually good for about 2-3 weeks of “free” family vacation time with a combined redemption of airline, hotel and car rental points.

I need y’all’s offices to open up again, yesterday. I’ll probably lose my Executive Platinum too if we don’t open up soon as I doubt American will extend it another year, and then I’ll really be verklempt.

[GreenspointTexas 9567]

Office work is so 19th century

[CooterBrown 17911]

Just rolling out of bed at 9:05. Put my Liberty Mouse Mover on when I got up to piss an hour ago to keep my light green on Teams. I’ll make a taco in a bit and sit down to work about 9:45.

Going back to an office would really ruin my work experience. I don’t think I’ll do that.

[DonkeyCigars 144]

Wow, just read this and it is hilarious! Sounds like a The New Yorker satire kinda, but also hits the "of course it's real" vein:

Quote

 

If you are a midlevel investment banker taking advantage of a quiet summer weekday to have a long leisurely lunch at a Hamptons restaurant, and you see the chief executive officer of your bank sitting two tables away, what is the move? My instinct is definitely along the lines of “put on a hat and sunglasses, scuttle to the bathroom with your head down, climb out the window, catch the next helicopter back to the office and never eat lunch again,” but I can see arguments the other way. A key attribute of successful financiers is boldness; you’ve got to act like whatever you are doing is the right and only way to do it. Why not strut right up to the CEO and say, “Hey, good to see you here, try the burrata”? I mean, he’s in the restaurant too, right? You are just two masters of the universe enjoying lunch in the Hamptons; your being in the same restaurant proves that you have the same good taste and control over your schedule and work-hard-play-hard approach that he has. He is in the restaurant because he is powerful, and you are in the restaurant because you are powerful; you are, briefly, on equal footing, and you should make sure he knows it.[1] 

But, no, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO David Solomon, it seems as if my original instinct is the right one:

Few things annoyed Solomon more last year than an encounter with a junior employee in the Hamptons. The Goldman Sachs boss has told lieutenants how the underling walked up at a restaurant, introduced himself and pointed to associates with him -- in the middle of a workday.

The tale has become the CEO’s go-to anecdote when he vents about his mostly-empty offices: proof that remote work has run amok.

Some who’ve heard the story note the apparent disconnect. The boss is perturbed by bumping into staff while he himself was spending extended summer weekends in the Hamptons at a luxe seaside rental. Solomon’s time there even made national news after he deejayed a concert where attendees flouted social-distancing guidelines, leaving New York state officials fuming.

 

 

[NameAlreadyInUse 5106]

9 hours ago, DonkeyCigars said:

That said we looked into a last minute ski jaunt and the lack of domestic and international business travel last year has finally caught up. I’m still coming out of my ears with free flights but the no more Marriot points for free family vacations sucks. I was usually good for about 2-3 weeks of “free” family vacation time with a combined redemption of airline, hotel and car rental points.

I need y’all’s offices to open up again, yesterday. I’ll probably lose my Executive Platinum too if we don’t open up soon as I doubt American will extend it another year, and then I’ll really be verklempt.

Gotta be honest, this is a thing I'm concerned about.  I don't want to give up the  United or Marriott bennies and I'm going to have to get after it by July to have any chance to keep them. I'm contemplating a status match with Delta to get a smaller hill to climb to keep top tier next year, it all just depends on when travel is going to open back up.