Rise of remote work

[wtburnette]

My wife is still 100% WFH. I think, if they called them all back to the office, she’d go ahead and retire.

I would hate it, but if they say I had to come back into the office I'd find a new remote position elsewhere. There are still tons for what I do. I'm pretty sure it won't go nowhere for me as my team only has two cubes in the new office so they don't have anywhere to put us...

 

[wtburnette]

It's not my opinion that matters. It's the opinions of the people making all the decisions at all these companies, and their verdict appears to be in.

For some companies and for some positions. Certainly not all. Watch the video I posted. Very little of this has to do with perceived productivity.

 

[KLB]

It's not my opinion that matters. It's the opinions of the people making all the decisions at all these companies, and their verdict appears to be in.

You obviously didn't read the article.

 

[KLB]

We recently went back to going to the office on Mondays. Everyone knows it's a joke and very little gets done on Mondays now. Whereas I would start at around 0430 and work until 1600, I now get there around 05:45 and I am hitting the door at 1500. Not to mention the loss of productivity from people standing around BSing (not me - I'm naturally anti-social, but having the people doing it by my cube is certainly a distraction).

And then there's the issue of breaks. I'm a smoker, so I'm going down to the smoking area about once an hour for about 7-10 minutes. Don't have to do that at home. Non-smokers go for walks around the building with about the same frequency (I see them on my way to the smoking area). More lost productivity. Management that want this are idiots.

Yeah. I saw a lot of that in the office as well. I was there at 6:30 and left promptly at 3.

Most of our corporate people are supposed to go in two days a week now. It's not strictly enforced though. I was made a full time remote worker on Jan 1, so never again for me.

 

[Flingarrows]

I have been without an office for over 6 years. The closest to me is Charlotte or Denver.

I do miss the travel and face to face meets. I was pretty much on the road 4 days/week.

It is starting to come back, but I do not think it will ever go back to precovid. Either way I do more than 40 most weeks

 

[Ingomike]

This is just funny to me…

“Telecommunications firm Zoom has ordered its employees to return to the office, reflecting the broader trend of employers restricting pandemic-era work flexibility requirements.”

Zoom demands workers return to the office

The firm's video conferencing services were instrumental in enabling worldwide remote work options during the COVID-19 pandemic.

justthenews.com

 

[firecadet613]

This is just funny to me…

“Telecommunications firm Zoom has ordered its employees to return to the office, reflecting the broader trend of employers restricting pandemic-era work flexibility requirements.”

Zoom demands workers return to the office

The firm's video conferencing services were instrumental in enabling worldwide remote work options during the COVID-19 pandemic.

justthenews.com

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

This is just funny to me…

“Telecommunications firm Zoom has ordered its employees to return to the office, reflecting the broader trend of employers restricting pandemic-era work flexibility requirements.”

Zoom demands workers return to the office

The firm's video conferencing services were instrumental in enabling worldwide remote work options during the COVID-19 pandemic.

justthenews.com

I saw this. I wondered how many Zoom employees thought—“eh…why are we even bothering to sell this crap then?“

 

[KellyinAvon]

I could argue on both sides of the telework issue. Pro's and cons are on both sides. As over-simplified as it is, it comes down to the people and the type of job.

Is the job getting done? Is it getting done as well as before? I see the supervisors spending WAY too much time "on a call" since there is WAY too much managementship at higher levels in my organization (not local, in Cincinnati and DC although I've seen plenty of "couldn't lead a German to beer" at my place) and very little leadership.

Did I mention I telework 3 days a week now?

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I could argue on both sides of the telework issue. Pro's and cons are on both sides. As over-simplified as it is, it comes down to the people and the type of job.

Is the job getting done? Is it getting done as well as before? I see the supervisors spending WAY too much time "on a call" since there is WAY too much managementship at higher levels in my organization (not local, in Cincinnati and DC although I've seen plenty of "couldn't lead a German to beer" at my place) and very little leadership.

Did I mention I telework 3 days a week now?

We have to go in every Monday now and I will say that Mondays are the least productive days. Too many people standing around shooting the breeze. Plus they've been scheduling mandatory training sessions, during which of course no work is being done.

 

[KLB]

Return-to-Office Full Time Is Losing

The pandemic may be officially over, but workers aren't coming into offices any more than they did a few months ago.

time.com

 

[KLB]

I could argue on both sides of the telework issue. Pro's and cons are on both sides. As over-simplified as it is, it comes down to the people and the type of job.

Is the job getting done? Is it getting done as well as before? I see the supervisors spending WAY too much time "on a call" since there is WAY too much managementship at higher levels in my organization (not local, in Cincinnati and DC although I've seen plenty of "couldn't lead a German to beer" at my place) and very little leadership.

Did I mention I telework 3 days a week now?

We are starting to get management heavy again too. Most of which contribute anything useful on a daily basis.

 

[jamil]

Companies are trying to build in-office work into the culture. Some are trying to do it through attrition, making no new remote hires policies. That's not working because there are plenty of companies who don't mind having a remote workforce for certain roles. The people who want to work remotely just go to work for those companies instead of the ones demanding in-office work.

Where I work, even people up the chain scoff at in-office work. My boss, boss's boss, and boss's boss's boss work primarily remotely, but they're required to come into the office at least 2 days a week. And they complain about it too.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

The unofficial policy where I work is: You can't *screw-em" if they're not here.

 

[wtburnette]

Remote work depends heavily on two things, the work and the people. As Kelly mentioned above, it has to be the right type of role to benefit from remote work. A lot of office drone type positions work perfectly well as remote jobs. The people doing the work have to be able to be disciplined enough to manage their work. During the COVID lockdown we started doing 100% remote work. A year later, our CISO said that we were actually more productive working from home and that we could continue do work remote as long as we'd like. Not every person, or every position, can be effective working remotely.

Return-to-Office Full Time Is Losing

The pandemic may be officially over, but workers aren't coming into offices any more than they did a few months ago.

time.com

Hybrid is better than no remote work. It's a compromise that at least gives employees more flexibility and still allows them face time with other employees. We do a team lunch once a month to keep a sense of camaraderie.

 

[wtburnette]

Well crap, evidently I didn't read Kelly's post closely enough as I just realized he said the same thing. Need more

 

[Ingomike]

The shift to WFH did not happen in normal circumstances so the shift back will not occur until circumstances change, such as the economy getting tough…

 

[wtburnette]

The shift to WFH did not happen in normal circumstances so the shift back will not occur until circumstances change, such as the economy getting tough…

Yes and no. There are WAY more reasons than that. A lot of office drone work was already either moving to remote, or was already hybrid. I argued with management at both Anthem and at IU Health that our jobs could easily be permanently remote. The COVID lockdown just proved it. Even with the shift back, there are tons more remote only positions now than there ever have been. At least for Information Security work, which is what I do.

 

[Leo]

I really do not know how to work at home. One thing that I notice more than ever is that as a customer, the customer service has grown awful.

I wait on hold, for long periods of time, I finally get an auto attendant that tells me they are behind and to leave a message,no one calls back. Call back the next day, same deal, someone calls me back three days later and says ok, That is handled by another department, then I get switched to hold again, and then leave another message. This is with two insurance companies, a hospital and a Doctors group.

Of course, in person at the Post office does not work either. I was heading to see friends by Camp Lejeune for 10 days. Went to the Post office on Monday to stop the mail Wednesday. Filled out the form, had a clerk look at it and turn it in. There was mail in the box Thursday. Went to the Post Office, talked with a supervisor, hope for the best. I fill out a 3rd form and leave it with a note in my mail box for my letter carrier. Get back to town, my mailbox is hanging open, stuffed with mail, and letters the wind blew out were wet on the curb. I am still missing stuff, like insurance paperwork as in the first example.

Billing departments are fouled up too. Send a check on the 2nd, they cash it on the 10th. On the 18th I get a crappy letter that I am late. Send then a photocopy of the cashed check, they say ok, that the department is behind. Next bill comes, they want to charge a fee because I am over due. Please wait on hold....

I think a lot of customer service people "working at home", really are not.

 

[jamil]

Yes and no. There are WAY more reasons than that. A lot of office drone work was already either moving to remote, or was already hybrid. I argued with management at both Anthem and at IU Health that our jobs could easily be permanently remote. The COVID lockdown just proved it. Even with the shift back, there are tons more remote only positions now than there ever have been. At least for Information Security work, which is what I do.

Before the pandemic I was in the office maybe 2 days a week. Remote working was already taking hold for a lot of workers. The pandemic only added people who weren’t typically wotking from home.

For my SIL, the company she works has been 100% remote work from the start. She’s been working from home for 20 years. They don’t even have an office.

So remoting is nothing new. It just normalized it for a lot more people.