I work for a large, CPG company. We're west coast based, so very progressive. I was a COVID hire, so I've pretty much been remote since December 2020. We have several campuses U.S.-wide and they're encouraging employees to come in to the office, but they're not strongly suggesting it. Our performance overall has improved so they're just going with it. Luckily, in my role, I have to travel a couple of times a month to my DC's and interact with everyone there. There are also meetings in our ATL-area campus. As far as real estate, we're certainly not opening up any new offices. It'd be a waste of money. Plus, there will be another released virus soon enough and we'll all be back to sitting at the house. May as well get good at it.

I've worked in large corporate environments in the past and now live in a hybrid/remote environment. Some people NEED the large, populated environments, some don't. Honestly, I could do either.

Commander Gorn said:

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The vibrant office culture and personal connections I miss out on working from home

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That's funny. I graduated from A&M in mid 80s. The company I went to work for, huge fortune 500, was just converting those short wall cubicles to the tall ones, which were about 5 and a half feet tall.

My department had the tall ones.

The accounting department still had the small ones like in your pic.

The accounting supervisors were in offices along the wall, with glass at the top. That way they could stand up from their desks and keep an eye on the employees. That's the big reason the glass was there imo, to be able to look out and see the employees to ensure they were not screwing off.

We all had to wear ties. It was old school. Felt like the military.

zoneag said:

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Hedge, your 50+ boss is most likely not a boomer.

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I am almost 60. That puts me in the "Boomers" last year. Not a chance. Even the people I grew up with that are five years older than me were not really boomers. The group before me was the 70s rock. Good with that. We were the 80's. Hardly the Beatles. But I guess it is the thing people say to insult anyone older than them. They act like they don't age.

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Plus, there will be another released virus soon enough and we'll all be back to sitting at the house. May as well get good at it.

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Sorry, any new virus would have to start stacking bodies in the street for shut downs to happen again.

You don't have to apologize. I live in Arkansas and did what I wanted, regardless of shutting things down. As long as I can still get to Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri, so we have a vacation spot like last time, me and the family are set.

TxTarpon said:

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Quote:

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Plus, there will be another released virus soon enough and we'll all be back to sitting at the house. May as well get good at it.

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Sorry, any new virus would have to start stacking bodies in the street for shut downs to happen again.

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I am sure the Chinese are working on it as we speak.

and their cohorts.....

CRE Turmoil Worsens As Office Delinquencies Accelerate | ZeroHedge

doubledog said:

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AGHouston11 said:

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Eliminating actual human interaction isn't necessarily a good thing.

The next step is remote humans will not be needed when AI can do the exact same thing but better.

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If you exclusively work from home, you can be easily be replaced by anyone anywhere (for less than what you earn)... Think about that.

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I've been 100% WFH for over 12 years now. I'm still waiting for this to happen. I've been expecting it for years.

Urban Country Boy said:

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poundstone said:

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You realize talking over zoom is still human interaction

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It is not. People turn off their camera or are not on screen. A very important part of working as a team is reading body language. If you can't see the client you are missing very valuable information. Only sitting across the table will give you that information.

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Plus, any call with 3+ people you have a lot of stomping on each other. You start talking at the same time as someone else. Either that, or it's one person dominated and it's not that great of a call anyway. I think it drives non participation, especially for people who are already more reserved. You alienate that group immediately.

OP sounds like an entitled millennial Buffy. "But I NEED to work from home!"

https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/more-us-law-firms-make-four-day-office-work-week-mandatory-2023-08-09/

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A push to bring more U.S. lawyers back to the office at least four days a week is spreading, most recently to Houston-founded 700-lawyer firm Vinson & Elkins.

Vinson's lawyers and staffers will have to work in the office every weekday except either Monday or Friday starting Sept. 11, its leaders said Wednesday in an internal memo viewed by Reuters.

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More and more across Industries.

Several random thoughts...

Disclaimer, I am a partner in my business.

* I have WFH since 1997 and it's great. Always got the best T-ball field, could coach DI, etc, etc. And this is when pcAnywhere was the height of connectivity. I programmed all our systems and maintained all data. All remotely. Had the second DSL line in town, a blistering 512K.

* Since I was LIYO (Living In Your Office) that's really what it is more than WFH, I followed articles on working from home (wasn't called "remote" back then). 100% of surveys measured increased productivity. Of course only businesses suitable for it were doing it.

* When Covid shutdowns hit my daughter and my business partner each immediately said something at the outset, both have proven true:
Partner: "Somebody is going to make a ton of money off this."
Daughter: "The 40 hour work week as we know it is dead."

*All of this will work itself out. But realistically for the foreseeable future there will be much more WFH than pre-Covid.

* While there are legit productivity concerns, there's also a ton of ego on the part of Managers and Owners that want the employees with them to manage and own.

Of our 50-ish employees, about 20 work remotely. Productivity went up for all of them, but it is a job of staring at screens all day. Also, mostly more experienced employees. There have been a couple that couldn't do it.