Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston: professionals, drywall, vs)

[timberline742]

I just got off the phone with a Boston nurse in tears. Never thought she'd get to her breaking point, she has been seeing people die for 30 years in her job. It's a really dark situation. Coughing visitors having to be removed by police. People going to hospice that probably shouldn't be there to free up beds. Young mother dying because she was unvaccinated due to husband being so against it, leaving her kid motherless and with an idiot dad. Much worse things I won't repeat. Some real scary stuff.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Right now, we have about 20% of our MA staff on WFH. Those are mostly procurement folks, documentation folks, and other roles that do not need to be in lab. Their return to office is postponed, but mostly due to lack of space. Their offices all got turned into labs, so we are trying to secure additional office space for them.

The rest of us have been 5 days a week with WFH "as needed". We originally were on a 3/2 hybrid rotation, but that unofficially ended last summer as cases dropped off, and there's been no urgency to reimplement it. 100% masking is back. There is no Vaccine mandate.

I am OK with working in office. I prefer it personally. Office density here was never really that high too begin with so it's pretty easy to distance oneself.

My fiancee's company is in a similar boat. They don't actually have the office space for everyone so coordinating a return has been tricky. But it's apparently imminent.

I've been in 3-4 days per week since last spring, really. Most of leadership and management has. My small team (6 people) has been almost fully remote though. A few have come in intermittently, but most are working from home. We have a vaccine mandate which really wasn't a tough sell (several questionable requests for medical and religious exemptions, but that's it), and we're officially 100% masking, but nobody wears them at their desks and a handful don't even bother in common areas. We also have plenty of space.

I prefer the office too, but enjoy the "as needed" flexibility. I've used it to my advantage several times and hope that it's something we keep forever.

Originally Posted by msRB311

I'm guessing you could lose some employees. That's good you're on board with it since you don't have a choice.

Maybe. I don't see anyone on my team leaving because they're being asked to come in 3x per week though (even though they'll certainly let me know that they don't like it). The problem for people that might consider leaving is that there aren't many alternatives that are certain to be permanent WFH. Many places are still up in the air. If it gets to a point where we've accepted COVID as endemic and life gets back to normal and some companies are requiring in-person while competitors are offering full WFH, it may be an issue. But for us, it's not really like that. In fact, our 3x weekly requirement seems to be better than what some similar firms plan to require.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by thebruiser500

Just got kicked out of a grocery store for not wearing a mask. Government could tell these people to murder kittens and they would do it no questions asked.

If only there was a way you could have avoided the confrontation...

[thebruiser500]

Originally Posted by timberline742

I just got off the phone with a Boston nurse in tears. Never thought she'd get to her breaking point, she has been seeing people die for 30 years in her job. It's a really dark situation. Coughing visitors having to be removed by police. People going to hospice that probably shouldn't be there to free up beds. Young mother dying because she was unvaccinated due to husband being so against it, leaving her kid motherless and with an idiot dad. Much worse things I won't repeat. Some real scary stuff.

It sounds like there aren’t enough hospital staff to give patients care because they forced countless nurses, doctors, janitors, etc, out for not getting the covid shot

[thebruiser500]

Originally Posted by lrfox

If only there was a way you could have avoided the confrontation...

Boot lickers who will get down on their knees are really good at getting approval and avoiding confrontation

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by thebruiser500

Boot lickers who will get down on their knees are really good at getting approval and avoiding confrontation

Oh I get it. You're a "PaTRioT!" fightin' for your "freedoms" because having to wear a mask in a grocery story is just like Nazi Germany and all of that nonsense, right? So brave. I'm sure the grocery store worker you confronted learned their lesson.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by thebruiser500

It sounds like there aren’t enough hospital staff to give patients care because they forced countless nurses, doctors, janitors, etc, out for not getting the covid shot

Nope. It was a non issue. The staff at her hospital are professionals and completely used to having shots required as part of their work. They've lost staff to become travel nurses though. It's really an issue of no place to discharge them to.

Originally Posted by thebruiser500

Boot lickers who will get down on their knees are really good at getting approval and avoiding confrontation

I hope you decided not to wear a shirt and shoes and really show da man.

[thebruiser500]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Oh I get it. You're a "PaTRioT!" fightin' for your "freedoms" because having to wear a mask in a grocery story is just like Nazi Germany and all of that nonsense, right? So brave.

Yeah you don’t understand. Not surprising. I’m not fighting for anything. I just don’t want to wear a mask. This inanity has been going on for two years. It doesn’t do anything. And only psychopaths try to force other people to wear masks. It’s a humiliation ritual for the serfs

[thebruiser500]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Nope. It was a non issue. The staff at her hospital are professionals and completely used to having shots required as part of their work. They've lost staff to become travel nurses though. It's really an issue of no place to discharge them to.



I hope you decided not to wear a shirt and shoes and really show da man.

Covering your face like a bandit and wearing shoes aren’t really comparable for normal people

are you saying this place lost no employees due to covid shot requirements?

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by thebruiser500

are you saying this place lost no employees due to covid shot requirements?

Doubt it. Why would they? They have shot requirements, including flu shots, and have for years.

The places that lost people largely lost very low level / low paid / low education people. That's where the issue is. It's not with highly skilled / educated professionals.

I feel like having to wear shoes is an infringement on my liberty. It's communism damn it.