Are there signs of people leaving Boston for cheaper parts of the state yet? (credit, loan)

[Bridge781]

We had a department meeting on Friday (on zoom of course) and we broke out into small groups. We discussed how working from home has been, what’s working, what isn’t, ideas to make things better, etc. one woman in my group said she missed the face to face interaction. Sure. Ok. Another girl said she’s more introverted and enjoys the new working from home way. She said she gets more done and doesn’t have to worry about small talk in the hallway or in the cafe. Others basically said they miss this. We’ve been told we’ll be working from home until December- at least

The dean of the my dept happened to be In my group (he’s also am MD) and he said he thinks we could be working from home for years. Years! He mentioned vaccines take a while to create and test and he doesn’t see it safe for things to return to the way they were anytime soon. The woman who wants to return to the office asked if we could ever try and schedule a time for people to meet face to face somewhere. He was like um like at someone’s house? She said yeah! He goes well it’s something we could explore but we don’t want to be the next Chatham house party

It’s just interesting to me that some people already have returned to the office and others are being told it won’t be until 2021 at least.

In my world I only know 1 or 2 people who’ve been laid off. It’s surprising that all these companies who have people working from home have hung on to everyone. My cousin got a job in December. He’s only 26, it’s a contract job and he still has it.

Does anyone see more layoffs coming ? It’s hard to imagine that people are still purchasing things the way they once were. Has food and retail really been the only industry badly affected?

[simplexsimon]

My office will allow people to return to the office if they’d like to, their time to be scheduled via an app to limit capacity to 20%.

I am one of the people who misses the face to face and chit chat. We’re a fairly close knit group. I hired two recent college grads that feel they’re being a little shortchanged in their careers without the face time with upper management.

Originally Posted by Bridge781

Does anyone see more layoffs coming ? It’s hard to imagine that people are still purchasing things the way they once were. Has food and retail really been the only industry badly affected?

Airlines and hotels are other severely impacted industries.

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

In my world I only know 1 or 2 people who’ve been laid off. It’s surprising that all these companies who have people working from home have hung on to everyone. My cousin got a job in December. He’s only 26, it’s a contract job and he still has it.

I mentioned this in one of the other threads... one of the big reasons companies lay off is to get cheaper workers. May not be worth it until they can have the new employees onboarded in the office. Plus you got the election, may want to wait to see if the Democrats also get the Senate and what they are planning to do if they succeed before making moves.

Combined, it makes a compelling argument to either stand pat or just bleed headcount until next year.

[Bridge781]

Ah yes airlines. It seems certain hotels are doing very well this summer....

If I were in my 20s or even 30s I’d probably miss the office too for the social scene.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

It seems certain hotels are doing very well this summer....

Maybe at some summer tourist places but elsewhere I don't think so.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

The dean of the my dept happened to be In my group (he’s also am MD) and he said he thinks we could be working from home for years. Years! He mentioned vaccines take a while to create and test and he doesn’t see it safe for things to return to the way they were anytime soon.

From what I understand, there's never been an entirely new vaccine (that works and is safe) that took less than 4 years.

Regardless of how long it takes, studies have shown that approximately 35% of the people in the US will refuse it. If that's accurate, that's a problem.

[Bridge781]

Right I think there are people who are going to the higher end resort type places but certainly anyone who was traveling for work is not now. That must be a big hit.

At any rate it does seems amazing that so few people with white collar jobs haven’t been laid off. Hopefully it stays that way.

[Bridge781]

Originally Posted by redplum33

From what I understand, there's never been an entirely new vaccine (that works and is safe) that took less than 4 years.

Regardless of how long it takes, studies have shown that approximately 35% of the people in the US will refuse it. If that's accurate, that's a problem.

Yeah we can’t go on like this for years. I feel bad for kids not in school but also kids who play sports are disadvantaged now too. What about kids who are in their junior or senior who were expected to get a hockey or soccer scholarship? How can that happen now ? Or even younger kids who were maybe planning to have their kids play sports. It could do a lot of shifting in people’s overall lives. I’m not trying to get overly dramatic but if you’re not playing a sport you’re not going to improve. Even theatre or arts. So many things.

[porterhouse]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

At any rate it does seems amazing that so few people with white collar jobs haven’t been laid off. Hopefully it stays that way.

It’s not going to. I have several fortune 100 clients where there are rumblings of significant Q4 RIFs.

[Bridge781]

Originally Posted by porterhouse

It’s not going to. I have several fortune 100 clients where there are rumblings of significant Q4 RIFs.

I’m not surprised. I am surprised so many have lasted as long as they have. I just hope it’s not too painful although being laid off is always painful