Who is back in the office? (Boston, Lynn: health, best, area)

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by robr2

Actually it's a number of upper managers and executives being told that they can't oversee the MBTA working in IL, CA, HI, NY, and DE.

Good. Those are people I can't say I feel bad for.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

I feel like T management should be heavily incentivized to take the T to work, eg free transit and absolutely no free parking.

I think that would be pretty reasonable. Upper management gets paid well enough that if they wanted to drive to work, they can pay out of their own pocket. Eliminating free parking for employees at 10 Park Plaza, a public garage, means more space available for paying customers too. The argument for management to get free parking has always been "well, they have off-site meetings!" but between hybrid work flexibility (can schedule off-site meetings so that a trip into the office for part of the day isn't necessary) and the proliferation of Zoom, that shouldn't be the same obstacle that it once was. Or, again, pay for parking like most people.

It's trickier, but state legislators get free parking as well. It would be ideal if those in so-called "MBTA communities" were also incentivized to take the T. They're responsible for legislation and funding, and it's easy to ignore the T's problems when you get free parking directly underneath your office.

Originally Posted by robr2

Actually it's a number of upper managers and executives being told that they can't oversee the MBTA working in IL, CA, HI, NY, and DE.

Either way, it makes a lot of sense. Anything that can personalize the stakes for the people collecting paychecks and making decisions would be appreciated.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Good. Those are people I can't say I feel bad for.

Originally Posted by lrfox

Either way, it makes a lot of sense. Anything that can personalize the stakes for the
people collecting paychecks and making decisions would be appreciated.

I agree - the mucky mucks should be in Boston. If they can work a day a week from home, no worries IMHO. But being multiple time zones away working from home isn't right.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by robr2

I agree - the mucky mucks should be in Boston. If they can work a day a week from home, no worries IMHO. But being multiple time zones away working from home isn't right.

yeah that seems weird.

[BostonMike7]

Pre-Covid, one of our QEs used to report in to a manager based in TX. To be clear, the manager was in a TX office overseeing employees there as well as a few other locations.

But this QE was the only person who reported to an offsite manager, and as a result literally did whatever he wanted.

He was goin through a rough divorce, so he would often come in at 8am, answer a few emails, and then sneak out the back at 9am and go do….something. Got away with it for months before someone finally told his manager.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Pre-Covid, one of our QEs used to report in to a manager based in TX. To be clear, the manager was in a TX office overseeing employees there as well as a few other locations.

But this QE was the only person who reported to an offsite manager, and as a result literally did whatever he wanted.

He was goin through a rough divorce, so he would often come in at 8am, answer a few emails, and then sneak out the back at 9am and go do….something. Got away with it for months before someone finally told his manager.

Yeah, I don’t have a lot of faith that supervision and oversight at the MBTA is good enough to catch that type of behavior (or care unless it’s caught by the press) with local employees, let alone take action when it happens (again, unless it’s caught by the press). That type of abuse is not unprecedented at the T is not unprecedented for them. So I have even less faith that they can adequately supervise remote employees hundreds or thousands of miles away.

[yesmaybe]

Saw a guy today in the middle of the woods with a laptop taking a conference call. I was amused.

[wp169]

Workers who are full time remote might have to worry about their jobs going overseas so their company saves money on labor costs.

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by wp169

Workers who are full time remote might have to worry about their jobs going overseas so their company saves money on labor costs.

Might look good on paper as a way to decrease costs but the reality is the language barriers likely won't make that transition go so smoothly for companies here. Folks in the US tend to get annoyed when they have to stay on hold for 10 minutes before a live person comes on the line, then when they are connected it's someone in India or wherever and they have to ask the person to repeat themselves 20 times so they can try to decipher what they're saying. Good way for companies to lose business.

[matrix5k]

Originally Posted by wp169

Workers who are full time remote might have to worry about their jobs going overseas so their company saves money on labor costs.

Isn't that what everyone said 20 years ago?