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Without a doubt, middle management is going to be where this WFH model hurts the most. But the model proves how unnecessary most of them are to begin with, so it will be a great advantage to the company's bottom line.
As will no longer needing to maintain big, expensive office space. I suspect this is another reason many companies are trying to force their workers back. They are paying big money for these spaces. The smart companies will start to divest themselves of these properties and be all the stronger financially for it.
Like I said earlier, it's really a win/win for both the companies and the workers, but we need to get out of the old mindsets and embrace the new for it to happen. And a newly empowered workforce, one who saw the benefits of working from home during the pandemic, will lead the way. There's no going back now.
Lost lease $ is a one time write-off vs a long term cost reduction. I would just take the write down and call it a day. I mean, if you have a 10 year lease, that might be different, but even then you still need water and power utilities with janitorial services. Furniture and equpment breaks or wears out.
Exactly. An employer should not have to pay to allow the employee to walk the dog or play video games on company time. Whoever decided to lock down offices has a lot of explaining to do.
And yet they want people to return to the office to hang out at the Starbucks, and play pool or ping pong.
Lost lease $ is a one time write-off vs a long term cost reduction. I would just take the write down and call it a day. I mean, if you have a 10 year lease, that might be different, but even then you still need water and power utilities with janitorial services. Furniture and equpment breaks or wears out.
Cut your losses.
We used to have a full cafeteria and about 20 employees attached to it and then custodial. We sold one of the buildings and moved accounting back. They are sup PO'd because they still have to go in and they don't get their fancy digs back at the old building.
We used to have a full cafeteria and about 20 employees attached to it and then custodial. We sold one of the buildings and moved accounting back. They are sup PO'd because they still have to go in and they don't get their fancy digs back at the old building.
I would miss the cafeteria, but that is another good cost savings for companies closing down offices and go to all WFH. I mean, you still need a small office for now and then but, you lose the lease cost, the cost for light and water and heat, janitors, cafe staff, free or subisized parking for managers, and fire middle management. That is a big cost savings.
Why would anybody want "back to office"? Musk is nuts.
I am beginning to see a lot of cost savings with WFH for companies. It is truly a win-win. Happy employees and richer employers.
All this assumes productivity remains the same. And not even. If productivity drops 25% but costs drop 30%, your profit is still up. So, productivity does not even have to stay the same for WFH to be beneficial for companies.
When I read this thread I did not see any comments about the profitability side of the equation until post 72. The anti-WFH crowd is focusing on the productivity aspect because that is the only thing that supports defense of the old school in-office culture. For businesses though, profitability is the real bottom line. I think time and actual results will evenutally prove that the elimination of costs will exceed any drops in productivity and furthermore productivity will improve as society continues to adapt to WFH.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JAMS14
Without a doubt, middle management is going to be where this WFH model hurts the most. But the model proves how unnecessary most of them are to begin with, so it will be a great advantage to the company's bottom line.
As will no longer needing to maintain big, expensive office space. I suspect this is another reason many companies are trying to force their workers back. They are paying big money for these spaces. The smart companies will start to divest themselves of these properties and be all the stronger financially for it.
Like I said earlier, it's really a win/win for both the companies and the workers, but we need to get out of the old mindsets and embrace the new for it to happen. And a newly empowered workforce, one who saw the benefits of working from home during the pandemic, will lead the way. There's no going back now.
Urban skyscrapers are going to be a difficult topic for society. They are not practical for much more than offices and apartments but converting between the those two functions brings unique challenges and expense. They might work as prisons if society chooses to get tough on crime again.
Companies were attracted to urban skyscrapers because large cities often had large groups of college graduates. WFH eliminates the need for clustering and crowding. I do not yet feel comfortable predicting what widespread work from home will do the large urban centers.
When I read this thread I did not see any comments about the profitability side of the equation until post 72. The anti-WFH crowd is focusing on the productivity aspect because that is the only thing that supports defense of the old school in-office culture. For businesses though, profitability is the real bottom line. I think time and actual results will evenutally prove that the elimination of costs will exceed any drops in productivity and furthermore productivity will improve as society continues to adapt to WFH.
Urban skyscrapers are going to be a difficult topic for society. They are not practical for much more than offices and apartments but converting between the those two functions brings unique challenges and expense. They might work as prisons if society chooses to get tough on crime again.
Companies were attracted to urban skyscrapers because large cities often had large groups of college graduates. WFH eliminates the need for clustering and crowding. I do not yet feel comfortable predicting what widespread work from home will do the large urban centers.
That is a lot of new capacity for homeless shelters, and right on time too.
Turning skyscrapers into prisons sounds like a dystopian future.
Homelessness needs to be handled with more humanity.
... yeah, and it's not going to happen. That is quite the bizarre fantasy, if you ask me. Even if we continue to increase our already outsized level of incarceration, no one is going to use overly expensive buildings to house inmates.
... yeah, and it's not going to happen. That is quite the bizarre fantasy, if you ask me. Even if we continue to increase our already outsized level of incarceration, no one is going to use overly expensive buildings to house inmates.
The only reason prisons popped into my head when writing about skyscrapers is because that particular work environment felt like a prison to me. In my career I spent 1.5 years working on the 27th floor of a skyscraper in Boston and that was the most tedious office space to get in and out of on a daily basis out of all the places I have worked. Homeless shelters, as Igor Blevin suggested, are a more practical use for them.
I would miss the cafeteria, but that is another good cost savings for companies closing down offices and go to all WFH. I mean, you still need a small office for now and then but, you lose the lease cost, the cost for light and water and heat, janitors, cafe staff, free or subisized parking for managers, and fire middle management. That is a big cost savings.
Why would anybody want "back to office"? Musk is nuts.
Probably the people I work with that have no food in the house and eat out 3 times a day.
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