The Workforce Is About to Change Dramatically (theatlantic.com)
- Reference: 0134492747
- News link: https://it.slashdot.org/story/20/08/08/0510251/the-workforce-is-about-to-change-dramatically
- Source link: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/just-small-shift-remote-work-could-change-everything/614980/
"If, in five years, these edicts have no lingering effects on office culture, that would be awfully strange..."
> Ambitious engineers, media makers, marketers, PR people, and others [1]may be more inclined to strike out on their own , in part because they will, at some point, look around at their living room and realize: I am alone, and I might as well monetize the fact of my independence. A new era of entrepreneurship may be born in America, supercharged by a dash of social-existential angst.
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> Or, you know, maybe not. If companies find that remote work is a mess, they might decide to prematurely scrap the experiment, like [2]IBM and [3]Yahoo famously did. It is certainly curious that the most prestigious tech companies now proclaiming the future of working from home were, just seven months ago, [4]outfitting their offices with the finest sushi bars, yoga rooms, and massage rooms...
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> Nothing is certain, and every new trend incurs a backlash. Telepresence could crush some downtown businesses; but cheaper downtown real estate could also lead to a resurgence in interesting new restaurants. Working from home could lead to more free-agent entrepreneurship; but if companies notice that they're bleeding talent, they'll haul their workforces back to headquarters. Still, even a moderate increase in remote work could lead to fundamental changes in our labor force, economy, and politics. Remote workers will spend more money and time inside their houses; they will spend more time with online communities than with colleagues; and many will distribute themselves across the country, rather than feel it necessary to cluster near semi-optional headquarters.
[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/just-small-shift-remote-work-could-change-everything/614980/
[2] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/11/when-working-from-home-doesnt-work/540660/
[3] https://distantjob.com/blog/yeah-but-yahoo-learning-from-remote-works-biggest-fail/
[4] https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/07/dont-give-up-on-offices-quite-yet.html
Downtown (Score:5, Interesting)
Been seeing something like this happen for decades in Akihabara.
Akiba (as it is called for short) used to be full of shops selling electronic components, computers, hifi, video games, radio gear and the like. Basically nerd paradise. Over time it has been evolving as a lot of that stuff moves online. In some ways it's a shame, you could go there and browse stuff and there were many rare parts, especially retro stuff. But it was also inevitable, especially as travelling there was difficult for many people so naturally they prefer to bid on Yahoo auctions (still a thing in Japan) or order from a warehouse.
So now there are other kinds of shops too. Lots of manga and character goods, and a huge number of restaurants. Really it's become one of Tokyo's most interesting dining areas now. Another type of shop has appeared too: the "junk" shop. Basically old electronics and computer gear, mostly sold as seen because they can't test it. Really great fun.
Contrast with the high street in the UK which is dying fast. Rents are way too high so when the big chain stores go away smaller ones can't afford to come in. Town centres have little to attract people because they are all the same - same chain stores, same cafes, nothing much of interest and with COVID restrictions on things like trying on clothes there isn't really any reason not to just buy online now.
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> So now there are other kinds of shops too. Lots of manga and character goods, and a huge number of restaurants. Really it's become one of Tokyo's most interesting dining areas now.
I feel like Akihabara is good for cheap (but fun) food, whereas if you actually want good food, you're more likely to find it at Ginza (for flashy) or Shibuya (for hip) or Ueno (for good but depressed).
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I suppose most of it is on the cheaper end, but I like that. Kichijoji is really good too.
business restaurants (Score:2)
> Telepresence could crush some downtown businesses; but cheaper downtown real estate could also lead to a resurgence in interesting new restaurants.
Restaurants that are aimed at business lunchers are rarely memorable. They have a different goal.
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Being profitable? I find that's the goal of many restaurants. Not all mind you, there's the occasional pizza sex trafficking business model.
Yahoo is not an example (Score:3)
Yahoo “scrapped” their remote work plan because their shiny new CEO was a micromanaging control freak.
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> Yahoo “scrapped” their remote work plan because their shiny new CEO was a micromanaging control freak.
Yahoo had some major productivity issues. My neighbor worked for Yahoo and Fridays were his "work-from-home" days. He spent the day mowing his lawn and trimming his shrubs.
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Hey, good for him. If his work was done, great.
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The one or two days a week model is exactly what's prone to leading to that kind of behavior. Because the employees are still largely on a old school model of expectations which is show up and you can get by with the bare minimum.
Real WFH models are full time and expectations are based on meeting measurable goals and then supervisors don't (or at least, shouldn't) care how you spend your time. If you can meet your goals in 2 hours a day and goof off the rest of the time, who cares? If you want to take it
Stop peddling it, like it is a good idea! (Score:2, Funny)
It kills the social feedback that prevents teams from devolving into basically social media flamewars.
There are only two kinds of people who prefer that situation. And they are both mentally ill. (Which is defined as a mental state that causes suffering.)
1. Peoole with severe social anxiety. Usually due to mistreatment. (As in: They don't know how nice a healthy social environment is, and falsely avoid all social situations instead of just the bad ones.)
2 Greedy psychos who care more for the quick buck tha
Re:Stop peddling it, like it is a good idea! (Score:5, Insightful)
I like working from home because I don't have to commute.
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Do you have a psychology degree or something, or is that only your personal kitchen psychology?
Yes, the business world is anti-human, which is because it is designed for profit, not for people. Because its sole purpose is to make profit, not to make people happy. Making people happy comes into it only when businesses either wouldn't find employees otherwise, or when, as an exception, businesses finally get the idea that happy employees are better employees. Still in most places it's only ok if it doesn't co
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> And they are both mentally ill
You are calling those not sharing your views or doing things differently mentally ill. Don't you see the irony there? You are actually showing a pretty anti-social behaviour yourself. Some people could even think that this post was written by a psycho, someone who gets angry with/attacks others for no clear reason, someone who doesn't seem to be able to adequately understand others, someone who wants to impose his views on random others. Other people might think that your post was written by someone with c
The pub (Score:1)
Weirdly enough quite a few local friends are WFH and we all now go to the pub for lunch (sandwiches basically) and no alcohol
Who decided... (Score:4, Interesting)
... that being self-employed is a universally good thing? We've seen what happens when the IT industry treats workers as contractors rather than employees. Corporations love not having to provide health insurance, paid sick leave, paid holidays, etc., & they love hiring contractors on precarious, conditional contracts, making late payments, imposing fines, etc., that for an employee would be prosecuted as wage theft. Unless you're one of those rare workers with highly valued & sought after knowledge, skills, & attitudes that can't be easily replaced, you're gonna be competing with what used to be your co-workers for every contract in a race to the bottom. Basically, if a corporation values you, they'll make you an employee. If not, well, off you go to fight it out with the rest of them. Corporations hate competition for themselves but love it for their workers.
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Get your point, but I've been independent for decades.
I'm fortunate that I've managed to preserve my margins, so I don't really care about big company comp. & ben.
I'll manage my own holidays and sickness and retirement cover, thanks!
Of course, I realise that this is not for everybody...
From now on... (Score:2)
Only clueless pyschpathic assholes will be allowed to go into the office to make ridiculous, unreasonable demands on the "remote workers".
Also, "remote workers" is what the guys standing on the deck of the slave oar-ships referred to the rowers below as.
Welcome to the new economy!!!
Really? (Score:2)
"For the first time ever, the world's largest companies are telling hundreds of thousands of workers to stay away from the office for a full year, or longer,"
Mercedes and BMW are even telling tens of thousands of their worker to stay at home forever, they don't even have to work there.
Remote workers always left behind (Score:1)
If you don't think so, ask yourself "Are the people one level above me in my company demonstrably smarter than I am? Are their bosses really smarter than they are?" Unless your company is really small or really new, the answer is no. Organizations develop cultures, and these cultures define standards. People who can't meet the standard are let go. In the US, there are little or no barriers for professionals to change companies, so people who find the standard not demanding enough move on. The company
I doubt it will lead to significantly more freelan (Score:2)
Over the years I've had numerous people ask me for advice on becoming a consultant and very few ever left their employer. Even people who lost their jobs recently aren't interested--I even offered to have them do consulting work for me as their first client.
There is a mindset required for running a business and it is not driven by office culture or the comfort of working from home.
One key part of that mindset is the ability to keep pitching prospective clients and not taking it personally when they decline
Exclusivity (Score:2)
From a company perspective having people in their office gives one big benefit. It is very hard for their employees to be working for anyone else at the same time.
Moving those employees out of sight of supervisors eliminates that certainty. We have to face it, most office-based jobs do not require an employee's full attention for 7½ hours, 5 days a week. A well organised individual could probably complete their assignments in much less time. Especially when they are relieved of the overheads of meeti
Remote working (Score:5, Insightful)
Remote working doesn't suit everyone, some employees don't work well from home..
On the other hand, many work better, it saves money for the company in the form of office space and for the employee in terms of commuting time and cost. It also enables attracting talent from further afield, and enables employees to live where they want instead of close to where they need to work.
There are also significant environmental benefits due to reduced travel.
Overall the benefits outweigh the downsides.
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It really helps to have some group chat facilities. Maybe not official ones, people need to be able to relax and talk "off the record", i.e. not on a company server. That way you replicate the causal chat in the office and keep it separate from more formal communication between colleages.
Re:Remote working (Score:4, Insightful)
That works until the legal department realises that the employees are creating informal conversations with a logged record - all that office banter is now lawsuit-fodder.
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Isn't that a good thing as far as legal is concerned? The company can only be held responsible for what is said on a private chat service if an employee complains to HR about it, in which case they have a full log of everything said and don't have to mess about trying to determine what the truth really is.
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> Isn't that a good thing as far as legal is concerned?
It is good for internal legal matters, like a harassment claim.
It is bad for external legal matters since the logs can be subpoenaed.
Never say anything online that you can't explain to a jury.
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Indeed. My workgroup quickly established a whatsapp group (which finally forced me to give in and install whatsapp, too, after many years of successfully avoiding it). Problem, though, is, it's always the whole group that's listening to everything. Many typical corridor talks don't happen there.
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I prefer Discord. It's very easy to create new channels for side chats (that are invisible to others) and it has better memes.
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Very much this. I plan 'informal' chats with team members, (preferably not using company resources), both collectively and individually. OK it lacks spontaneity, but in practical terms it works very well.
Since everyone's holiday plans got canned, we create 'virtual' holidays for each other, we have virtual cocktail parties...sounds weird, is actually quite fun.
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> some employees don't work well from home..
This is likely to simply be a selectionary process. Like modern engineers need to be talented in mathematics, and those that can't do calculus are automatically selected against in the field, fields where people can work remotely will likely soon begin to select against those that don't work well from home.
No wage rises - bargaining power reduced (Score:2)
There can be no inflation while workers have no effective bargaining power. There can be asset inflation - but not wage. Working from home is a win for HR and the company, unless you are the top 5%. On a global perspective this is another downer for the deplorables who also lost their shirt in 2008. Yup, the gig economy is not working for everybody. Rents in prime areas will not go down much. Because you get more sex in the city, and pretty women know their odds of finding economically stable matches are