To be, or not to be, in the office. Has returning to work stalled?
(2023/12/09)
- Reference: 1702112414
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/12/09/register_kettle_remote_work/
- Source link:
Kettle Readers have been up in arms this week about a study by Stanford boffins suggesting that the return to the office trend is stalling, as workers rebel against demands that they take up the commute again.
The [1]analysis covers a topic that many in the tech industry (those of us blessed with jobs that can be done remotely at least) have been debating. After years of sales pitches about the benefits of working from home, COVID-19 forced the issue and many of us spent over two years working from home, or living at work - depending on how that's handled, as we discuss below.
The shift to hybrid working is going to have massive repercussions, not only on the lives of laborers but on interpersonal relationships, city structures, commercial real estate and the pension funds that depend on it, and the lives of billions. Many employees - particularly new ones - have sometimes never met their coworkers and so lack the crucial knowledge that only comes from personal contact.
[2]We challenged you to come up with tech predictions for 2024 (wrong answers only) – here are some favorites so far
[3]Elon is the bakery owner swearing in the street about Yelp critics canceling him
[4]OpenAI meltdown: Where does this leave the upstart, Microsoft, and you?
There are also security concerns about more staff being remote, although earlier predictions of a criminals' field day appear not to have borne fruit. These and other issues on this shift to a fully hybrid model are chewed over by four Register vultures. Full disclosure: We're all working from home today.
Joining us from the UK in his man shed at the bottom of the garden is Richard Speed, security editor Jessica Lyons Hardcastle shares her experiences, and remote devotee Brandon Vigliarolo.
Moderation is provided by Iain Thomson and our expert producer is The Next Platform [5]veteran Nicole Hemsoth Prickett. You can get the audio-only podcast on your usual channels. If you want to catch up on earlier editions there's an archive [6]here . ®
[7]
Get our [8]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/03/return_to_office/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/30/kettle_xmas_prize/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/02/kettle_musk_tantrum/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/21/kettle_openai/
[5] https://www.nextplatform.com/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/Tag/kettle
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZXRI2kqbFW7CAMqLeDMsbAAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[8] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The [1]analysis covers a topic that many in the tech industry (those of us blessed with jobs that can be done remotely at least) have been debating. After years of sales pitches about the benefits of working from home, COVID-19 forced the issue and many of us spent over two years working from home, or living at work - depending on how that's handled, as we discuss below.
The shift to hybrid working is going to have massive repercussions, not only on the lives of laborers but on interpersonal relationships, city structures, commercial real estate and the pension funds that depend on it, and the lives of billions. Many employees - particularly new ones - have sometimes never met their coworkers and so lack the crucial knowledge that only comes from personal contact.
[2]We challenged you to come up with tech predictions for 2024 (wrong answers only) – here are some favorites so far
[3]Elon is the bakery owner swearing in the street about Yelp critics canceling him
[4]OpenAI meltdown: Where does this leave the upstart, Microsoft, and you?
There are also security concerns about more staff being remote, although earlier predictions of a criminals' field day appear not to have borne fruit. These and other issues on this shift to a fully hybrid model are chewed over by four Register vultures. Full disclosure: We're all working from home today.
Joining us from the UK in his man shed at the bottom of the garden is Richard Speed, security editor Jessica Lyons Hardcastle shares her experiences, and remote devotee Brandon Vigliarolo.
Moderation is provided by Iain Thomson and our expert producer is The Next Platform [5]veteran Nicole Hemsoth Prickett. You can get the audio-only podcast on your usual channels. If you want to catch up on earlier editions there's an archive [6]here . ®
[7]
Get our [8]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/03/return_to_office/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/30/kettle_xmas_prize/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/02/kettle_musk_tantrum/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/21/kettle_openai/
[5] https://www.nextplatform.com/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/Tag/kettle
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZXRI2kqbFW7CAMqLeDMsbAAAAJA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[8] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Remote
There are also security concerns about more staff being remote, although earlier predictions of a criminals' field day appear not to have borne fruit.
Bogeyman after bogeyman. In fact, far larger security concern are workers commuting in and out of work. It is easier for thieves the scout the stations close to offices and find victims misplacing their laptops, not paying attention to equipment or documents or napping, being absolutely knackered after the day at office, than trying to find where certain workers live and try to strike there.
WFH is far more secure, because you don't have the effect of all eggs in one basket (all workers in the office) and everything is decentralised and can be asynchronous (more productive).
This whole debate comes from the fact the landlords can't face the future of their investments in commercial property losing value.