Get Your Butt Back To The Office (1 Viewer)

[offdee]

Amazon’s kind of an outlier because they have zero interest in employee retention. They see constant turnover as a feature, not a bug.

Why is that?

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Amazon’s kind of an outlier because they have zero interest in employee retention. They see constant turnover as a feature, not a bug.

Why is that?

Because Bezos is a psycho?

There were articles written about this years ago. My brother in law works at an Amazon warehouse and says they don’t have promotion or career track discussions that go beyond 3 years because they don’t expect the vast majority of people to last beyond 3 years.

It seems like they would rather squeeze everything out of everyone in 1 to 3 years and then move on. Kind of like how most NFL teams handle running backs.

 

[bigbottom]

Amazon’s kind of an outlier because they have zero interest in employee retention. They see constant turnover as a feature, not a bug.

Why is that?

Keeps wages lower for one thing.

 

[fruity pebbles]

Amazon’s kind of an outlier because they have zero interest in employee retention. They see constant turnover as a feature, not a bug.

Why is that?

Because Bezos is a psycho?

There were articles written about this years ago. My brother in law works at an Amazon warehouse and says they don’t have promotion or career track discussions that go beyond 3 years because they don’t expect the vast majority of people to last beyond 3 years.

It seems like they would rather squeeze everything out of everyone in 1 to 3 years and then move on. Kind of like how most NFL teams handle running backs.

In the warehouse I could see that because unfortunately they are easily replaceable.

 

[Instinctive]

Amazon’s kind of an outlier because they have zero interest in employee retention. They see constant turnover as a feature, not a bug.

Why is that?

Because Bezos is a psycho?

There were articles written about this years ago. My brother in law works at an Amazon warehouse and says they don’t have promotion or career track discussions that go beyond 3 years because they don’t expect the vast majority of people to last beyond 3 years.

It seems like they would rather squeeze everything out of everyone in 1 to 3 years and then move on. Kind of like how most NFL teams handle running backs.

This was also true at the elite MBA level. They were universally viewed as the ultimate sweatshop. Similar tech company entrance as Biglaw for attorneys and MBB firms for other MBAs not already coming from those places and trying to jumpstart a future C-level career track.

Lots of "I'll be a PM at Amazon for 2 years and then jump to a higher role down market or more traditional F100."

Similar take as the rest of FAANG, but far and away the hardest on its people.

 

[nirad3]

I love it that I *HAVE* to be in the office twice weekly, and on those days my butt *MUST* be in my seat from 8ish to 5ish. No exceptions (unless you have a doctor's appointment or something).

I work for a company that does business nationwide and the majority of my work is done with those in the CTZ, so my emails effectively stop around 2 or 2:30 PT. So yeah, here I am browsing the FFA and about to go take a 20-minute poop.

 

[offdee]

I love it that I *HAVE* to be in the office twice weekly, and on those days my butt *MUST* be in my seat from 8ish to 5ish. No exceptions (unless you have a doctor's appointment or something).

I work for a company that does business nationwide and the majority of my work is done with those in the CTZ, so my emails effectively stop around 2 or 2:30 PT. So yeah, here I am browsing the FFA and about to go take a 20-minute poop.

This is why I'll never work in the office again unless I absolutely have to. It's a ridiculous waste of time.

 

[nirad3]

I love it that I *HAVE* to be in the office twice weekly, and on those days my butt *MUST* be in my seat from 8ish to 5ish. No exceptions (unless you have a doctor's appointment or something).

I work for a company that does business nationwide and the majority of my work is done with those in the CTZ, so my emails effectively stop around 2 or 2:30 PT. So yeah, here I am browsing the FFA and about to go take a 20-minute poop.

This is why I'll never work in the office again unless I absolutely have to. It's a ridiculous waste of time.

Yeah and I've heard grumblings they might want local employees to be in-office THREE days a week. Which would be stupid. Two of my cohorts are fully-remote and about 10 others in a similar role are remote too. It makes no sense.

 

[Golden Gopher]

Amazon’s kind of an outlier because they have zero interest in employee retention. They see constant turnover as a feature, not a bug.

Why is that?

Because Bezos is a psycho?

There were articles written about this years ago. My brother in law works at an Amazon warehouse and says they don’t have promotion or career track discussions that go beyond 3 years because they don’t expect the vast majority of people to last beyond 3 years.

It seems like they would rather squeeze everything out of everyone in 1 to 3 years and then move on. Kind of like how most NFL teams handle running backs.

This is absolutely true. In my previous life, I worked for FedEx and did a lot of work with Amazon (before they had their own delivery fleet). I've known many Operations/Logistics managers who have left FedEx or other companies to go to Amazon for more money, and almost all of them don't last more than a couple of years. While they made more money up front, the other factors wear you down over time. Quality of life isn't great, team morale sucks, etc. It truly is a big machine that chews you up and spits you out when you're all used up.

While most companies value retention (many say things like "it costs 10X more to hire someone new than to retain what you have), my impression was/is that Amazon essentially looks at things exactly the opposite. The fact that they pay more initially than a lot of companies gets people in the door, but it only gets you so far. Yet, Amazon doesn't seem to care. They have no problem with you leaving and having to bring in someone new.

It's funny... A lot of big companies spend tons of time and money trying to convince you that you're not just a number (whether that's true is a debate for another day). Amazon doesn't seem to mind telling their people that you ARE just a number. Perform and get paid or be replaced.

 

[Yambag]

I love it that I *HAVE* to be in the office twice weekly, and on those days my butt *MUST* be in my seat from 8ish to 5ish. No exceptions (unless you have a doctor's appointment or something).

I work for a company that does business nationwide and the majority of my work is done with those in the CTZ, so my emails effectively stop around 2 or 2:30 PT. So yeah, here I am browsing the FFA and about to go take a 20-minute poop.

I'm fighting this battle right now as well. We are 3 days in, 2 days remote, but there is literally no reason why everyone can't do their job remotely. Nothing burns me more than spending 2 hours a day commuting for to do the same job I can do just as effectively at home. I just can't wrap my head around it and am looking around to see if I can find a fully remote gig.

 

[beer 30]

So yeah, here I am browsing the FFA and about to go take a 20-minute poop.

Pooping on company time is like a little bonus every time it happens, I always approach it as they are paying me to poop, it just makes things better.

I just can't wrap my head around it and am looking around to see if I can find a fully remote gig.

Does the company own or are locked into a long term lease on the building you are in?

 

[Joe Schmo]

I love it that I *HAVE* to be in the office twice weekly, and on those days my butt *MUST* be in my seat from 8ish to 5ish. No exceptions (unless you have a doctor's appointment or something).

I work for a company that does business nationwide and the majority of my work is done with those in the CTZ, so my emails effectively stop around 2 or 2:30 PT. So yeah, here I am browsing the FFA and about to go take a 20-minute poop.

I'm fighting this battle right now as well. We are 3 days in, 2 days remote, but there is literally no reason why everyone can't do their job remotely. Nothing burns me more than spending 2 hours a day commuting for to do the same job I can do just as effectively at home. I just can't wrap my head around it and am looking around to see if I can find a fully remote gig.

You don't have the same opportunity to build TEAM morale when everyone is remote. That two hour commute and all those zoom meetings provide a sense of belonging and create a business family atmosphere. We all make sacrifices.

 

[Timmay]

Currently we get to work remote 2 days out of the week, but I am in the transition to get a new manager by Jan 1 2025 and with the new manager, a lot is up in the air with being allowed to work remote. Working remote is a huge perk imo and if I don't get to moving forward I will most likely end up looking for a new position.

 

[Sullie]

I love it that I *HAVE* to be in the office twice weekly, and on those days my butt *MUST* be in my seat from 8ish to 5ish. No exceptions (unless you have a doctor's appointment or something).

I work for a company that does business nationwide and the majority of my work is done with those in the CTZ, so my emails effectively stop around 2 or 2:30 PT. So yeah, here I am browsing the FFA and about to go take a 20-minute poop.

I'm fighting this battle right now as well. We are 3 days in, 2 days remote, but there is literally no reason why everyone can't do their job remotely. Nothing burns me more than spending 2 hours a day commuting for to do the same job I can do just as effectively at home. I just can't wrap my head around it and am looking around to see if I can find a fully remote gig.

You don't have the same opportunity to build TEAM morale when everyone is remote. That two hour commute and all those zoom meetings provide a sense of belonging and create a business family atmosphere. We all make sacrifices.

*** My experience is completely anecdotal of course and not meant to be broad sweeping across the board. ***
The problem is that most companies, like mine, hired a LOT of out of state people so that makes this, literally, impossible at this point. My department alone (IT) consists of 16 people, 8 work out of state or 50%. If you take a department like claims or customer support, I believe that number is more like 70%. I'm involved in onboarding new hires, and I think the last 10 people we've hired work in different states. I would guess most companies are probably like this as well these days, again, making in person meetings impossible and I believe entirely irrelevant anyway. We've been operating this way since 2020 and I honestly don't see that it matters.

 

[Yambag]

I love it that I *HAVE* to be in the office twice weekly, and on those days my butt *MUST* be in my seat from 8ish to 5ish. No exceptions (unless you have a doctor's appointment or something).

I work for a company that does business nationwide and the majority of my work is done with those in the CTZ, so my emails effectively stop around 2 or 2:30 PT. So yeah, here I am browsing the FFA and about to go take a 20-minute poop.

I'm fighting this battle right now as well. We are 3 days in, 2 days remote, but there is literally no reason why everyone can't do their job remotely. Nothing burns me more than spending 2 hours a day commuting for to do the same job I can do just as effectively at home. I just can't wrap my head around it and am looking around to see if I can find a fully remote gig.

You don't have the same opportunity to build TEAM morale when everyone is remote. That two hour commute and all those zoom meetings provide a sense of belonging and create a business family atmosphere. We all make sacrifices.

This is exactly what they pitch from the top, and like good soldiers we smile and nod but in reality, very few value it at all. To a previous point, yes, they are in the middle of a new lease, which I'm sure is a big part of it. If I had my druthers, coming in would be optional. We do hold client meetings in the office and necessary staff know they are to come in for them, but really those are the only instances it is absolutely necessary. It's also not a very forward thinking company but then they wonder why they can't attract good young talent.

 

[nirad3]

I love it that I *HAVE* to be in the office twice weekly, and on those days my butt *MUST* be in my seat from 8ish to 5ish. No exceptions (unless you have a doctor's appointment or something).

I work for a company that does business nationwide and the majority of my work is done with those in the CTZ, so my emails effectively stop around 2 or 2:30 PT. So yeah, here I am browsing the FFA and about to go take a 20-minute poop.

I'm fighting this battle right now as well. We are 3 days in, 2 days remote, but there is literally no reason why everyone can't do their job remotely. Nothing burns me more than spending 2 hours a day commuting for to do the same job I can do just as effectively at home. I just can't wrap my head around it and am looking around to see if I can find a fully remote gig.

Ugh, that would chap my hide even further. I am 20ish minutes each way. No big deal at all. I listen to Fantasy Sports Radio on SiriusXM on the way in and usually classical on the way home to soothe the nerves after the long day of basically nothing at the office.

 

[Desert_Power]

So yeah, here I am browsing the FFA and about to go take a 20-minute poop.

Pooping on company is like a little bonus every time it happens, I always approach it as they are paying me to poop, it just makes things better.

We have chosen to not have enough bathrooms for the amount of people in this building, so it often involves a nice stroll to big empty bathrooms around town.

 

[offdee]

Curious what is the amount of pay you'd give up to be able to work fully remote. Where is the cutoff line for you?

A) Let's say it's a $100K job to be in the office full time....what is the amount you'd accept less for it to be full time work from home?

B) or vice versa, if you were making $100K presently working from home, what amount would it take you to go back to an office full time?

I work from home full time, so I'm presently scenario B....if I was making $100K fully remote it would probably need to be about $130K for me to go into the office full time again.

 

[belljr]

Curious what is the amount of pay you'd give up to be able to work fully remote. Where is the cutoff line for you?

A) Let's say it's a $100K job to be in the office full time....what is the amount you'd accept less for it to be full time work from home?

B) or vice versa, if you were making $100K presently working from home, what amount would it take you to go back to an office full time?

I work from home full time, so I'm presently scenario B....if I was making $100K fully remote it would probably need to be about $130K for me to go into the office full time again.

When we were factoring this in for my wife who was looking at a new job - we factored in tolls, gas, wear and tear, misc "your time" since our commutes are just under 1 hour.

I think we stumbled in somewhere around 10-15k.......

That being said if I had a 10 minute commute like I used too I would not take a huge amount to switch one way or the other. My current gig with the longer commute would be more in play

 

[Scoresman]

Curious what is the amount of pay you'd give up to be able to work fully remote. Where is the cutoff line for you?

A) Let's say it's a $100K job to be in the office full time....what is the amount you'd accept less for it to be full time work from home?

B) or vice versa, if you were making $100K presently working from home, what amount would it take you to go back to an office full time?

I work from home full time, so I'm presently scenario B....if I was making $100K fully remote it would probably need to be about $130K for me to go into the office full time again.

I'm more productive at home than in the office, so really, they should be paying me more to work remote.

 

[offdee]

I'm more productive at home than in the office, so really, they should be paying me more to work remote.

Yeah that's now how companies feel or how it works.

 

[Joe Schmo]

I'm more productive at home than in the office, so really, they should be paying me more to work remote.

Yeah that's now how companies feel or how it works.

Yep, we now have a proposed Department of Government Efficiency head who in another life ran a rather large corporation and stated that work from home-ers were fakers and slackers. Seems like a not uncommon view from many corporate higher ups.

 

[Scoresman]

Aren't these huge office space leases (that were the real reason the higher ups wanted everyone to return) up yet? You'd think with the reduced overhead of having office space, there would be some actual savings to having remote workers. And I know I'm not the only one who is more productive at home.

 

[offdee]

Aren't these huge office space leases (that were the real reason the higher ups wanted everyone to return) up yet? You'd think with the reduced overhead of having office space, there would be some actual savings to having remote workers. And I know I'm not the only one who is more productive at home.

Many big companies can do up to 10-20 year leases

 

[BassNBrew]

So yeah, here I am browsing the FFA and about to go take a 20-minute poop.

Pooping on company is like a little bonus every time it happens, I always approach it as they are paying me to poop, it just makes things better.

We have chosen to not have enough bathrooms for the amount of people in this building, so it often involves a nice stroll to big empty bathrooms around town.

Given how much you poop on the customer I guess they figure the employees would be out of poop

 

[beer 30]

Aren't these huge office space leases (that were the real reason the higher ups wanted everyone to return) up yet? You'd think with the reduced overhead of having office space, there would be some actual savings to having remote workers. And I know I'm not the only one who is more productive at home.

Many big companies can do up to 10-20 year leases

We just moved into a new building 3 years ago and I think we committed to 10 years. It was a new building occupied for about a year before COVID and the company never came back so in addition we requested the remaining tax breaks said company received for bringing jobs to the area. So yea, we ain't going anywhere anytime soon and we've pretty much told everyone if your particular job isn't solely WFH, your butt is required at the office.

 

[Desert_Power]

So yeah, here I am browsing the FFA and about to go take a 20-minute poop.

Pooping on company is like a little bonus every time it happens, I always approach it as they are paying me to poop, it just makes things better.

We have chosen to not have enough bathrooms for the amount of people in this building, so it often involves a nice stroll to big empty bathrooms around town.

Given how much you poop on the customer I guess they figure the employees would be out of poop

Hah. WF has so much lightly occupied real estate that it was never an issue. Quit there in March though.

 

[BassNBrew]

So yeah, here I am browsing the FFA and about to go take a 20-minute poop.

Pooping on company is like a little bonus every time it happens, I always approach it as they are paying me to poop, it just makes things better.

We have chosen to not have enough bathrooms for the amount of people in this building, so it often involves a nice stroll to big empty bathrooms around town.

Given how much you poop on the customer I guess they figure the employees would be out of poop

Hah. WF has so much lightly occupied real estate that it was never an issue. Quit there in March though.

Congrats. Bigger Littler and Better thing I trust.

 

[Grahamburn]

I'm more productive at home than in the office, so really, they should be paying me more to work remote.

Yeah that's now how companies feel or how it works.

They’re starting to realize how in demand these positions are and acting accordingly.

 

[offdee]

I'm more productive at home than in the office, so really, they should be paying me more to work remote.

Yeah that's now how companies feel or how it works.

They’re starting to realize how in demand these positions are and acting accordingly.

Meaning the WFH are in so demand and value placed on them by the worker that they offer a lower salary for them, correct?

 

[Judge Smails]

Aren't these huge office space leases (that were the real reason the higher ups wanted everyone to return) up yet? You'd think with the reduced overhead of having office space, there would be some actual savings to having remote workers. And I know I'm not the only one who is more productive at home.

This is a a great point. Two sides to this. Many companies got rid of offices during COVID. Subleased, etc. Those companies will not take on real estate and stay remote. Those with leases for awhile may push people back to hybrid or full time. I for one will never work in an office again. Left a gig when drove for 2+hours in So Cal only to find the CEO and everyone else was remote. So basically a zoom call for mandatory Monday meetings when he told me I had to be in. F that.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Just took a university job where it's a maybe once a month in the office for an event.

Take your return to office... And shovel it!

 

[Grahamburn]

I'm more productive at home than in the office, so really, they should be paying me more to work remote.

Yeah that's now how companies feel or how it works.

They’re starting to realize how in demand these positions are and acting accordingly.

Meaning the WFH are in so demand and value placed on them by the worker that they offer a lower salary for them, correct?

Yes. And they’re also eliminating, or will be eliminating, positions and then just piling that workload on fewer employees.

 

[WVU Alum]

I'm more productive at home than in the office, so really, they should be paying me more to work remote.

Yeah that's now how companies feel or how it works.

They’re starting to realize how in demand these positions are and acting accordingly.

Meaning the WFH are in so demand and value placed on them by the worker that they offer a lower salary for them, correct?

Yes. And they’re also eliminating, or will be eliminating, positions and then just piling that workload on fewer employees.

Most of them did that when we all worked in offices.

 

[Desert_Power]

So yeah, here I am browsing the FFA and about to go take a 20-minute poop.

Pooping on company is like a little bonus every time it happens, I always approach it as they are paying me to poop, it just makes things better.

We have chosen to not have enough bathrooms for the amount of people in this building, so it often involves a nice stroll to big empty bathrooms around town.

Given how much you poop on the customer I guess they figure the employees would be out of poop

Hah. WF has so much lightly occupied real estate that it was never an issue. Quit there in March though.

Congrats. Bigger Littler and Better thing I trust.

Thanks, about a 3rd of the size. Wasn't really looking but it was a good offer while I was on retirement/vacation.

 

[Max Power]

I'm more productive at home than in the office, so really, they should be paying me more to work remote.

Yeah that's now how companies feel or how it works.

Yep, we now have a proposed Department of Government Efficiency head who in another life ran a rather large corporation and stated that work from home-ers were fakers and slackers. Seems like a not uncommon view from many corporate higher ups.

I saw Elon's take on it months ago and he made a couple decent observations.

I just watched Vivek on Tucker who basically suggested forcing government workers back to the office would cause about 25% of bureaucrats to quit. Which I believe is their goal.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

I'm more productive at home than in the office, so really, they should be paying me more to work remote.

Yeah that's now how companies feel or how it works.

Yep, we now have a proposed Department of Government Efficiency head who in another life ran a rather large corporation and stated that work from home-ers were fakers and slackers. Seems like a not uncommon view from many corporate higher ups.

I saw Elon's take on it months ago and he made a couple decent observations.

I just watched Vivek on Tucker who basically suggested forcing government workers back to the office would cause about 25% of bureaucrats to quit. Which I believe is their goal.

I've seen that suggestion floated in several places too. Forcing government workers back into the office is definitely going to lead to a bunch of resignations. I guess it's an empirical matter as to whether they're running off the good workers or the bad workers.

A similar strategy is going to be moving federal agencies into the hinterlands and making people actually move there if they want to keep their jobs. They already did that with the USDA, and I expect a whole bunch more of those people to be told that they're either moving to Kansas City or they're finding a new employer. (In principle, this is good for workers -- it's a lot easier to find affordable housing in flyover country than it is in DC. But we know from USDA's relocation that federal workers really hate the idea of moving out of DC.)

 

[thecatch]

I'm more productive at home than in the office, so really, they should be paying me more to work remote.

Yeah that's now how companies feel or how it works.

Yep, we now have a proposed Department of Government Efficiency head who in another life ran a rather large corporation and stated that work from home-ers were fakers and slackers. Seems like a not uncommon view from many corporate higher ups.

I saw Elon's take on it months ago and he made a couple decent observations.

I just watched Vivek on Tucker who basically suggested forcing government workers back to the office would cause about 25% of bureaucrats to quit. Which I believe is their goal.

I've seen that suggestion floated in several places too. Forcing government workers back into the office is definitely going to lead to a bunch of resignations. I guess it's an empirical matter as to whether they're running off the good workers or the bad workers.

I'd be curious if the data actually supports that. CA state workers threw a huge fit when Gavin Newsom dragged them back to the office earlier this year, but the job market doesn't seem to be flooded with refugees from the public sector.

 

[SofaKings]

I love it that I *HAVE* to be in the office twice weekly, and on those days my butt *MUST* be in my seat from 8ish to 5ish. No exceptions (unless you have a doctor's appointment or something).

I work for a company that does business nationwide and the majority of my work is done with those in the CTZ, so my emails effectively stop around 2 or 2:30 PT. So yeah, here I am browsing the FFA and about to go take a 20-minute poop.

This is why I'll never work in the office again unless I absolutely have to. It's a ridiculous waste of time.

Runway models have office hours??

 

[Max Power]

I'm more productive at home than in the office, so really, they should be paying me more to work remote.

Yeah that's now how companies feel or how it works.

Yep, we now have a proposed Department of Government Efficiency head who in another life ran a rather large corporation and stated that work from home-ers were fakers and slackers. Seems like a not uncommon view from many corporate higher ups.

I saw Elon's take on it months ago and he made a couple decent observations.

I just watched Vivek on Tucker who basically suggested forcing government workers back to the office would cause about 25% of bureaucrats to quit. Which I believe is their goal.

I've seen that suggestion floated in several places too. Forcing government workers back into the office is definitely going to lead to a bunch of resignations. I guess it's an empirical matter as to whether they're running off the good workers or the bad workers.

A similar strategy is going to be moving federal agencies into the hinterlands and making people actually move there if they want to keep their jobs. They already did that with the USDA, and I expect a whole bunch more of those people to be told that they're either moving to Kansas City or they're finding a new employer. (In principle, this is good for workers -- it's a lot easier to find affordable housing in flyover country than it is in DC. But we know from USDA's relocation that federal workers really hate the idea of moving out of DC.)

I assume you lose a healthy mix of both good and bad workers, but there is a lot of government bloat on the books. Whatever reduces that bloat is probably a win overall. Government workers are probably lazier and less accountable than their private sector counterparts. Clocking in to a government job is half the battle.

I'm a big fan of moving federal agencies out of the beltway. I worked up there for a year and while it was a good experience, I didn't want to set my roots down in DC. I took a paycut to move to North Carolina, but my standard of living increased and I'm much happier here. More opportunities outside of DC will be a positive in attracting "Flyover country" people.

 

[Riffraff]

They already did that with the USDA, and I expect a whole bunch more of those people to be told that they're either moving to Kansas City or they're finding a new employer. (In principle, this is good for workers -- it's a lot easier to find affordable housing in flyover country than it is in DC. But we know from USDA's relocation that federal workers really hate the idea of moving out of DC.)

Financial standpoint it would be good if more gub'ment departments get relocated to lower cost of living locations. Facilities cost and pay per person would make a small dent in the budget over time. And peeps that go to DC for 3 years to bump up the retirement pay would also save the budget coin over the course of many lifetimes.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

My company owns its own building and has since 1970.

Most positions have been fully remote since the pandemic, and a bunch of people who live nowhere near the office have been hired since then.

Today our CEO said that starting on March 1, everyone who lives within 50 miles of the office will have to come in twice a week.

I suspect this is a way to reduce headcount without having to resort to layoffs, as I'm sure some people will bail over this.

 

[WVU Alum]

My company owns its own building and has since 1970.

Most positions have been fully remote since the pandemic, and a bunch of people who live nowhere near the office have been hired since then.

Today our CEO said that starting on March 1, everyone who lives within 50 miles of the office will have to come in twice a week.

I suspect this is a way to reduce headcount without having to resort to layoffs, as I'm sure some people will bail over this.

Sounds like the solution is to move 51 miles away from the office.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

My company owns its own building and has since 1970.

Most positions have been fully remote since the pandemic, and a bunch of people who live nowhere near the office have been hired since then.

Today our CEO said that starting on March 1, everyone who lives within 50 miles of the office will have to come in twice a week.

I suspect this is a way to reduce headcount without having to resort to layoffs, as I'm sure some people will bail over this.

Sounds like the solution is to move 51 miles away from the office.

That’s what I said on a text chain with work friends yesterday!

 

[Grahamburn]

My company owns its own building and has since 1970.

Most positions have been fully remote since the pandemic, and a bunch of people who live nowhere near the office have been hired since then.

Today our CEO said that starting on March 1, everyone who lives within 50 miles of the office will have to come in twice a week.

I suspect this is a way to reduce headcount without having to resort to layoffs, as I'm sure some people will bail over this.

It's a pretty simple formula. Calculate the expected resignations versus the increases in salary for remaining employees to handle the workload. The latter is almost always cheaper.

The remote job market is brutal. Those looking for 100% remote work are going to be facing stiff competition.

 

[the moops]

No chance I would ever commute 50 miles to a job

 

[Joe Schmo]

My company owns its own building and has since 1970.

Most positions have been fully remote since the pandemic, and a bunch of people who live nowhere near the office have been hired since then.

Today our CEO said that starting on March 1, everyone who lives within 50 miles of the office will have to come in twice a week.

I suspect this is a way to reduce headcount without having to resort to layoffs, as I'm sure some people will bail over this.

It's a pretty simple formula. Calculate the expected resignations versus the increases in salary for remaining employees to handle the workload. The latter is almost always cheaper.

The remote job market is brutal. Those looking for 100% remote work are going to be facing stiff competition.

How heavy is the new work load going to be on the remaining employees and will they be able to handle all the tasks and responsibilities? Doesn't sound as if this plan takes into account where there may be bloat but just assumes it's everywhere and this phase will remedy that. I'm doubtful. Sounds like the stupid penny plan but with personnel.

 

[TLEF316]

My brother's company did the same thing. I dont know what the number is (want to say it was like 35 miles) but was "as the crow flies", not practical driving distance. They made zero exceptions, even for people that were FULL TIME remote pre-covid.

So my brother's long time assistant, who had been with the company for like 25 years just quit. She lived right on the edge of the zone (in an area with crazy traffic. She would have had like a 90 minute commute) and they wouldn't even consider an exception at the corporate level.

Insanity.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

My company owns its own building and has since 1970.

Most positions have been fully remote since the pandemic, and a bunch of people who live nowhere near the office have been hired since then.

Today our CEO said that starting on March 1, everyone who lives within 50 miles of the office will have to come in twice a week.

I suspect this is a way to reduce headcount without having to resort to layoffs, as I'm sure some people will bail over this.

It's a pretty simple formula. Calculate the expected resignations versus the increases in salary for remaining employees to handle the workload. The latter is almost always cheaper.

The remote job market is brutal. Those looking for 100% remote work are going to be facing stiff competition.

How heavy is the new work load going to be on the remaining employees and will they be able to handle all the tasks and responsibilities? Doesn't sound as if this plan takes into account where there may be bloat but just assumes it's everywhere and this phase will remedy that. I'm doubtful. Sounds like the stupid penny plan but with personnel.

It’s already heavier on me because someone from my team quit last month and isn’t going to be replaced any time soon.

Our department is working on coming up with a “do less” plan, so there’s that.

 

[-OZ-]

No chance I would ever commute 50 miles to a job

Yep. I did it in law school with one, then two kids as my wife gave birth in January of my 2L. But at least with law school I could make my own schedule and only go 3x most weeks. Gas was like 99¢ / gallon and I drove a civic in Kansas which almost never had heavy traffic.
Would not do now. With the possible exception of short term DC if my commute was all on the train.