Workers still refuse to return to the office

HoneyNut said:
I was retiring anyway, but when the company I was working for told us we had to return to the office or "there would be [unnamed] consequences" one of my teammates found a different job (that would allow remote) and quit. I dragged my feet for a couple months then made one token appearance at the office, really just to get my stuff and see one of my coworkers in person for a last time. And another teammate found someone to rent her house's upstairs rooms (so she would have enough income to retire) and announced she would be retiring in a few weeks (they talked her into working for several more months - allowing her to work from home entirely).

The manager of the programmers knew he'd lose his team if they were forced back to the office and he very cleverly modified their home locations to indicate they were beyond the range of people expected to commute to an office so that their names would not show up on "the list" -- some bigwig manager had discovered a way to get a list of everyone who had not badged into an office since the date of the order to return - and then was all unhappy because a huge percentage of people had never come back, so then "the list" was used to harass our managers to harass us.

It is a pity about the unused office space, but considering that they decades ago took away our real offices and have ever since continued to shrink the size of the cubicles, it isn't nearly as much space as it should have been.

Also, they continually expect employees to work extra hours (all unpaid due to us being exempt), weekends, holidays, and both scheduled and random long overnights to support problems on the system (as well as calling us at all hours to login for an emergency). So considering how much extra they bleed out of us, to make us waste hours of our day shaving/putting on makeup and commuting to sit in tiny cubicles where we are immediately in headsets communicating with teammates in other cities - it just is a pointless power play of the managers to expect that.

My team was left with one set of functionality and one entire system that have NO ONE who knows them, and several which now have only one person who can support them (and she's tired of all the extra work that has fallen on her and is actively looking for another job). It takes about 5 years for a new employee to know the systems and how they work together.

Also, it took them until last month to find a couple people to hire. There are lots of jobs now that advertise remote as a benefit, so it is harder to find people who will take a job in an office.
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Your entire post matches my point.

In reality I suppose it just means ..... times truly are changing . When the dust settles it will interesting to see how the "new" works.
 

rgp said:
IMO ..... the 'big-deal' is the fact that these companies have a lot of unused realestate just sitting empty .. requiring utility be paid, property tax be paid, security be maintained on the property etc.
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I'd heard from teammates who went back to the office that the lunch places near work had disappeared, so I guess whatever economy was based on the now defunct offices is also impacted.
And, I had been worried about finding parking to take the commuter train to Boston while I'm here being a tourist, because I'd read on the internet (from posts back in 2018) that all the parking spots were taken by 7:30 AM. But, I've taken the train on different weekdays and on weekends and the commuter train parking lot is mostly empty all the time. So the parking lot business and the commuter train business are also impacted. Still not worth it to go to work in an office tho!
 

SeniorBen said:
They could use the vacant office space to house the homeless.
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Gee if they turn the empty office buildings into condos and apartments that would be a great solution. Where I used to work they'd still need some office space though because of all the mainframe computers and other computer systems.
 
rgp said:
I created no "box" This has been on the news darn near everyday for a while now. Making it [IMO] a matter of fact ...... and there will not ALWAYS be somebody [that is a huge creation itself] {always be} ? that needs the office space .... if there is no one to fill the office space, then office space anywhere is useless..
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OK enjoy all that gloom & doom, don't know what news you're listening to but I'm "sure" it's gotta be the real deal.
Here's a little something to cheer you up:

image.jpg
 
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rgp said:
Again, who would lease/buy it ?? If the employees from this or that company won't return to work ? ........ Isn't it reasonable to assume that the employees from that or this wouldn't as well ? So again, the property would sit empty ..... No?
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Yer prolly right
Everything is upside down now
Nobody 'knows' much
and even less of what's coming

Gotta hold yer cards close
 
rgp said:
Your entire post matches my point.

In reality I suppose it just means ..... times truly are changing . When the dust settles it will interesting to see how the "new" works.
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Yes times are changing. The scales have tipped in favour of all categories of workers. Many have been undervalued and underpaid for a decade or more; some of them it would seem forever. Meanwhile corporate profits have out stripped inflation.

Many skilled former employees are now self employed and, like my grandson, work entirely at home. My brother in law has been doing this for the last 25 years. There is a down side to that but there is also great satisfaction in being your own boss.
 
Warrigal said:
My thinking exactly. If the CEOs are too thick to see opportunities in these changing times, they are no longer the best people to be leading the organisation.
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Where is all this opportunity , if no one chooses to report to an office / any office to work ? Who will fill this work space ?
 
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