JP Morgan Making Employees Actually Show Up for Work

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Twostep said:
I did not have time to worry about my coworkers happiness. Making quota paid my check!
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It is not about worrying about someone else happiness ....
I was saying those who LIKE working remote and are productive at it, are the ones who seem angry when confronted with return to office.

Maybe.. they should blame those who screwed around for the policy change.
I am sick of hearing how productive remote work is............. when i have seen the opposite time and time again.
Both as a co-worker and a customer of a business.
 

I worked from home for 14 years, starting in 2006, and managed a group of salespeople. It worked because they were all over the country so it gave me the ability to travel, spend time with each one and call on their accounts with them. We frequently made and surpassed our sales targets.

I worked harder from home than I did in an office because there weren't any distractions or meetings and I felt the need to work harder to "prove myself". I didn't feel the need to be visible in the office because I had already made VP two years earlier. I didn't feel the need to move further up the ladder. I was happy.

However, it does take a certain type of disciplined individual. I had home office employees who worked from home ever so often and they just "went missing". I'm glad to see JP Morgan taking this step.
 
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Sorry for all the posts, but this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart.

Just prior to COVID my company built a beautiful, open-concept office building where even the president didn't have an office. I had to reserve a meeting room when I visited just to get work done or hold a phone conversation. It was the "new thinking" that people would collaborate. Instead, they wore headphones so they didn't have to hear others' conversations and they stared at their computers all day so management wouldn't think they were slacking off. The environment was distracting.

They were in Seattle (the capital of "forward thinking"), one of the origin cities for COVID, so the open concept just spread the virus. Many have still not gone back to the office and they are trying to sell or lease out the building.
 

dilettante said:
This is nonsense, and you know it.

Of course there are roles of productive value that do not involve physical labor, they just aren't the ones that can be done from home by and large.

These jobs are more productive in the office, which is why notorious skinflints like Morgan are returning workers there.
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No I don't.

Calling jobs crapola and people lilies of the field sure came across as derogatory to me.

Obviously not all jobs can be done from home, and nobody was saying otherwise.

I think many of the jobs which were done from home in the pandemic can continue to do so, at least part of the time.
Of course productivity still needs to be monitored - as it does in a physical office.
 
seadoug said:
Sorry for all the posts, but this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart.

Just prior to COVID my company built a beautiful, open-concept office building where even the president didn't have an office. I had to reserve a meeting room when I visited just to get work done or hold a phone conversation. It was the "new thinking" that people would collaborate. Instead, they wore headphones so they didn't have to hear others' conversations and they stared at their computers all day so management wouldn't think they were slacking off. The environment was distracting.

They were in Seattle (the capital of "forward thinking"), one of the origin cities for COVID, so the open concept just spread the virus. Many have still not gone back to the office and they are trying to sell or lease out the building.
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Yep, open office layouts were just a scam to save money. It's a lot cheaper to not have to build offices or provide cubicles to everyone. It's a horrible environment for introverts, but the decisionmakers were extroverts, so they didn't understand.
 
January said:
No I don't.

Calling jobs crapola and people lilies of the field sure came across as derogatory to me.

Obviously not all jobs can be done from home, and nobody was saying otherwise.

I think many of the jobs which were done from home in the pandemic can continue to do so, at least part of the time.
Of course productivity still needs to be monitored - as it does in a physical office.
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Consider the source. ;)
 
My experience is the Working system they send us is screwed up.
It will never work right from home. It's meant to be that a way.
You may notice it doesn't work 1 / 2 / 3 or more days a month.
you sit there ticked off at IT when it has been all planned out. So
Then you do Clerk filing work until it's put back online again.

Of Course it's a SERVER SYSTEM thing.
 
Working from home wasn't an option where I worked. If it had been, my manager would probably have given me projects to complete at home after my regular work hours.

Wasting time instead of working can happen in or out of the office. I saw that when employees spent far too much time visiting with each other or browsing the internet.
 
I suspect that those who are able to work remotely (not necessarily from home) and do so effectively will have a serious competitive advantage in tomorrow's job market.

Throughout my career I always had an office but whether or not I actually worked in that office was task-specific. I would often work from my home, my airplane seat, my hotel room, a desk provided by my host, or at a job site.

I found working in isolation was best for for tasks that required prolonged intense concentration (e.g., writing complex technical documents). There were also times when face to face interaction with clients and collaboration with fellow team members were invaluable.

Those who need to work on-site simply because they need direct supervision to remain productive have been, and will continue to be, will be at a distinct disadvantage.
 
These are exactly the jobs most easily offshored to the cheapest labor available. No longer does a factory need to be stripped, machines reinstalled in a new building around the globe.
 
VaughanJB said:
Work life balance is one. I had a 2 hour+ one way commute in my last role (so 4_ hours a day just getting back and forth - and it wasn't my longest ever commute!) Saving that 4+ hours was amazing, and much appreciated.
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That is great for you, but many others are not self-directed, mature, adults invested in more than making a buck, with a highly interesting position.

Example:
Six months into the pandemic and at home work in full swing, my call to my bank resulted in THIS (nearly exact) conversation:
Woman answers the phone number I dialed, my bank: "Hello?"
The phone sounds strange and the normal UHCU greeting is not stated, so I say: "Is this uhcu?"
Clerk in a tense, trying to be upbeat voice: "oh, yes, this is UHCU, Good Morning, this is Lenora speaking, how can I help you?"
Me at home: "Good Morning this is xyz. I would like to get a counter check sent to Business A"

I can hear homestyle background noises.
Clerk: "May I have your full ident....(toddler/baby babbling) and telephone pin number?...(worker sighs audibly)...(baby/toddler babbling) .
Me: "xyz, xyz.."

Clerk: "Thank you Ms xyz...(baby/toddler begins whining, whining gets louder)
Me: "Sounds like with this pandemic, they have working from home on a computer?"

Clerk: "Oh, yes....(more muffled louder whining from baby/toddler - dog begins to moan in the background, door slams another young begins to talk in a hushed tone..to clerk....."could you hold please Ms xyz? I am sorry" clerk has frustrated tone to her voice.
I find myself on hold.

Clerk comes back on about 45 seconds later.
Clerk: "Am so sorry about that Ms xyz..". and under her breath states "Where was I?"
Me ( a toddler/baby begins to cry loudly...from another room) :
"Wow, it sounds like you really have your hands full today..(with a smile)?

Clerk takes a deep breath and begins to sob, stating to me: "I just don't know who these people are who think they can just hand us a laptop and tell us we can all go home and do our work from there! (Clerk is now actively crying) I am so sorry, Ms xyz...but these fools are just crazy if they think we can work and be at home! ...

"... the day care centers closed down, I have two kids, schools are closed, my 5 year old wants attention, the baby gets upset, wants attention and, well, I just don't think I can take this anymore and I've only been doing this three weeks and I am about to LOSE my MIND!". "I am so sorry...I love working but this is impossible, working from home - I don't have anyone to give me a break, like at work, and now the dog has gone to the bathroom by the door...!!"

(She blows her nose, fully crying by this point, and then she is actively and obviously picked up a crying baby in her arms as the baby is fussing very loudly...in my ear).

Me: "Hey, it is ok! I understand! I have four kids and have no clue why anyone would expect any Mom to be able to work from home...home is where the kids expect Mom to be available and to have undivided attention sometimes; I can wait on this counter check. Give yourself some slack...and take care of those kids, that is what is most important until things can be sorted out with this Pandemic? Hang in there!"

Clerk: "Thank you SOO much for understanding"

and we hang up.
 
-Many blue collar jobs can't be done on a computer, too many to list.
-IT personnel and experts have "IT" bias, including software developers.
-It has been tested and reported that nearly 55-70% of communication is lost via phone or in computer writing in texts and emails.
-25% of the time trying to communicate only by computer or Ai causes more miscommunication and inconvenience than not and more so for the recipient (customer) than the business (sender).
-Sight, personal presence, give more accurate feedback.
-Using computer generated interaction texts or messaging for more than simple responses that do not require human judgement and expertise via experiences are most non-effective.
-Human to human direct contact provides the best communication experiences and is the most effective means of human to human interaction.

I have access to exclusively medicine related professional research, as that is my business and a large cost to me personally if I go outside my parameters when researching. I tried to look for strictly business professional research sources too, for those who are more business/employee focused, but those were expensive also. I began with 66 articles and tried to narrow it down to the most interesting. I mostly read abstracts to save me time.

Title are in bold:

Telephone consultation and triage: Effects on health care use and patient satisfaction.
Bunn F, Byrne G, Kendall S. Cochrane Database System Review. 2004;18(4):CD004180. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004180.pub2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Telephone consultations.
Car J, Sheikh A. British Medical Journal. 2003;326:966–969. doi: 10.1136/bmj.326.7396.966. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Quality of communication during telephone triage at Dutch out of hours centres. Patient Education and Counseling.
Derkx HP, Rethans JE, Maiburg BH, Winkens RA, Muijtjens AM, van Rooij HG, Knottnerus JA. 2009;74:174–178. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2008.08.002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

“The Value of Bosses.”Lazear, E. P., K. L. Shaw, and C. T. Stanton. 2015. J. Labor Econ. 33:823–61.

Concerns and confidence of general practitioners in providing telephone consultations.
Foster J, Jessopp L, Dale J. British Journal of General Practice. 1999;49:111–113. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Comparison of focus groups on cancer and employment conducted face to face or by telephone.
Frazier LM, Miller VA, Horbelt DV, Demore JE, Miller BE, Pashcal AM. Qualitative Health Research. 2010;20:617–627. doi: 10.1177/1049732310361466. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

The faceless encounter: Ethical dilemmas in telephone nursing.
Holmström I, Höglund AT. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 2007;16:1865–1871. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2007.01839.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar}

Your ears become your eyes: Managing the absence of visibility in NHS direct.
Pettinari CJ, Jessopp L. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 2001;36(5):668–675. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2648.2001.02031.x.[DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Media attitudes versus media use: Understanding the contribution of context to the communication environment of telemedicine interactions. Turner JW, Robinson JD, Alaoui A, Wincest J, Neustadtl A, Levine B, Mun SK. Health Care Management Review. 2003;28(2):7–18. doi: 10.1097/00004010-200304000-00002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Telephone nurses’ experience of problems with telephone advice in Sweden. Wahlberg AC, Cedersund E, Wredling R. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 2003;12(1):37–45. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2702.2003.00702.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Visualism in community nursing: Implications for telephone work with service users. Wilson K, Williams A. Qualitative Health Research. 2000;10:507–520. doi: 10.1177/104973200129118606.[DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

“Work Tasks That Can Be Done from Home: Evidence on Variation within and across Occupations and Industries.” Adams-Prassl, A., T. Boneva, M. Golin, and C. Rauh. 2020. CEPR Discussion Paper no. DP14901, Centre Econ. Policy Res., London.

“Why Working from Home Will Stick.”Barrero, J., N. Bloom, and S. Davis. 2021. Working paper, Dept. Econ., Stanford Univ.

“Job Satisfaction and Work-Life Balance: Differences between Homework and Work at the Workplace of the Company.”Bellmann, L., and O. Hübler. 2020. IZA Discussion Paper no. 13504, Inst. Study Labor, Bonn.

“Does Working from Home Work? Evidence from a Chinese Experiment.”Bloom, N., J. Liang, J. Roberts, and Z. J. Ying. 2015. Q.J.E. 130:165–218

“Work-from-Anywhere: The Productivity Effects of Geographic Flexibility.” Choudhury, P., C. Foroughi, and B. Laron. 2019. Strategic Management J. 42:655–83.

“How Many Jobs Can Be Done at Home?” Dingel, J. I., and B. Neiman. 2020. J. Public Econ.189:104235.

“‘Working’ Remotely?” Emanuel, N., and E. Harrington. 2021. Working paper, Dept. Econ., Harvard Univ.

Worker Productivity during Lockdown and Working from Home: Evidence from Self-Reports.Etheridge, B., Y. Wang, and L. Tang. 2020. “” Covid Econ. 52:118–51. Covid Economics - Issue 52.

I Am Close to Quitting My Career’: Mothers Step Back at Work to Cope with Pandemic Parenting, Financial Times. 2021, March 7. ‘I am close to quitting my career’: Mothers step back at work to cope with pandemic parenting.

“Where’s the Spark? How Lockdown Caused a Creativity Crisis.” January 17. Where’s the spark? How lockdown caused a creativity crisis.

“Working from Home and Management Controls.” Flassak, K., J. Haag, C. Hofmann, C. Lechner, N. Schwaiger, and R. Zacherl. 2021. Working paper, School Management, Ludwig Maximilian Univ. Munich.

Replication Data for ‘Work from Home and Productivity: Evidence from Personnel and Analytics Data on Information Technology Professionals.’” Gibbs, M., F. Mengel, and C. Siemroth. 2022. “Harvard Dataverse https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/K30VNE.

“Working from Home in Developing Countries.”Gottlieb, C., J. Grobovšek, M. Poschke, and F. Saltiel. 2021. European Econ. Rev. 133:103679.

“Which Jobs Are Done from Home? Evidence from the American Time Use Survey.” Hensvik, L., T. Le Barbanchon, and R. Rathelot. 2020. CEPR Discussion Paper no. DP14611, Centre Econ. Policy Res., London.

“Cognitive Performance in Remote Work: Evidence from Professional Chess.”Künn, S., C. Seel, and D. Zegners. 2022. Econ. J. 132:1218–32.

“Measuring Remote Knowledge Work Using Big Data.”Kwan, A. 2021. Working paper, Bus. School, Hong Kong Univ.



“The Effects of Remote Work on Collaboration among Information Workers.”Yang, L., D. Holtz, S. Jaffe, et al. 2022. Nature Human Behaviour 6:43–54.

“Internet Communication Versus Face-to-face Interaction in Quality of Life, ”P. S. N. Lee, L. Leung, V. Lo, C. Xiong, and T. Wu, Soc. Indic. Res., vol. 100, no. 3, pp. 375–389, Feb. 2011, doi: 10.1007/s11205-010-9618-3.

“The Importance of Face-to-Face Communication in the Modern Workforce,” Lifesize, Oct. 29, 2019. Lifesize (accessed Jun. 24, 2021).


I began with 66 articles and tried to narrow it down to the most interesting. I mostly read abstracts to save me time.
 
IMHO: Work life balance is just a new catch phrase for just setting priorities. That changes on a daily basis, especially for women.
 
The Primary reason for "work at home" was Covid. This is no longer an issue, but high numbers of people in "white collar" jobs seem to be reluctant to return to their office. "Customer Service" has declined substantially, IMO, as a result. A few days ago, I contacted a company about an online purchase that seems to have been lost. I was on "hold" for over 20 minutes, and when the call was finally answered, I could easily hear a baby crying in the background. "Feeding time" and "diaper change" probably takes priority over "the job".
 
CooCooforCoCoPuffs said:
Many blue collar jobs can't be done on a computer, too many to list.
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Obviously - was anyone thinking otherwise ??

Not just blue collar jobs - obviously many jobs cannot be done from home.

was anyone saying they all could be??

I am very impressed by your memory of an exact phone conversation several years ago - but again, not sure what it proves.

Obviously many things were done from home during the pandemic lockdowns that are better done in a non home setting - that was a time of doing the best we could in lockdowns - I dont think anyone is suggesting everything that was done from home or by phone should stay that way.

But that doesn't mean there isn't a place for many jobs to be done at least partly from home - and of course modern technology has made more of this possible.

Not really sure what cherry picking articles from way back in 2004 proves - you dont think technology had change much in the last 20 years??
 
CooCooforCoCoPuffs said:
IMHO: Work life balance is just a new catch phrase for just setting priorities. That changes on a daily basis, especially for women.
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Yes I agree- except it isnt that new, phrase has been around for quite a while - but, yes, you could substitute the term 'work life balance' for 'setting work/life priorities'.

Not sure what the point of saying that is though.
 
Don M. said:
The Primary reason for "work at home" was Covid. This is no longer an issue, but high numbers of people in "white collar" jobs seem to be reluctant to return to their office. "Customer Service" has declined substantially, IMO, as a result. A few days ago, I contacted a company about an online purchase that seems to have been lost. I was on "hold" for over 20 minutes, and when the call was finally answered, I could easily hear a baby crying in the background. "Feeding time" and "diaper change" probably takes priority over "the job".
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For many that may have been true. Not in my industry. You are talking about minimum wage customer service. It is a hard way to make a living. Please give her a break.
 
Think about this. First everyone was in an office. That is humans, paid humans, sitting at a desk in a rented, or owned building,providing all the equipment and its maintenance, heating, and work and safety stuff as overheads.

Then some of those people moved to working from home. Better for the employee? Sure. For the business, they no longer need that office property, the heating, the facilities, etc.

Now we're moving to an era where people can, largely, be replaced by AI. For the business, no more humans, no more big buildings full of humans, and much less equipment.

In other words, the whole issue isn't simply a question of humans, and making them go to some monolithic building. We're in transition to a whole new world.
 
Twostep said:
Some of the "return to office" conditions are geared to staff reduction and being able to not pay contractually agreed upon severances.
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That's is egregious! Even during my brief stint in middle management, which I hated, I advocated for my workers. I don't like it when employees are screwed over like that!
 
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