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Work From Home (WFH)

This is a great topic. We can work from home. Most businesses are downsizing so will be hard to justify extra rent expense with less than half going to the office.

I struggle working from home so will go in 2-3 days per week. I will say this when we have an all staff meeting I notice the average person has gained quite a bit of weight. Not sure this new environment is healthy and America is already obese so probably going to get worse on that front. Invest in healthcare!
Interesting. I find that I actually eat healthier working from home than the fast food junk that was somewhat frequent when I was going into the office.
 
Anyone else worried about the complete breakdown of our social structure this contributes to? Cant imagine WFH and moving to a new city and looking for a semblance of a social life.
 
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There's ample open commercial real estate where I work. Obviously I cannot work from home in a biotech. So we plan on buying that space cheaply and converting it to wet labs.
As long as you don’t convert them to wet markets, I think we’ll be ok…
 
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We went to permanent remote work just before the pandemic. I am very happy with it, I commuted 45 minutes each way for 20+ years, and am glad to be done with that. I live in a walkable area, and sometimes go 2-3 days without getting in a car.

That said, I am very, very thankful for my years working in person and in an office with other people. At this point in my career and in my role, working from home is great, but I can't imagine not having that experience of in-person collaboration, meetings, and process of being at work vs. being at home. I feel like modeling how more senior people worked and handled themselves was important to me, and people seeing how I worked was important. It seems like working from home effectively is way more possible when you've already established your work style in person.

I'm not surprised that most companies saw that their employees that went remote were still productive. But I'm not sure that is indicative of what it will be like 10-15 years from now with lots of employees who have never worked in a traditional setting first.

That said, the younger workers that we have hired remote only have not been a problem, but it's only a few. It's weird to me to think about never having that experience and how your work style and habits develop without it.

I do miss being around people somewhat, but my office was mostly all business with little small talk or socializing, so it wasn't that hard to give up. I've had previous jobs with much more camaraderie, and can imagine that would have been a very difficult change to adapt to.
 
I could work from home and do occasionally but I work for a manufacturing company and it’s a lot easier to get things done if I can talk to people directly and IT issues.

I get it, it’s the future for 90% of places but I some instances it takes more time and things get missed when you work from home in some business models.

eventually I think you lose some workplace culture and I doubt people “ go the extra mile “ as often or as aggressively for a nameless faceless never-met them email address. But also maybe in the long run special attention and one-off workarounds isn’t a great idea anyway.

I will be retiring in 4-5 years so I really don’t care about long term consequences.

we did have a new hire that backed out at the last minute because they realized they couldn’t handle coming to work for a set schedule. Lol. Let’s just say the old timers couldn’t wrap their head around that. Times are changing regardless of opinions.
 
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Funny thing about the job market...
The job market is constantly changing. I'm reading hiring freezes for quite a few companies anticipating a recession. It's only a matter of time where it shifts back to an employer's market again. With that said what will those do that relocated to Florida and Texas and the company lets them go? It's not like those states have a lot of jobs available in various areas. Will be interesting to see what the next few years do....
 
How companies handle this will pick the winners and losers in the next 20-30 years. A fair percentage of workers are not ever returning to the office…and if you try to force the issue your retention will tank, and you will lose the war for talent. And if you can’t keep your employees, you may as well fold up shop…
Sure. When the people that hold the purse strings decide you'll be at the Office or unemployed, you can always start your own Company from Home.

As with most things relative to employment in the Real World your personal work ethic determines the outcome. Unless of course you "work" for the Biden Administration or a Teachers Union, then it's your skin color and whatever gender you want to pick that day.
 
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Yep,.. I can't help but think that this only contributes to the further softening of our society.
This is nonsense. People are filling their social interaction needs with people they want to be around, not those they have to be.

I started working from home full time in the 90s. Back then it was unusual but our company was pretty progressive and saw the financial advantages to not having real estate all over the country. It took some adjustment but worked very well. It has always been much easier to concentrate at home without the interruptions and din of noise that accompanies a full office. There are advantages to some in person meetings and collaboration but most are unnecessary, particularly with the technology we have now.

Companies will have to adapt to WFH as it has become a highly valued benefit for many employees. I know a President of a really large company that wants their corporate employees in the office but is meeting a lot of resistance. She is being forced to adapt or lose quality employees to competitors.
 
We went to permanent remote work just before the pandemic. I am very happy with it, I commuted 45 minutes each way for 20+ years, and am glad to be done with that. I live in a walkable area, and sometimes go 2-3 days without getting in a car.

That said, I am very, very thankful for my years working in person and in an office with other people. At this point in my career and in my role, working from home is great, but I can't imagine not having that experience of in-person collaboration, meetings, and process of being at work vs. being at home. I feel like modeling how more senior people worked and handled themselves was important to me, and people seeing how I worked was important. It seems like working from home effectively is way more possible when you've already established your work style in person.

I'm not surprised that most companies saw that their employees that went remote were still productive. But I'm not sure that is indicative of what it will be like 10-15 years from now with lots of employees who have never worked in a traditional setting first.

That said, the younger workers that we have hired remote only have not been a problem, but it's only a few. It's weird to me to think about never having that experience and how your work style and habits develop without it.

I do miss being around people somewhat, but my office was mostly all business with little small talk or socializing, so it wasn't that hard to give up. I've had previous jobs with much more camaraderie, and can imagine that would have been a very difficult change to adapt to.

It has been interesting to see the impact that the larger WFH movement is causing on jobs/industries that can't be easily transitioned to WFH.

We have found with our teacher workforce they are having a hard time wrapping their head around the fact that some of their peers that WFH are now able to relocate Paris for a month and still work while we won't let them remote teach for 2 weeks from Florida.

It sets up some very interesting scenarios.
 
Productivity has dropped by maybe 20%. Some folks can do it with no issues. Some simply shouldn’t work from home.

We have one coordinator that was a top performer prior to Covid. She had a baby in March of 2020 and has worked from home. Her production has dropped 50%. Tons of issues now.
Nothing to do with the baby. Don’t blame the baby.
 
I think for new employees (think just out of school) who have never worked in an office, WFH is a real challenge and could stunt their professional growth.

My office has 1.5 floors in a 4 floor building, and it houses(housed) 150-200 employees. Over two years maybe 15 is the most that has been in the office at once. There's two buildings in that office park and only a few have actual people in them. That's a lot of commercial space that will be terminated or not renewed....How will that impact the economy on a larger scale/bigger markets like NYC?
 
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I think for new employees (think just out of school) who have never worked in an office, WFH is a real challenge and could stunt their professional growth.

My office has 1.5 floors in a 4 floor building, and it houses(housed) 150-200 employees. Over two years maybe 15 is the most that has been in the office at once. There's two buildings in that office park and only a few have actual people in them. That's a lot of commercial space that will be terminated or not renewed....How will that impact the economy on a larger scale/bigger markets like NYC?
Agree 100%
 
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I think for new employees (think just out of school) who have never worked in an office, WFH is a real challenge and could stunt their professional growth.

Totally agree with this,.. Just out of college and new to the business, I was an absolute sponge around my numerous and knowledgeable mentors.
 
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The job market is constantly changing. I'm reading hiring freezes for quite a few companies anticipating a recession. It's only a matter of time where it shifts back to an employer's market again. With that said what will those do that relocated to Florida and Texas and the company lets them go? It's not like those states have a lot of jobs available in various areas. Will be interesting to see what the next few years do....
A major recession will be very interesting with the WFH thing causing such a stir in employment. Ive met a ton of people that moved here from small towns and winter areas because they no longer had to go to an office. What happens in a recession when they are all in the same areas looking for jobs that arent there? And when it hits, why would a company based in a high COL continue to pay that COL adjustment when their employees dont live in that city. Further yet, why not just hire foreign?
 
This is nonsense. People are filling their social interaction needs with people they want to be around, not those they have to be.

I started working from home full time in the 90s. Back then it was unusual but our company was pretty progressive and saw the financial advantages to not having real estate all over the country. It took some adjustment but worked very well. It has always been much easier to concentrate at home without the interruptions and din of noise that accompanies a full office. There are advantages to some in person meetings and collaboration but most are unnecessary, particularly with the technology we have now.

Companies will have to adapt to WFH as it has become a highly valued benefit for many employees. I know a President of a really large company that wants their corporate employees in the office but is meeting a lot of resistance. She is being forced to adapt or lose quality employees to competitors.
Our society is fine, nothing to see here. Since we isolated people in March 2020 nothing weird has been going on. People have been treating each other so well.
 
A major recession will be very interesting with the WFH thing causing such a stir in employment. Ive met a ton of people that moved here from small towns and winter areas because they no longer had to go to an office. What happens in a recession when they are all in the same areas looking for jobs that arent there?
Wonder about this too.
 
Interesting. I find that I actually eat healthier working from home than the fast food junk that was somewhat frequent when I was going into the office.

This is one that I don't understand either, I struggle to keep weight on with wfh. Between walking my dogs a few times a day and eating breakfast and lunch at home, I can't get enough calories
 
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For me the pro and the con for WFH were the same. At first, I enjoyed being able to, literally, roll out of bed at 6AM do some work. Take a nice long break. DO 1-3 hours of work, take a break, repeat until 11PM. The working 8-10 hours spread in 1-3 hour bursts between 6AM-11PM hours was easier and a bit more productive vs compressing 8-6. But then, I also grew to resent it. I was always on the clock. That phone could always ring. That email notification would always ding. So I had a hard time later unwinding life and work and decided it was not as perfect as it first seemed if it was always that way. Sometimes you need nights and mornings to yourself and your family. It also spilled into working on weekend more.
 
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This is a great topic. We can work from home. Most businesses are downsizing so will be hard to justify extra rent expense with less than half going to the office.

I struggle working from home so will go in 2-3 days per week. I will say this when we have an all staff meeting I notice the average person has gained quite a bit of weight. Not sure this new environment is healthy and America is already obese so probably going to get worse on that front. Invest in healthcare!
Interesting. We had an in person planning meeting about a month ago, i think it was something like 50 of us. Didn't notice anyone that had put on a lot of weight. But there were several that had to look at twice to recognize. Completely different people from the amount of weight they'd lost.
 
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From a law firm prospective, I find wfh difficult with those that are the fee makers in the firm. It seems to work fine for administrative/overhead employees (assuming they have good management), but being away for a long time from paralegals or others that are on my cases is difficult. It's interesting because most of the "older' lawyers come into the office most days of the week. I'm up here most days during the normal working week--usually only working from home when I need to do a lot of status reports or heavy briefing. I have taken to wfh on Saturday and Sunday, however, so I can save on the commute time.

It's interesting because most of the more seasoned trial lawyers come to the office most days during the week. There is a lot of collaboration on cases that is missed if you are not here. It's interesting because most of the younger associate are home all the time and I find that concerning. When I was younger I was like a sponge and would float around the halls trying to find people who were going to trial soon so I could get on that team. I get that these attorneys mostly get discrete assignments from their partner, but you miss so much by not being around a mentor and when you case goes south or something you thought was going to settle doesn't settle and you are backed up with a trial setting approaching, the mentoring really helps. Happened earlier this summer where I got "asked" to take over a case because the younger associate had been less than diligent thinking it was going to settle.

Plus, there is a lot of cross-marketing and business development opportunities missed when everyone is at home.
 
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I would venture to say in my experience…it was the people who want to spend the entire day gossiping around the water cooler, or “networking” or attending social events like happy hour….who tend to be the biggest proponents of returning to the office.

Basically the non-productive people are just upset they can’t ruin the productivity of everyone else anymore…
 
I would venture to say in my experience…it was the people who want to spend the entire day gossiping around the water cooler, or “networking” or attending social events like happy hour….who tend to be the biggest proponents of returning to the office.

Basically the non-productive people are just upset they can’t ruin the productivity of everyone else anymore…

Basically the exact opposite in my world.

The people who "mail it in" want to work from home.
 
Basically the exact opposite in my world.

The people who "mail it in" want to work from home.
I think this is far overblown. There have always been people who "mail it in" - at the office or at home. It's incumbent on management to have measures to identify whether someone is effective on their job. The thinking that bringing people into the office solves this issue is misguided, imo.
 
I think this is far overblown. There have always been people who "mail it in" - at the office or at home. It's incumbent on management to have measures to identify whether someone is effective on their job. The thinking that bringing people into the office solves this issue is misguided, imo.

I agree with what you are saying, but the post I responded to said that only the slackers want to be back in the office. I have found the opposite.
 
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That said, I am very, very thankful for my years working in person and in an office with other people. At this point in my career and in my role, working from home is great, but I can't imagine not having that experience of in-person collaboration, meetings, and process of being at work vs. being at home. I feel like modeling how more senior people worked and handled themselves was important to me, and people seeing how I worked was important. It seems like working from home effectively is way more possible when you've already established your work style in person.
This pretty much nails it for me as well. I have already put in a 25+ year career of going to the office everyday. I've done my time cutting my teeth in the business world.

The team I am on for the last several years is nationwide and we all WFH now. We also all have similar backgrounds and experiences in the field and working in an office environment and many of us are in a similar age range. We all know our business and all have experience working in the office so we all work cohesively in a WFH team situation.

We cut our teeth for years working in offices so when it came to WFH there wasn't issues with training or experience. Those new to the workforce that are going straight to WFH, I don't know how they are going to do it. I think it would be very difficult for both the employee and employer.
 
Interesting. We had an in person planning meeting about a month ago, i think it was something like 50 of us. Didn't notice anyone that had put on a lot of weight. But there were several that had to look at twice to recognize. Completely different people from the amount of weight they'd lost.
Our group must snack all day! That's great that your group takes advantage and carves out extra time to be active and eat well.
 
I agree with what you are saying, but the post I responded to said that only the slackers want to be back in the office. I have found the opposite.
I think that perception stems from many people thinking all WFH employees are slackers.
 
My office has 1.5 floors in a 4 floor building, and it houses(housed) 150-200 employees. Over two years maybe 15 is the most that has been in the office at once. There's two buildings in that office park and only a few have actual people in them. That's a lot of commercial space that will be terminated or not renewed....How will that impact the economy on a larger scale/bigger markets like NYC?
What is this going to do to downtown areas like Des Moines? For over a decade I had been going to meetings in downtown Des Moines and staying at one of the hotels downtown. One of my takeaways was how much the downtown died after about 5PM (except for the bar area in the SE Corner of downtown, El Bait Shop). I can't imagine how much downtowns are going to dry up and die if a good chunk of the commercial office space is vacated and sits empty.

This isn't just a Des Moines observation either. Downtown Sioux City dries up after 5PM too, worked there for many, many years. Water Street and 4th Street bar areas are hopping though. Used to be downtowns were vibrant with stores and plenty of shopping before the 1980's and everything moving to malls. Now even malls are dying/dead and people shop a ton online.
 
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I think that perception stems from many people thinking all WFH employees are slackers.

I don't have that perception at all. Again, I work in a very different world than most people in this conversation. Our slacker teachers LOVED WFH/remote teaching. Our best teachers wanted back in the classrooms ASAP.
 
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What is this going to do to downtown areas like Des Moines? For over a decade I had been going to meetings in downtown Des Moines and staying at one of the hotels downtown. One of my takeaways was how much the downtown died after about 5PM (except for the bar area in the SE Corner of downtown, El Bait Shop). I can't imagine how much downtowns are going to dry up and die if a good chunk of the commercial office space is vacated and sits empty.

This isn't just a Des Moines observation either. Downtown Sioux City dries up after 5PM too, worked there for many, many years. Water Street and 4th Street bar areas are hopping though. Used to be downtowns were vibrant with stores and plenty of shopping before the 1980's and everything moving to malls. Now even malls are dying/dead and people shop a ton online.
Covert office space to apartments/condos.

downtown Des Moines is a desirable place to live now.
 
Anyone else concerned about what the general loss of social interaction is going to do to a lot of these new work from home folks?,.. I've got a couple friends that have been doing the work from home thing for the past two years now and when I do infrequently bump into them out and about they appear uncomfortable and in a hurry to remove themselves from any interaction...

Anyone else worried about the complete breakdown of our social structure this contributes to? Cant imagine WFH and moving to a new city and looking for a semblance of a social life.

Yep,.. I can't help but think that this only contributes to the further softening of our society.

I find this such an odd opinion. I’m not sure if you are beholden to capitalist propaganda… Or if you just have a really sad and pathetic life where your only social interactions are with people at work.

By working from home I have a lot more social interaction with people I actually love and care about and want to spend time with. Increased time with my wife, kids, and friends is absolutely a bonus: I assume you have no friends and can’t stand being with your family?

Not hearing Janice from accounting complaining about her reheated tuna casserole is not going to have an effect on society.
 
I think for new employees (think just out of school) who have never worked in an office, WFH is a real challenge and could stunt their professional growth.
While I do not necessarily disagree with you, I think it illustrates one of the mistakes many companies make. How many companies are filled with dip shit middle managers who are completely incompetent, but are really good at kissing ass and socializing with the correct people?

Hopefully less social interaction results in more competent people being promoted who are actually productive and can lead teams.
 
I find this such an odd opinion. I’m not sure if you are beholden to capitalist propaganda… Or if you just have a really sad and pathetic life where your only social interactions are with people at work.

By working from home I have a lot more social interaction with people I actually love and care about and want to spend time with. Increased time with my wife, kids, and friends is absolutely a bonus: I assume you have no friends and can’t stand being with your family?

Not hearing Janice from accounting complaining about her reheated tuna casserole is not going to have an effect on society.
Bingo, I have worked with a lot of great people….but none of them would surpass my family and friends on the “I want to hang out with them in my personal time” list.
 
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While I do not necessarily disagree with you, I think it illustrates one of the mistakes many companies make. How many companies are filled with dip shit middle managers who are completely incompetent, but are really good at kissing ass and socializing with the correct people?

Hopefully less social interaction results in more competent people being promoted who are actually productive and can lead teams.
This is 100% it, I saw tons of bloat that their main job was justifying their existence. It’s also been great to talk to younger professionals who are of the opinion they will never work in the office again. If that’s the plan they said they will leave, and I don’t believe every company will conspire to bring people back. There will always be remote positions now. And it’s refreshing to see a young generation looking out for themselves.
 
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