Transitioning from Work-From-Home back to going to the office

[mgk920]

I think some of the drive now to return to the office is the bean counters are griping about the long term office leases only to be air condition empty desks, and it is ideal to actually have occupied desks.

Personally, I prefer having the barrier between the work environment and the home environment with the option of WFH occasionally. I specifically choose the neighborhood I lived in when I was job relocated because it had high-speed internet and was within walking distance of my workplace. It was Covid which forced me to a WFH situation, and then an adult caregiver role. But, for other folks, they prefer the lack of distractions and the short commute from bedroom to home office, plus not having to deal with the rush hour traffic.

And then, of course, you have the blue collar crowd who never had the 'work from home' option.  If I were a white-collar guy, I would definitely prefer going to the office, too, for no other reason than for the varied scenery and interaction with cohorts.

Mike

[hbelkins]

I think some of the drive now to return to the office is the bean counters are griping about the long term office leases only to be air condition empty desks, and it is ideal to actually have occupied desks.

Personally, I prefer having the barrier between the work environment and the home environment with the option of WFH occasionally. I specifically choose the neighborhood I lived in when I was job relocated because it had high-speed internet and was within walking distance of my workplace. It was Covid which forced me to a WFH situation, and then an adult caregiver role. But, for other folks, they prefer the lack of distractions and the short commute from bedroom to home office, plus not having to deal with the rush hour traffic.

And then, of course, you have the blue collar crowd who never had the 'work from home' option.  If I were a white-collar guy, I would definitely prefer going to the office, too, for no other reason than for the varied scenery and interaction with cohorts.

Mike

To each their own. Other than having to start buying gas again, and having to get up earlier three days out of the week to make the trek back to the office, the thing I liked least about it was having to deal with others. I like my solitude.

[jeffandnicole]

From CNBC (courtesy bing101):

Amazon is seeing some employees quit instead of moving to a new state as part of relocation mandate

As part of Amazon's aggressive effort to get employees back to the office, the company is going a step further and demanding that some staffers move to a central hub to be with their team. Those who are unwilling or unable to comply are being forced to find work elsewhere, and some are choosing to quit, CNBC has learned.

Several employees spoke to CNBC about the new relocation requirement. An employee in Texas, who was hired in a remote role, said managers assured his team in March that nothing would change despite the return-to-office (RTO) mandate issued the prior month. But in July, the team was informed by management that they'd have to choose between working out of Seattle, New York, Austin, Texas, or Arlington, Virginia, according to internal correspondence.

Under the guidelines, remote workers are expected to have completed their move to a main hub by the first half of 2024, the document states. The employee, who doesn't live near any of the designated cities, chose to leave Amazon after securing another position, in part due to uncertainty about future job security and the potential of higher living costs associated with the relocation with no guarantee of an increase in salary.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

So, the decision every other employee who was part of a job relocation has had to experience since the beginning of eternity.

At least these people have 4 options. Most only have 1.

Eh, I'd argue that it's different. For traditional office jobs, you knew where you'd be working when you took the job, and the only way something would change would be something pretty drastic, like a company getting purchased or something along those lines. In these cases, nothing is changing with the business. It still exists where it exists.

Businesses have often moved for tax savjngs purposes, more modern facilities, etc.  In fact, per this article, Corporate relocations are at their highest rate since 2017: https://blog.hireahelper.com/2023-study-corporate-relocation-at-highest-rate-since-2017/

As for the article...if someone took on a role that was always supposed to be remote, I can see their anger. But if there was ever any mention in the job posting or interview that it could become permanent, then the company simply decided to exercise that option.

[ZLoth]

Businesses have often moved for tax savings purposes, more modern facilities, etc.  In fact, per this article, corporate relocations are at their highest rate since 2017: https://blog.hireahelper.com/2023-study-corporate-relocation-at-highest-rate-since-2017/

As for the article...if someone took on a role that was always supposed to be remote, I can see their anger. But if there was ever any mention in the job posting or interview that it could become permanent, then the company simply decided to exercise that option.

Ultimately, it comes down to the golden rule... he who has the gold rules. The question becomes how much they want to risk their talent leaving who values working from home over a work commute.

[Max Rockatansky]

Last I checked the "golden rule"  was something much different.

[Ted$8roadFan]

If downtowns want to become what they were in 2019 - whatever that was - city and business leaders are going to have to work hard to make former full-time office workers want to come to work, be it better transit, more office amenities, better quality of life, etc. 

[Rothman]

If downtowns want to become what they were in 2019 - whatever that was - city and business leaders are going to have to work hard to make former full-time office workers want to come to work, be it better transit, more office amenities, better quality of life, etc.

Huh.  That's an interesting proposition.  I'm not sure all the fancy cafes in the world could entice telecommuters back to the office.

[kalvado]

If downtowns want to become what they were in 2019 - whatever that was - city and business leaders are going to have to work hard to make former full-time office workers want to come to work, be it better transit, more office amenities, better quality of life, etc.

Huh.  That's an interesting proposition.  I'm not sure all the fancy cafes in the world could entice telecommuters back to the office.

Turning fancy offices into apartments, though.... May or may not work after all.
Downtown as a destination? That's a more interesting question

[Chris]

In the Netherlands some employers provide compensation if you work from home. For me it is € 3 / $ 3.25 per day.

This is supposed to cover the cost of utilities like electricity, heating, internet, etc. A desk, chair, iPhone and computer is provided by the employer.

I keep track of my days in the office and the days worked remotely through an app.