Ehhh I think everything bad about Covid is permanent and any silver lining is being wiped out gradually …It’s just more bad on top of bad. They’ll make up that profit in some sinister way …
Corporations: get your booty back into the office so it’s not empty
Also corporations: we’ve laid off your team in favor of AI, it was a tough but necessary choice due to costs
The empty office building: ???
I mean to be fair even though corporations fucking suck. Most commercial leases are typically longer than what you would do for residential. So it can range from 3-10 ish years(3-5 seems to be a common number). There is always the option to exit them early but there are typically pretty costly negatives to doing that.
I guess my company has been lucky so far. Our management team saw the chance to save money by reducing how many buildings we need and they rolled that money into hiring more remote workers.
It’s funny / sad how much good / bad management can affect a company. Anyone with half a brain can see the benefit of remote work. You just need to figure out how to keep your workers accountable in different ways now that you can’t stand behind their chairs and look over their shoulders.
The smart companies are saving money and getting better workers. The rest can all go fuck themselves.
I think it’s important to note here that it’s not necessarily great for everyone if the companies everybody works for lose a bunch of money. Companies will try as hard as possible not to realize that loss, and after that happens, lots of office buildings aren’t really built in a way where they can be converted to do anything useful, so they’re just gonna sit there. Normal people are probably going to end up paying for this - personnel are some of the easiest things to let go of for a balance sheet.
to who? this video has a pretty good explanation of why so many buildings can’t be converted or just won’t make sense to convert. youtu.be/imyPVFFACTk
That’s a very interesting video. But I still have to ask WHY is it ok for an office to lack the lighting and escape routes when the same is not ok for residential areas (which was the main reason given)? It makes no sense to me. Water and sewage poses no problem because large office buildings have to account for mutiple toilets on each floor. Electricity is also a non issue (I’d argue electricity usage would vastly decrease when coverted). That just leaves shared air circulation and conditioning which also shouldn’t be an issue since it would just be maintained through the landlord (and could even be cheaper for the individual since they don’t have to pay for their own systems but just a flat fee on the rent).
With rent prices in this kind of fantasy land in bigger metroploes like San Fran or NYC , I’d doubt you’d find tenants. Maybe in rural laboratories it might be an issue but not the cities. That’s just my thoughts. Might be wrong.
Here’s the sneaky part: A company that isn’t utterly brain dead can save money with WFH. My startup doesn’t even have an office to go into, we’re all WFH. Know what we’re not spending money on? A commercial lease. There’s opportunity here for companies to go and save a grip of cash by going WFH and either relocating to a smaller campus or dropping it altogether. In this situation, the only party who loses is the asset holder, and I have no problems with that. You win some, you lose some, that’s the free market.
If only Amazon wasn’t forcing me to go back into the office soon…
Even my manager hates the idea. Out team is split on different coasts, so we’re gonna have to be in class anyway, so why am I forced to go into the office? I went in before I was going to be forced because it was fun, but now I’m staying out until I’m forced. It’s bullshit.
Amazon and Bezos himself has pretty close ties to Wall Street. You being herded in is the returned backscratch for very favourable stock market “accidents” that led Amazon to an insane valuation and competitors on the short side of the investments.
I guess that explains why they’re going to such great lengths to convince us that talking about Game of Thrones around a water cooler is such a tremendous benefit to humankind…
At our office they are really pushing the “socializing” aspect by having a “gaming lunch” once a month. And by gaming lunch I mean they put out a few board games in the kitchenette that no one touches because we get 30 minutes to eat before having to work at a soulless corporation. But hey at least middle management is happy now they can walk around making sure you are working instead of being at home.
In the first half I thought that sounds at least kind of cool to have a lan party, but its one of those gaming table in office that only for decorations and no one touch….
All workers are required to enjoy 30 minutes of mandatory social engagement at a designated “Fun Area”. Enjoyment activities can include: hearty laughter, corporate value appreciation, appropriate camaraderie. If the enjoyment you wish to experience is outside of these allowed forms, please speak to your department’s Enjoyment Adjustment Officer.
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