#Work#RemoteWork#RTO#Productivity#OfficeWork: "For a clearer look at the effect of RTO policies after the pandemic, two business researchers at the University of Pittsburgh examined a sample of firms on the S&P 500 list—137 of which had RTO mandates and 320 that clearly did not between June 2019 and January 2023. The researchers collected publicly available data on each company, including financial data and employee reviews. They then looked at what factors were linked to whether a firm implemented an RTO policy—such as the company's size, financial constraints, and CEO characteristics—as well as the consequences of the RTO mandates—employee satisfaction and financial metrics of the firms.
Overall, the analysis, released as a pre-print, found that RTO mandates did not improve a firm's financial metrics, but they did decrease employee satisfaction.
Drilling down, the data indicated that RTO mandates were linked to firms with male CEOs who had greater power in the company. Here, power is measured as the CEO’s total compensation divided by the average total compensation paid to the four highest-paid executives in the firm.
Before the analysis, the researchers hypothesized that RTO mandates may be used to blame employees for poor firm performance. But, companies that have institutional ownership—such as hedge funds or endowments—would not fall for such a "blame game" and would thus would be less likely to implement an RTO mandate. The data supported those hypotheses. Firms with weaker stock performance before employees were able to return to the office were more likely to enforce RTO mandates. However, institutional ownership decreased the probability of RTO mandates.
Although CEOs often justified RTO mandates by arguing it will improve the company's performance, "Results of our determinant analyses are consistent with managers using RTO mandates to reassert control over"
One of the pupae begins to hatch. Out of it comes ... yes ... an IT worker. Soon it will crawl out of its cyber-cocoon, and it will join the other IT workers, glistening under the fluorescent lights; the IT workers will 'help' the lesser drones by making them feel first ignored, and then, incredibly stupid.
A couple years ago my back got really bad. It had been getting worse over the years, and it got to the point that I couldn't even walk. I'd fall down because the pain was so bad-- all the way down my leg. Never felt anything like it. I went to this pain place (Pain Stop here in Phoenix) and they have an on-site chiropractor and physical therapy both, both of which I used for months. Turns out, I had gotten sciatica really bad, and I had to get the back injections (they also refer out there to the place across the hall) along with the other stuff.
I also try to incorporate yoga into my days now, and I use one of these kneeling chairs. I love it, and I can't say enough good things about it. My wife thinks it's the weirdest thing ever. 😂 It took a TINY bit of getting used to, but not much, at least for me. Makes you sit up straighter, you get up and move more, it's fantastic. Highly recommend if you have back issues. Sitting on a chair with all your torso's weight on your tailbone all day is NOT good for you.