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Because they want you back in the office instead of taking numerous breaks? Slacking off? Running and doing errands while on the clock?
It’s a great thing that you go back to work instead of taking breaks and slacking off from home, get entangled in meetings about meetings and the “working space so much needed mingling”. Great for you for that…

Me on the other side I’m glad I get to choose to work since 9am uninterrupted (minus bathroom/water/coffee breaks) until 5pm non stop, not even lunch (great for intermittent fasting too). And that hour or two that I gained without commuting? I do exercising and running every day and still got hours left for the day! Not to mention saved money on random office group coffee runs, gasoline/transport, etc…

I totally understand that some people just don’t want people to save money or live a healthier more balanced financial lifestyle, but make no mistake, people won’t flip over so easily to suit your bad wishes.

Some acquaintances that make over $500K from their homes (or traveling hubs, i.e NOT an office) which have been doing this for over a decade just can’t understand why everybody is so crazy in an A vs B suddenly on this front. I don’t get it either.

Those that need to go to the work place… well, go. Those that don’t well don’t go. Those that are doing a bad job in or out of the office? Well, maybe warn and/or fire them.

I’m seriously tired of the “I want to make you go back to the office no matter what, even if you don’t need to… not liking that you are saving money, doing exercises and having too much out of work free time and whatnot” thread.
 
I think people should be given the choice to work how they feel the most comfortable. I work for a large software company and our campus always encouraged a 50% WFH/Office ratio. I totally understand a colleague who travels 2 hours to prefer working from home, that is 4 hours of your daily life you can use with your kids or your girlfriend.

It takes me literally 15min to go to work, taking the subway. I go to the office because the free lunch, snacks, drinks and perks we get. Yet, when I work late hours at the office, I enjoy WFH the next day.
I think the flexible hybrid approach is the way. At my place we can work flexible hours and choose to WFH or office.

I try to go in one or two days a week. It’s nice to see people face to face, there are some things that do work better in person, such as team bonding and problem solving.

But I do think it should be a choice. One that an employer can encourage but I don’t think should be mandating. At least it shouldn’t be if it trusts its employees. And if it doesn’t, it’s got way bigger problems on to solve.
 
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Apple's director of machine learning, Ian Goodfellow, has resigned from his role a little over four years after he joined the company after previously being one of Google's top AI employees, according to The Verge's Zoë Schiffer.

apple-park-at-night-1.jpg

Goodfellow reportedly broke the news to staff in an email, saying his resignation is in part due to Apple's plan to return to in-person work, which required employees to work from the office at least one day per week by April 11, at least two days per week by May 2, and at least three days per week by May 23. "I believe strongly that more flexibility would have been the best policy for my team," Goodfellow said in the email.

Apple employees began returning to Apple Park last month, with the three-day in-office work policy being enacted on May 23. Some employees have been unhappy about the plan to return to in-person work.

In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook during the summer, a group of employees said "Without the inclusivity that flexibility brings, many of us feel we have to choose between either a combination of our families, our well-being, and being empowered to do our best work, or being a part of Apple. This is a decision none of us take lightly, and a decision many would prefer not to have to make."

Article Link: Apple's Director of Machine Learning Resigns Due to Return to Office Wo
I can understand where WFH advocates are coming from but personally I don’t like what it does to work-life balance. My employees come in 4 days a week, we feed them, and when they leave at the end of the workday their life is theirs. They don’t take calls, texts, or slacks. When we go out, outside of the office, we don’t talk about work as a policy. Few people have the discipline to be productive from home and even fewer have the discipline for proper self-care. A mature executive, which this guy obviously isn’t, would recognize his responsibility as a leader
 
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But I do think it should be a choice. One that an employer can encourage.
I updated the previous post, by adding a comment related to Goodfellow's resignation reason (IMO is total bullshit). Honestly, if a company will give you the choice to work from home responsibly, the ratio will address by itself. Some people want to go to office, some don't. Let them work the ratio between themselves, don't impose anything or have your boss crying at you that you stayed home all week, is ridiculous. For example, our campus can accommodate only 60% of employees and we never had an issue with the office being less than 45% full. That's pre-Covid. I know some of my colleagues prefer to go to office and even someone who live 2 hours away, will voluntarily go to work because the perks or just wants to see other faces. Is a human reaction.
 
Commuting stress, road rage, less sleep, less time for yourself, less time for your family, social interactions you don't care for, uncomfortable clothes, exposing yourself to potential health hazard, less productive, more stressed. Working in the office is ********. Period.
Some people, as expressed in the comments and reactions totally want you, for some reason, to take away all those benefits and force you to all those said hazards…

I think more people die out of car commuting accidents than the same COVID (let’s just entertain the idea if it isn’t). These people want you to get exposed to said accidents, want you to get exposed to their other health hazards, lower your immune system by having less sleep and be more stressed, spend less time with your family because apparently that’s what the world needs…

The worst part is, even when it isn’t needed! I’m sorry all, but when I look at it this way I can’t help but take it personal… I’m starting to think in middle fingers to said heinous evil wishes.
 
Sounds like a management style from hell. Also I was home schooled growing up, ended up winning a bunch of academic competitions, have shipped software for some of the most prestigious institutions in the US, and run my own business. Most of my peers also had good outcomes. It's not being at home that's the problem.
Exactly. It’s terrible - often middle - management. They’ve put up with and championed lazy staff for years and all WFH has done is exacerbate that. The lazy people will be lazy wherever they are. Why should your top people suffer because a middle manager that effectively contributes nothing to your bottom line can’t or won’t do the job created for them?

I’m a great manager. I’ve just one individual who took liberties and I’ve had him back in the office under constant supervision. Everyone else can come and go as they please and guess what, my team is still delivering. But I value them as people and not economic units - as my boss does me otherwise I’d have been sacked long ago. We don’t have layers of middle management interfering in getting **** done though.
 
Some people, as expressed in the comments and reactions totally want you, for some reason, to take away all those benefits and force you to all those said hazards…

I think more people die out of car commuting accidents than the same COVID (let’s just entertain the idea if it isn’t). These people want you to get exposed to said accidents, want you to get exposed to their other health hazards, lower your immune system by having less sleep and be more stressed, spend less time with your family because apparently that’s what the world needs…

The worst part is, even when it isn’t needed! I’m sorry all, but when I look at it this way I can’t help but take it personal… I’m starting to think in middle fingers to said heinous evil wishes.

Exo 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Maybe we need to add WFH.
 
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Few people have the discipline to be productive from home and even fewer have the discipline for proper self-care
I'm not sure this is accurate. If that is the case, 50% of companies out there would be bankrupt now, after 2 years of working from home. I think Covid proved that some companies could easily go buildingless. I personally would not work for a company like that.
 
It's the infrastructure that suffers with wfh ; restaurants , cafes etc all closing as nobody's using them as they're all at home sat on the sofa 'working'

The infrastructure at home benefits, though. Where I live the independent coffee shops and eateries are thriving as people stay local for lunch. There are no real independent business in London where I am - and tbh I’m much happier small businesses are making bank at the expense of Starbucks.
 
People thinking you can work from home effectively are crazy. You have all kinds of distractions. Your family interrupting, pets, television, getting mail/packages. Your time is not dedicated to working as it would be in the office. Plus, when you need something and you send a Teams message, people ignore it due to distractions. If in the office, I can simply walk to their desk. People refuse to turn on cameras on calls, so facials expressions and body language are lost.
 
This is the dumbest take ever.

At the professional level there is no "clock". You have a job to do, you do it and get it done. That's it. If you do three hours of workin the morning, four hours in the afternoon and finish something up for an hour at 23:30 before bed, you're being just as effective as someone who has to go to the office do it in an 8-10 hour chunk.

People who want to slack off will do so at the office too. Eventually their low output will be noticed and they'll be talked to and possibly dismissed like any other bad employee.
Most people aren’t salaried And don’t have this option. They want people working shifts so they can have meetings and have support available if needed.
 
Let’s be honest, anyone who says “remote work is bad”* because of the loss of collaboration are the folks who liked group projects because they got to slack off.

*may not be applicable to all industries of types of jobs.
Yep. And the ability to wander over to a desk and talk about last night’s TV which a clipboard in hand pretending to be working. “O, but I am COLLABORATING so hard”.
 
Oh no. Another entitled person didn’t get their way. No loss.


So artificially make housing prices higher where people expect Bay Area paychecks for living in Ohio?

This madness will stop at some point especially with recession looming. Looking forward to these people crying they can no longer take 2 hour make during the day while they “work”
I agree. Businesses may allow you to work from home and go buildingless, but they aren’t going to transfer those savings to your paycheck. In fact you will lose your job to someone overseas. My entire tech department is now based in India. Going into the office and seeing a face may save you a job.
 
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People thinking you can work from home effectively are crazy.
I can, do, and have been successfully working from home since 2018, and been promoted twice. So please don’t generalize like this.

I’ll be the first to say that not all industries or roles are supportive of remote work, but corporations can and should absolutely work with employees to find a mutually beneficial set of circumstances for both parties.
 
I agree. Businesses may allow you to work from home and go buildingless, but they aren’t going to transfer those savings to your paycheck. In fact you will lose your job to someone overseas. My entire tech department is now based in India. Going into the office and seeing a face may save you a job.

This doesn't seem to be a problem at our local defense contractors.
 
Wow!. Hot topic by the number of replies!!.
Who wants to return to the office???
Some positions will benefit more from that than others. And some really will be annoyed to retur, it would not be fair that some departments don’t have to return so many days, but home office is not for all companies/positions.
 
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I updated the previous post, by adding a comment related to Goodfellow's resignation reason (IMO is total bullshit). Honestly, if a company will give you the choice to work from home responsibly, the ratio will address by itself. Some people want to go to office, some don't. Let them work the ratio between themselves, don't impose anything or have your boss crying at you that you stayed home all week, is ridiculous. For example, our campus can accommodate only 60% of employees and we never had an issue with the office being less than 45% full. That's pre-Covid. I know some of my colleagues prefer to go to office and even someone who live 2 hours away, will voluntarily go to work because the perks or just wants to see other faces. Is a human reaction.
Thanks for letting me know so I could unlike your post.

As a leader, it’s perfectly reasonable that he might have taken a principled view to stand up for the whole team. Even more so if the specific rule didn’t adversely affect him personally.

I think that reflects very well on him as a leader.
 
People thinking you can work from home effectively are crazy. You have all kinds of distractions. Your family interrupting, pets, television, getting mail/packages. Your time is not dedicated to working as it would be in the office. Plus, when you need something and you send a Teams message, people ignore it due to distractions. If in the office, I can simply walk to their desk. People refuse to turn on cameras on calls, so facials expressions and body language are lost.
“Crazy”

Yet there are many many people having done it for 2 years saying they are more productive at home than in the office.

And here’s you, sitting at your keyboard knowing everything about everyone. So baselessly over confident.
 
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