Demanding that people go back to the office five days a week has been shown to punish staff who are lower-income, parents, and disabled. It is also not necessary for reporters and journalists who do much of their work in the field, on the phone, or on laptop computers that can be used anywhere. - ThreadSky

karenho.bsky.social • 143 days ago

Demanding that people go back to the office five days a week has been shown to punish staff who are lower-income, parents, and disabled. It is also not necessary for reporters and journalists who do much of their work in the field, on the phone, or on laptop computers that can be used anywhere.

Comments

drtwillett.medsky.social•143 days ago

My sister who is in sales was noting that her workplace is demanding the in person shite making her time less flexible than it was before. I guess punishing /micromanaging is the point 🤬

mydogisexhausted.bsky.social•143 days ago

It’s not necessary for most professions, it’s a myth that people in an office are more productive. But the cities need workers and they’re offering tax breaks. 😡

krubner.bsky.social•142 days ago

At least here in New York City, the companies that are pushing workers to come back to the office are also companies that are hiring (not firing). They are pushing workers to come back to the office only because working at the office makes the company more efficient.

bonniepatterson.bsky.social•141 days ago

I am finding it impossible to get a job because Long COVID left me with a heart complaint that can't handle a 5 hour daily commute to an office.

Not only does my job not require being in an office to perform my duties, it is an active detriment to be constantly interrupted.

lordravenscraft.bsky.social•143 days ago

It's unbelievable how much of people's working day is dictated by Incompetent Middle Manager Coping With Insecurity

danifroom.bsky.social•143 days ago

It would absolutely price me out of my job, as we're already stretched thin paying for childcare as it is (and yes, my job is planning on 5 days next year)

larunasoftpaw.bsky.social•143 days ago

I was able to keep WFH through an ADA accommodation request but it took them almost 4 weeks to process it and I might have to resubmit the request next year. Please please try to get it through ADA but I know it isn't easy. 😞

lexomatic.bsky.social•143 days ago

Not necessary for call centres if they're voip.

zenosanalytic.bsky.social•140 days ago

^^^^^^ Bosses care less about what works, less about their budgets, than about having physical people to physically boss around in their vicinity. Pure hierarchy-over-empiricism thinking.

stevemullis.bsky.social•143 days ago

In my search for a new job in the industry, it is disheartening how many "digital editor" jobs and similar roles are hybrid or in-office and based in D.C., New York or L.A. We're right back to the same nonsense.

bigcee.bsky.social•143 days ago

Remember. It’s all about control.

kbyrd.bsky.social•143 days ago

In Ottawa, RTO appears to be driven by a desire to give public taxpayer money to private corporations. https://ottawacitizen.com/public-service/feds-award-13-8-million-contract-to-create-coworking-spaces-in-ottawa-region

tehmud.bsky.social•143 days ago

But how can they look like they're actually working by micromanaging you all day if you're not in the office?

grudgematch.bsky.social•143 days ago

It’s also been shown that the young, new to the world of employment, suffer the greatest from lack of social contact at work.

paingodruss.bsky.social•143 days ago

The return to office mandate for people who were completely able to work from home, is just another attempt to control those of us who don't have the luxury of millions of dollars we can randomly throw around the stock market as if it's a video game.

journeyamerican.bsky.social•143 days ago

I spent most of my life in newspapers. The concept of a newsroom and camaraderie and all that crap is dead.

mikusa.bsky.social•143 days ago

Or, in order to claim the leased office space as a legitimate business expense there must actually be people working in that space. The daily grind is returning. I didn’t vote for that—did you?

sesheta.bsky.social•142 days ago

As a disabled person, I needed to hear this in working on my paperwork. I have been fearful of even admitting to my issues.

krnlkule.bsky.social•143 days ago

RTW is a prelude to layoffs. There is no reasonable benefit for a company to a forced RTW policy.

lexweaver.bsky.social•143 days ago

Especially if it’s been proven that the job can be done (and done just as well) without being in the office.

annabyang.com•143 days ago

I've worked remotely since my oldest was an infant (they're now 15). I can't IMAGINE working from an office. The logistics of 3 kids... I'd lose my mind. Or a lot of what I do now simply wouldn't be possible.

boshyboo.bsky.social•143 days ago

Also I know Jeff bezos doesn't care about this but people are still dying and being disabled by COVID every single day

karenho.bsky.social•143 days ago

The new policy at the Washington Post is meant to push staff to quit in a brutal job market after a wave of subscription cancellations or have those staff incur higher commuting and daycare costs under the guise of "greater collaboration".

cmf406.bsky.social•143 days ago

It's WILD watching the PE firm who bought our division and "spun it off" not even bothering to find office space. They don't want to spend the $$, so WFH is just fine.
I'm sure there will be a pivot, but I'm leaving at the end of the year ...

magneticsara.bsky.social•143 days ago

Sounds like it will take out more women than men.

altjelly.bsky.social•143 days ago

The Washington Post deserves to die. It would be a mercy, because its legacy was great and now its corpse is being puppeteered by a bald megalomaniac.

If it can't be removed from Bezos, it should decompose so that the brilliant people who make the news can do great work elsewhere. RIP WaPo

tulipacid.bsky.social•143 days ago

Owners of these companies are heavily invested in real estate within urban cores which, absent RTO, are failing.

They want the plebes back in the office so as to resuscitate their failing investments.

karenho.bsky.social•143 days ago

These full-court RTO policies are instituted by managers and executives who often don't have to worry about things like code-switching, the cost of long commutes and daycare, managing invisible disabilities, or the limited options even for mid-career professionals in the current job market.

wendywhite.bsky.social•143 days ago

you mean men with a stay at home wife? because they have the privilege of simply having zero context and zero fucks

karenho.bsky.social•143 days ago

It is worth noting that the Washington Post just signed a new lease until at least 2037 in February of this year. Previous reporting said the conpany sought ~270k square feet of space after its previous HQ was sold for $159M in 2013: https://www.bisnow.com/washington-dc/news/office/washington-post-renews-downtown-dc-lease-for-13-years-122997

nevint.bsky.social•143 days ago

My sense is that intentionally reducing the quality of the workplace, which includes RTO, is a deliberate strategy to force people out. Particularly in FAANG-adjacent tech companies. It’s also a cultural shift towards asserting control. They think “AI” will eliminate talent. But probably not.

dbmcweeberton.bsky.social•143 days ago

I understand why businesses want to populate offices when they're stuck in a lease (though it's still a stupid reason), but I really don't get doubling down on office space four years after Covid changed the workplace.

karenho.bsky.social•143 days ago

I used to cover commercial and residential real estate. It would be worth finding out and including how much the Washington Post agreed to for this 13+ year lease renewal was for and thenother terms in any media reports about the implementation of this RTO policy.

jamesdbartlett3.bsky.social•142 days ago

Here's what I really don't get about that: If you're on the hook for a commercial real estate lease, you have to pay it no matter if your employees are physically present or not. It doesn't make a single hoot of difference. In fact, it would still cost you less to leave it empty (no utilities).

judigunn.bsky.social•143 days ago

I would LOVE to read frank interviews with lawyers who represent commercial clients, including lease terms. Alas. That sort of interview would be ... challenging to get at best.

mikethemadbiol.bsky.social•142 days ago

In D.C., the B tier stuff is getting hammered e.g., ⬇️, and I've seen tumbles as high as 80% (the A tier stuff seems to be holding).

sethdmichaels.bsky.social•142 days ago

it's also wild to me to see "2037" and realize how that year actually isn't very far off

swtbeat.bsky.social•143 days ago

When we told my boss that there would be an exodus if forced to RTO he shrugged and said it is what it is - they absolutely want us to quit so that they don’t have to deal with firing/layoffs.

There wasn’t an exodus but we’ve been struggling to hit our goals ever since, moral took a major hit

mcvalada.bsky.social•143 days ago

That sounds like “constructive discharge.” Get a lawyer.

kolinzkay.bsky.social•142 days ago

They also can't claim a tax deductible on their corporate offices if no one is there and they have the burden of the fixed costs. As usual the rich feel entitled to having their cake and eating it and then eating everyone elses.

jimbojones77.bsky.social•141 days ago

They can still deduct rent if people WFH.

It's a waste of money, but a deductible one.

squirrellyaltruist.bsky.social•44 days ago

It’s just bad environmental policy in the U.S. too. And bad environmental policy is bad public health policy and bad family welfare policy. But there are so many $16 sandwich/salad spots to support. Captive audiences must pay for parking/transit and over-priced food/real estate.

brexcyclopaedia.bsky.social•142 days ago

Also disastrous for congestion and emissions, but true on all those fronts. I had to quit a job that pushed back to the office because of my daughter.

casmilus.bsky.social•143 days ago

Or, in the case of leading opinion columnists, just making shit up.

jonty-b-isme.bsky.social•142 days ago

Well said. I worked in insurance and was lower income. I kept it to myself because that's one industry that you don't want them to know anything. I worked from home, and when I did, my production was the highest in the office twice over. Firm believer there's no need in office buildings.

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply