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Ask HN: How has your leadership team rationalised a return to the office?

8 points by dynamite-ready ↗ HN
I've not heard a specific reason in my case. I suspect it's due to office rent and the expense associated with the desire to keep the space. Might be different for those of you working in other fields, but as a lot of software engineers frequent this site, I wondered what their experiences were.

20 comments

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byoung2
The CEOs of my last two companies ditched all offices and went 100% distributed during the pandemic. For software it made more sense to recruit workers from anywhere than a drivable radius from a city office.

Companies eager to return to offices have most likely invested money in fancy offices and they want to see that investment put to use.

Remote workers are more productive, take fewer sick days [1], and can work from cheaper areas, a win-win. To give up that value proposition companies would need something more valuable in return, and water cooler talk and cubicle to cubicle chatter doesn't seem worth it

1. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/technology/...

jstx1
The study you cite is from 2015 when remote work was for people who chose it themselves. I don't think that the results will necessarily be the same if you scale it to everyone being remote.

Personally I can say that I'm far less productive when I'm remote and I can't wait to get back to the office - it seems like a better deal for me and for my employer. I would definitely look for another job if they said that we'll be always remote.

byoung2
The results are better after covid:

https://www.apollotechnical.com/working-from-home-productivi...

jstx1
That doesn't look better at all.

Most of the post-Covid results in that article are surveys. The one that isn't a survey measures app use and claims that because employees accessed document and calendar apps less that must mean that they are more productive (!?).

Remote or in-office, my impression is that people like what they like and won't just change their preferences because of an online comment. So if remote works for you, that's great - but I can't agree that what you're sharing is good evidence.

shahbaby
Just drive to a starbucks and treat that as your office.

Why would you want to be herded like cattle?

jstx1
> Why would you want to be herded like cattle?

I don't and I'm not. If you were herded like cattle before then I don't blame you for liking remote much better.

decafninja
Probably anyone that commutes into Manhattan (NYC) experiences the cattle-car experience of the regional mass transit system, which is supposedly the best in the US, but leaves a lot to be desired compared to comparable systems in cities like Tokyo or Seoul.

Not having to commute into Manhattan is reason enough for me to vastly prefer WFH. An enormous amount of collective time is wasted by the millions of workers who a make that commute every day.

[dead] eigengrau5150
They haven't. It's all, "because we damned well said so."

So when I do my exit interview I'll say, "Why? Because fuck you is why."

giantg2
We need to return to office for the culture. That's the only thing I've heard.

That's despite increased productivity, increased talent pool, and increased retention that we've seen due to remote work.

dynamite-ready
I'm not a gregarious person, but have no problems with meeting people. I started my current role in the middle of lockdown. From my perspective, I'm not sure what the organisation gains 'culturally'. If anything remote working does feel like it better prepares people for tech work, because there's a bit more patience in meetings, and a greater reliance on documentation.

Mentoring does work better in person though, tbf. It's easier to communicate 'concern' and read it in others (for want of a better word) in person, than online.

But this nebulous quality is partly surmounted by responding promptly to online comms, for programmers/software engineers at least.

I think, sometimes, a case can be made for meeting irl, but it should be for something worthwhile. Like a round of tech workshops, or possibly estimation sessions. Beyond that it's just too much of a risk to our health (and others) at this point in time. And a waste of 2-4 hours commuting.

But these are the opinions of an introverted mid office grunt (if even that), with no financial commitment to a 3 year office lease, or a $200 coffee machine.

giantg2
The thing they're supposedly worried about is losing control over the culture. So it's that being in person is requores for the culture itself, but that the C suite wants to retain control.
fundamental
No rational has been given at my organization. Leading into the office building's shutdown a number of fully remote employees were hired which makes the pull back to the physical office make even less logistical sense.
codingdave
I haven't heard a single reason other than the CEO saying, "I like being in the office and I want to see people."

To be fair, they are not mandating it. They are asking people what they want and supporting people's personal choice. At least for now.

yuuu
Rationalized it? Haha, that's a good one. They also haven't rationalized why I've had to work (remotely) within distance of the campus instead of allowing me to work out-of-state, which would enable me to actually buy a house and live closer to family. Instead, I've been arbitrarily trapped with the perennial promise that a post-COVID remote work policy is on the horizon.
gtirloni
Taxes and HR expenses can vary in different states and a company might not be willing to deal with that, especially in the US. That's often the reason I hear about "we only hire in states X, Y, Z" and might apply to accepting employees too move to other places too.
yuuu
Without going into details, I can tell you that's not the reason, in this case.
1991g
Mine has not. But from people I know who's CEOs have, basically a return on investment in office space is the only reason that can be articulated.
Jtsummers
Physical need, we can't take the labs home and networked access isn't the same as physical access (or isn't the same for all tasks). So some people are in full-time (or near), most are back a few days a week, and people working in other areas (that have less obvious need for physical presence) are back on rare occasions (specific meetings) unless they're in sales or sociable. Sales people seem to like the social aspect of the office (maybe not all, but certainly here).
ultrasounder
Work for on HW side of things for a molecular diags( COVID testing)company here in BayArea. I am classified as a “hybrid” worker and management expects me to perform most of my duties from home( I don’t have lab at home) but I go to office and get my lab work done and do cat-herding from home. Works fine so far