Quote:
Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield
I think people who assume offices will make a broad comeback miss the fact that not only are companies able to shave lease or carry costs, but they are also able to:
1. Avoid HR costs (dispersed employees can't harass each other as easily);
2. Avoid insurance costs;
3. Avoid supply costs (all those leases and purchases of copiers, printers, desks, cubicles, etc. - gone);
4. And (HUGE one here) they can limit wage increases (ability to stay at home is an economic gain to workers who avoid commuting costs, which justifies the employer paying less... I've read that in some instances, employers are considering decreasing wages for stay at home workers because such an arrangement is providing them with the benefit of a wage which was previously justified based on cost of having to work in office.)
If your company is creative, or a start up, you'll always need an office for interaction. But it's going to be seriously difficult for any company to justify ignoring all of the savings that accrue from jettisoning high priced real estate and leases.
Also, companies that are forward thinking will want to hire remotely because it expands the talent pool immeasurably.
The final argument I hear for why offices in densely populated areas will make a broad comeback is that young people will want to work together and be together. They're looking for mates, for connections, etc. This makes some sense superficially, but falters a bit when you examine the assertion more closely. How many people find mates at work? Not a lot, I'd assume. Most people try to avoid office romances because they can be career disasters. And as to connections, people have the internet. They can get connected to people who can help their career far more easily and quickly by connecting through online networks than they can using the often slow and unpredictable method of glad-handing and meeting through drinks or dinner with mutual acquaintances. Also, a lot of the most important people to whom you'd want to be connected are going to be working from their places in FL.
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Our employment lawyer and Title IX coordinator both say that somehow or another we've had an increase in complaints this year. I'm not quite clear on how that happened, but...
I'm in healthcare, so we're always going to have to have some physical presence onsite. But not nearly as much as we thought we did. The tricky part will be some roles really don't need to be onsite while others do, and still others it's hit or miss. And unfortunately, it's to some extent more important for the lower-level folk to be there than those of us who really just need a laptop and a phone.
That said, I think it's probably architectural malpractice for anyone to design a home going forward that doesn't think through work space. It doesn't need to be a ton of space, but it does need to be thought through.
