Work from home Hollywood Squares

Dimon brings up some very strong points in the article on why working from home kills initiatives, productivity, and effective problem solving.
Not really sure I get the "why" to Dimon's argument based on this article, maybe that is just the author or because of the lack of explanation from Dimon, but the content is pretty thin IMO.

It reads like a basic presentation of management having proximity bias as a justification for why people should not work remote without the explanation of what makes remote work problematic. Just saying remote work doesn't fit our culture isn't an explanation, and begs the question why couldn't the culture at JPM adapt to fit remote work.
 
I worked remotely about 75% of the time from January 2018 to March 2020 and have been 100% remote since then. Not driving to the office saves me time and money and the company still gets the same productivity out of me. I still solve problems just as effectively via phone or video chat as I could in person.
 
I've been working from home full time for 20+ years. It's a win-win for both my employer and myself. I'm logged on by 6:00AM pretty much every day and usually work until 4:00PM Monday through Friday. I don't have to spend two hours commuting per day and my employer gets more productive hours. If I want to do something else for an hour during the day, like change the oil in my Durango, then I do it. There is virtually no reason for me to go to an office, what would I do there that I can't do from home? If I want to talk to one of my coworkers about a design, then I hit them on Teams video chat and we go over the design. If I want to talk to a customer, I call them on Teams video chat and we chat, or I just call them on the phone (how boring). Everyone wins.
I go into the office because "company policy" want people to be there to "meet in person" and "team build".

Then what happen when we are in the office? We run out of conference room so we are all in our cube on "Team meeting" with each other AND coworkers in other sites. BTW this happens before the pandemic already, we never have an in-person only meeting since 2017.
 
Nonsense.

Dismiss the remote employees that are unproductive or put them on a PIP to work in-office until productivity improves.
This will happen very soon I think.

I have a friend that “just has to be logged on.” I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I would guess 30-50% productivity. Heck, that’s how I’d be if I worked from home. 🤷‍♂️
 
Amusing....he must be mad the Chase high-rise in DT chicago is becoming empty. The office building I'm at is 50% empty as well and most of those were last year (probably doesn't help they charge >$50 to change a lightbulb.) The company I work for is at this crossroad as well and the President of the company expect people to come into the office when 90% of the staff are field workers, have zero need to come into the office, and wonders why we can't find or keep anybody.
 
This will happen very soon I think.

I have a friend that “just has to be logged on.” I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I would guess 30-50% productivity. Heck, that’s how I’d be if I worked from home. 🤷‍♂️
I've already seen it happen. Someone decided to work very remotely in a whole different part of the country, got PIP'ed and told to work in office to monitor productivity, and eventually dismissed
 
A good friend of mine used to spend 90 minutes each way commuting to downtown Seattle to work at Amazon. Once there she got online and conducted video meetings with overseas partners.

Now she works from home doing the same thing. What she does not miss is the walking through decrepit conditions on the streets or being exposed to whatever chemicals the addicts are using. The deteriorating conditions downtown have prompted Amazon to keep delaying any return to the offices. Many have said they will quit if required to go back.

Dimon doesn’t realize that a new paradigm is here. Of course he paid for those buildings. He wants them used.
 
Of course he paid for those buildings. He wants them used.
His bank sold REIT on those building to investors, and his bank lend to owners of those buildings. What happen if they drop in value because companies are not returning to office and sublease them out for a significant discount, tanking the market rent? Foreclosure? Write offs?

If all he did was paying for the buildings he probably wouldn't care less whether they are used or not. His bank finance them, package them into investment to make money off the "management fee".
 
Here is Tim Cook's thoughts on physical presence by apple employees at the corporate office

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that on-the-fly chance encounters and discussions within a physical workplace are essential to Apple's company culture and part of its secret sauce for success. That philosophy underpinned Steve Jobs and Jony Ive's plans for the circular Apple Park headquarters in Cupertino, California, which opened in April 2017.
 
Here is Tim Cook's thoughts on physical presence by apple employees at the corporate office

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that on-the-fly chance encounters and discussions within a physical workplace are essential to Apple's company culture and part of its secret sauce for success. That philosophy underpinned Steve Jobs and Jony Ive's plans for the circular Apple Park headquarters in Cupertino, California, which opened in April 2017.


I believe that. In Apple’s case their inventiveness is spurred by personal interactions and that is something that might not happen online.
 
And from the LA Times today:

Working from home during the pandemic became a surprising success.
Many workers enjoyed a better quality of life plus savings on commuting, office wardrobe and other expenses. Companies boosted productivity and lowered costs.

Now as remote work looks likely to survive in some form for the foreseeable future, a battle is starting to brew over who should pocket those savings, with some employers arguing that working from home is a benefit that should be offset by lower salaries.

Los Angeles Times: Working at home may soon include a pay cut.
https://www.latimes.com/politics/st...rking-from-home-from-home?consumer=googlenews
 
And from the LA Times today:

Working from home during the pandemic became a surprising success.
Many workers enjoyed a better quality of life plus savings on commuting, office wardrobe and other expenses. Companies boosted productivity and lowered costs.

Now as remote work looks likely to survive in some form for the foreseeable future, a battle is starting to brew over who should pocket those savings, with some employers arguing that working from home is a benefit that should be offset by lower salaries.

Los Angeles Times: Working at home may soon include a pay cut.
https://www.latimes.com/politics/st...rking-from-home-from-home?consumer=googlenews
Hope the same companies aren't surprised when people start to jump ship down the line for better pay. I also hope consumers aren't surprised if there is a change in service or quality when remote work is farmed out to the lowest cost market.
 
Here is Tim Cook's thoughts on physical presence by apple employees at the corporate office

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that on-the-fly chance encounters and discussions within a physical workplace are essential to Apple's company culture and part of its secret sauce for success. That philosophy underpinned Steve Jobs and Jony Ive's plans for the circular Apple Park headquarters in Cupertino, California, which opened in April 2017.
A lot of hardware divisions are in lockdown area that cannot be remote control into for security reason. #1 rule in Apple is loose lips sink ships. Infinite Loop has probably about 3/4 of their offices as lock down area and probably 1/3 of them are labs, and not all employees can access each of them either.
 
Now as remote work looks likely to survive in some form for the foreseeable future, a battle is starting to brew over who should pocket those savings, with some employers arguing that working from home is a benefit that should be offset by lower salaries.
The answer is always the free market musical chair.
 
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