4570 replies to this topic

[spanky123]

Here it is.

To what extent will Canadians work from home once the COVID-19 pandemic is over? The answer to this question, says Statistics Canada, has potentially significant implications for future traffic congestion, public transit use, greenhouse gas emissions, demand for office space in city centres and for housing in suburbs, and the dynamism (or lack thereof) of retail trade stores and restaurants located in downtown areas.

According to Statistics Canada’s 2021 workforce survey, 80% of workers normally working outside of the home but who were working from home during the survey period would like to work at least half of their hours from home once the pandemic is over. 41% would prefer working about half of their hours at home and the other half outside the home, while 39% would prefer working most of their hours at home. The remaining 20% would prefer working mostly or all of their hours outside the home.

You can read more on these survey results here: https://www150.statc...e/00001-eng.htm

 

Well judging by how packed it was at Home Depot this afternoon at 1PM I suspect workers in Victoria at least are quite happy to continue working "remotely"! It is interesting that in most surveys workers consider themselves more productive working from home while most employers feel the other way! Ultimately it will boil down to bargaining power as to which wins. 

 

As I have mentioned before, one major change rising from the pandemic has been the willingness for employers to consider employees from outside of their region. If someone is working from home and you never see them anyways then what difference does it make if they are in Victoria or elsewhere as long as they show up for zoom meetings and do their work? The company that I work for has hired 100% of its recent hires from outside of Victoria whereas previously it would never have been considered.

Edited by spanky123, 26 May 2021 - 02:48 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Well judging by how packed it was at Home Depot this afternoon at 1PM I suspect workers in Victoria at least are quite happy to continue working "remotely"! It is interesting that in most surveys workers consider themselves more productive working from home while most employers feel the other way! Ultimately it will boil down to bargaining power as to which wins. 

 

for private employers you might just say "look if you keep up productivity you can work from home.  if not we need you at the office."

 

government workers might be different.

 

presumably many private sector workers and some government have been allowed to space their workday differently.   walk the kid home from school, no problem.

 

do we have any word on how many daycare spaces have come available?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 26 May 2021 - 02:50 PM.

[Ismo07]

Well judging by how packed it was at Home Depot this afternoon at 1PM I suspect workers in Victoria at least are quite happy to continue working "remotely"! It is interesting that in most surveys workers consider themselves more productive working from home while most employers feel the other way! Ultimately it will boil down to bargaining power as to which wins. 

 

As I have mentioned before, one major change rising from the pandemic has been the willingness for employers to consider employees from outside of their region. If someone is working from home and you never see them anyways then what difference does it make if they are in Victoria or elsewhere as long as they show up for zoom meetings and do their work? The company that I work for has hired 100% of its recent hires from outside of Victoria whereas previously it would never have been considered.

 

Yeah I'm not a fan of more production working from home.  At least I haven't seen it work that way.  So many little things get accomplished quickly with face to face, rather than waiting for an online meeting. It will be interesting to see how it goes.  I have a friend in Calgary who is working for a national company so she just works from home, will not have an office to go to.  Lot's to work out still.  I'm sure it's better for work life balance but more productive?

[Victoria Watcher]

The state said Wednesday a southwestern Ohio woman is the first winner of Ohio’s $1 million Vax-a-Million vaccination incentive prize.

 

The state also said a Dayton-area teen is the first winner of the program’s full-ride college scholarship. The names were announced Wednesday night at the end of the Ohio Lottery’s Cash Explosion TV show.

 

 

https://www.timescol...tery-1.24323448

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 26 May 2021 - 04:15 PM.

[Rob Randall]

Look at this amazing chart of lumber prices going back to 1980. Do not buy large amounts now, wait till this bubble bursts.

 

 

 

[Mike K.]

One of the fundamentals of a bubble bursting is insufficient demand for the commodity. Right now lumber demand is soaring as people take advantage of low interest rates and home building is on a tear.

Borrowing an extra $100k to build a house at 2% is not going to hold back someone building a $700,000 house, or a builder who normally lists at $850,000 to list at $950,000.

And what’s really interesting is the lumber supply hasn’t vanished, it’s just unable to get to market. That’s another fundamental difference between a typical bubble. Will prices drop over the next 2-3 months? Probably. But we can expect valuations to remain high compared to 2019.

[spanky123]

Yeah I'm not a fan of more production working from home.  At least I haven't seen it work that way.  So many little things get accomplished quickly with face to face, rather than waiting for an online meeting. It will be interesting to see how it goes.  I have a friend in Calgary who is working for a national company so she just works from home, will not have an office to go to.  Lot's to work out still.  I'm sure it's better for work life balance but more productive?

 

Agreed. The other thing a lot of people early in their careers haven't figured out yet is that advancement comes through relationship building and you don't get that over zoom. You are not going to make it into the senior levels of any larger company without having lots of face time with other members of the leadership team.

[Rob Randall]

Right now lumber demand is soaring as people take advantage of low interest rates and home building is on a tear.

 

Local chef hits jackpot

 

[Rob Randall]

Shut up, I know it's OSB.

[Ismo07]

Agreed. The other thing a lot of people early in their careers haven't figured out yet is that advancement comes through relationship building and you don't get that over zoom. You are not going to make it into the senior levels of any larger company without having lots of face time with other members of the leadership team.

 

It seems to me that people are less interested in advancement with the same company etc.  They are more than happy to jump from one to another because usually they feel they should get to advance at a faster rate.  Gone are the years of staying with the same company for 20+ years I feel.

[spanky123]

It seems to me that people are less interested in advancement with the same company etc.  They are more than happy to jump from one to another because usually they feel they should get to advance at a faster rate.  Gone are the years of staying with the same company for 20+ years I feel.

 

Sure but what prompts them to move in many cases is that they know someone (or someone knows of them) in another company. 

[Mike K.]

Lots of desperation for talent these days. But the problem with Victoria is it’s a great place for upper management to live and a difficult place to attract then sustain talent given the cost of living and housing.

I feel like the narrative should change to “if you make it in Victoria, you’ll make it anywhere.” Forget New York.

[Victoria Watcher]

Sure but what prompts them to move in many cases is that they know someone (or someone knows of them) in another company.

that they met on zoom.

[spanky123]

Lots of desperation for talent these days. But the problem with Victoria is it’s a great place for upper management to live and a difficult place to attract then sustain talent given the cost of living and housing.

I feel like the narrative should change to “if you make it in Victoria, you’ll make it anywhere.” Forget New York.

 

Yes and no. Lots of desperation for talent in hospitality and retail (until the CRB ends at least) but not so in professional services. A friend of mine who runs a large local tech company has had all of his last hires working remotely. Lot more affordable up Island or in the interior and it is really no different then having local staff working remotely. 

[spanky123]

that they met on zoom.

 

No question that lots of employees are really pushing to not have to return to the office. Lots of employers (including many of the big tech companies) are not seeing it that way.

[Mike K.]

Yes, that’s exactly it. Remote talent is now the way forward. This makes it doubly hard to convince someone to reside in Victoria for a specific job that needs to be local or at least have face time in the office.

[Ismo07]

Yes and no. Lots of desperation for talent in hospitality and retail (until the CRB ends at least) but not so in professional services. A friend of mine who runs a large local tech company has had all of his last hires working remotely. Lot more affordable up Island or in the interior and it is really no different then having local staff working remotely. 

 

I think the difference will be that there is little sense of unity leading for more to seek other jobs and more often.  1 to 3 years and off to 'greener' pastures.  I've been seeing it over the last 5 years more than ever.  Long serving employees retire and in a short time their jobs have turned of a handful of times.  I'm not even learning names till someone sticks around for 6 months.

[Mike K.]

That might be organizational friction. Not everyone wants to be part of a social movement in order to fit in to their job.

[Mike K.]

Has anyone asked the City of Victoria how they plan to address the very real and serious potential for store closures as a result of some councillors seeking to decriminalize survival shoplifting? Reading headlines about SFO today sounds like something very familiar to Victorians. Retailers in SFO would rather close outlets in high crime areas (like downtown cores) than allow shoplifting to continue following near-decriminalization (it’s no longer a felony) of theft under $950.

And what are the retailers seeing? Organized crime robbing their stores under the guise of poverty. Unintended consequences have created serious repercussions for populations losing retail amenities.

[sebberry]

Has anyone asked the City of Victoria how they plan to address the very real and serious potential for store closures as a result of some councillors seeking to decriminalize survival shoplifting? 

 

Is this a new push?