70 replies to this topic

[UDeMan]

My office is still over 50% WFH full time.

I can tell you our backlogs are way up and productivity is way down from before covid.

[Victoria Watcher]

I think almost everyone agrees WFH is less productive, at least with most employees.   That's natural.

[Nparker]

I think almost everyone agrees WFH is less productive, at least with most employees...

So maybe it is time to make people come back to the office, especially in the public sector, where taxpayer dollars are involved.

[GaryOak]

Yeah but then you loose the few productive WFH people.

[GaryOak]

Maybe make it so that if you're above the 50 percentile in productivity, you can choose to work from home and if you are below the 50 percentile you come into the office.

[dasmo]

Pay them more to work at the office and fire the unproductive WFHers. Done.

[dasmo]

If the position doesn’t require WIO then WFHer that is productive is fine. But they are even better in the office as they create a culture of productivity.

[dasmo]

Maybe don’t require your employees to put a diaper on their face or get injections to work too. That might also make people feel better about returning.

[aastra]

 

What is going on, to make people avoid in-person employment to such a degree that they'd rather quit?

 

Is this really so mysterious? For those keeping score:

1) offices were never deadly dangerous places
2) offices suddenly became deadly dangerous places
3) offices continued to be deadly dangerous places for many months, stretching into years
4) offices suddenly stopped being deadly dangerous places
5) offices have no potential to suddenly become deadly dangerous places all over again

It would seem that point #5 above is just too much of a stretch for many people to accept, even for those who tried their damndest to accept points #2 through #4.

Not only that, but anyone who does make the effort to accept point #5 will run the risk of being tempted to revisit points #2 through #4, and that would be an extremely unpleasant exercise for a lot of people, keeping in mind everything they did, everything they said, and everything they believed during the past ~3 years.

I'll go out on a limb and say I wouldn't be surprised if they bring this current "employment crisis" to a head, maybe via some kind of ultimatum with a fixed deadline (coincidentally shared by many different jurisdictions at the same time, and with some insufferable universal slogan: "Come In To Work Or You'll Be Out Of Work" or something like that)... but then as soon as the deadline passes they say workplaces are suddenly deadly dangerous all over again.

If something like that were to happen, I don't think I would be gobsmacked into speechlessness. My jaw wouldn't strike the floor from sheer shock and disbelief.

[dasmo]

Please do that! Let’s get Clown World to crash!

[Mike K.]

First we need to survive September 23.

We know there will be back-to-office legislation. There is far too much money and wealth riding on a centralized employment node, where only 20% of the population lives nearby, while the other 80% have to endure costly, and timely commutes to get to.

But the one variable here isn’t the office environment and health, but the public transit environment and health. Now that’s a very fragile relationship. People hate being on crowded public transit more than ever, after what we went through during COVID. At the first sign of sniffles from flu and cold season, I think the workers already in offices are going to be second guessing their desires to be in the office.

[dasmo]

Covid measures….

[Victoria Watcher]

The province has said there will never be a blanket back to office provision for its employees.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 September 2023 - 06:53 AM.

[Nparker]

The province has said there will never be a blanket back to office provision for its employees.

Until there is. When I was hired into the BC Public Service I never had to prove my vaccination status for anything. Changing the rules in the middle of the game would be nothing new for this regime.

[dasmo]

Exactly. They fired thousands for not taking an experimental injection. Thousands in our over burdened healthcare system.

[lanforod]

The province has said there will never be a blanket back to office provision for its employees.

 

There really shouldn't be either, IMO. Why should productivity be the only goal? Longer term, employee satisfaction with satisfactory productivity is better than higher productivity and lower employee satisfaction. Compared to allowing flexibility in roles that can, to work from home, the latter likely results in higher turnover, health issues, sick and stress leaves, and ultimately lower or similar productivity over the long term.

[dasmo]

At least the Alberta premier apologized and hired them back.

[dasmo]

We definitely don’t need more government intervention….

[dasmo]

There really shouldn't be either, IMO. Why should productivity be the only goal? Longer term, employee satisfaction with satisfactory productivity is better than higher productivity and lower employee satisfaction. Compared to allowing flexibility in roles that can, to work from home, the latter likely results in higher turnover, health issues, sick and stress leaves, and ultimately lower or similar productivity over the long term.

Exactly. Add in traffic calming, high parking costs, expensive gas and having to wade through zombies to get to work there is even more reason to resist the call.

Edited by dasmo, 06 September 2023 - 07:13 AM.

[dasmo]

Government could work on those things. That’s what we pay them for right? They work for us right? Right?