As we approach the end of the year - and the continuation of the coronavirus pandemic that has not ended and I’m tired of people saying it has - we’re seeing the anti-remote brigade begin to lower their pitchforks, in part because the Omicron variant is
Thank you for telling it like it is and not how the corporate spin masters want it to look because it really does suck. I work for a mega-global organization and after working from home for the last two years, we were directed to come back to the office in January so we can be more innovative and foster our culture. What the fuck have we been doing for the last two years? Nothing? I'm a seasoned professional who knows how to get it done, doesn't matter where it gets done. Screw my work-life balance since return to office means I'll be spending approximately two hours per day commuting to an office where I don't have an assigned spot but can grab one Hunger Games style AND I don't work with any of the people in this office.
This directive is across the board and even applies to employees who were previously full time remote, hired to be remote, some for decades. It's a convenient way for the company to shed more employees without using layoffs, which has also happened over the past two years. The optics might lower the share price. I'm holding on to get my 401k match and bonus in early 2022, though who knows how fully funded that will be. You know the poor company has been "struggling" due to the pandemic.
Keep writing and all the best to you in the new year!
The way I think of it, a person starts a business and they buy labor from others. Coordinating and harnessing that labor is their contribution.
But I think the many business owners, managers, and executives view their entire business as an expression of their own will, and their subordinates as instruments of their will. By extension, those employees or subordinates are inferiors -- people who don't have the smarts or the courage or whatever else to act on their own will.
In that framework, how dare a person quit a job with me and go work for someone else because they want to pick up their kid at school? How dare a person retire, even if they have the money? How dare a person take 2 years off and expect to get hired anywhere again?
The notion of "careers" sort of smooths out that narrative: If "my" employee moves up in the industry, that still fits with the idea that my own glory has extended and expanded. If "my" employee just goes off to live in an ashram, why that calls into question their role as an instrument of my will.
Great points. I remember the 1980's "trickle down economics", and who the adherents were. (I admit buying into that some, until after 2000)
The 2021 worker shortage is often blamed on two assistance checks taxpayers got in 2020-2021. Which would cover about two months rent for a nice 2 bed / bath apartment or an okay 3 bed / 2 bath house in a cheaper state like mine (NM), plus a sack of groceries and the electric bill those months. Not 6 months, let alone 2 years! The trickle-down crowd fell right into this blame game via their megachurch pulpit or favorite MAGApundit - no surprise.
They're joined in that same blame game by even some left-leaning people, but in high corporate positions - still a surprise. Someone like that I know, a good person in many ways, still used the same blame at a meeting with several of us, ending with, "and I'm a socialist." How about, "I'm not a math whiz," either?
I'm unsure if these folks are in it for control or money first, but the result is the same.
Thank you for telling it like it is and not how the corporate spin masters want it to look because it really does suck. I work for a mega-global organization and after working from home for the last two years, we were directed to come back to the office in January so we can be more innovative and foster our culture. What the fuck have we been doing for the last two years? Nothing? I'm a seasoned professional who knows how to get it done, doesn't matter where it gets done. Screw my work-life balance since return to office means I'll be spending approximately two hours per day commuting to an office where I don't have an assigned spot but can grab one Hunger Games style AND I don't work with any of the people in this office.
This directive is across the board and even applies to employees who were previously full time remote, hired to be remote, some for decades. It's a convenient way for the company to shed more employees without using layoffs, which has also happened over the past two years. The optics might lower the share price. I'm holding on to get my 401k match and bonus in early 2022, though who knows how fully funded that will be. You know the poor company has been "struggling" due to the pandemic.
Keep writing and all the best to you in the new year!
The way I think of it, a person starts a business and they buy labor from others. Coordinating and harnessing that labor is their contribution.
But I think the many business owners, managers, and executives view their entire business as an expression of their own will, and their subordinates as instruments of their will. By extension, those employees or subordinates are inferiors -- people who don't have the smarts or the courage or whatever else to act on their own will.
In that framework, how dare a person quit a job with me and go work for someone else because they want to pick up their kid at school? How dare a person retire, even if they have the money? How dare a person take 2 years off and expect to get hired anywhere again?
The notion of "careers" sort of smooths out that narrative: If "my" employee moves up in the industry, that still fits with the idea that my own glory has extended and expanded. If "my" employee just goes off to live in an ashram, why that calls into question their role as an instrument of my will.
Great points. I remember the 1980's "trickle down economics", and who the adherents were. (I admit buying into that some, until after 2000)
The 2021 worker shortage is often blamed on two assistance checks taxpayers got in 2020-2021. Which would cover about two months rent for a nice 2 bed / bath apartment or an okay 3 bed / 2 bath house in a cheaper state like mine (NM), plus a sack of groceries and the electric bill those months. Not 6 months, let alone 2 years! The trickle-down crowd fell right into this blame game via their megachurch pulpit or favorite MAGApundit - no surprise.
They're joined in that same blame game by even some left-leaning people, but in high corporate positions - still a surprise. Someone like that I know, a good person in many ways, still used the same blame at a meeting with several of us, ending with, "and I'm a socialist." How about, "I'm not a math whiz," either?
I'm unsure if these folks are in it for control or money first, but the result is the same.