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Comment by runjake | Hacker News Reader

> I guess I'm the flip-side of this. I work for myself, self-employed, and my office is the best $360 I spend each month.

That's not the flip side, that's what the article says they're doing: converting office staff to a co-working space (via their "perks"):

    "Those in San Francisco who worked in the office now have
    moved into coworking spaces, which Buffer pays for as      
    part of our team perks."

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That negates the whole point of the article (well, headline) for me.

You didn't stop having an office. You just realised you could save money by sending the few guys using your office to a shared space.

I think I'd be a bit miffed if I was a non-office employee there - suddenly the old 'office guys' are getting this 'team perk' that doesn't apply to me.

It would be more in the spirit of the whole 'openness' thing to say "here's $X, spend it on office space, coffee, whatever to improve whatever working environment you choose".

According to the article, every employee gets the team perk you seem so upset about...

I'm sorry if I "seem upset", I don't work there or anything.

My main point is just that the article content "those employees who were in our office are now in company-paid co-working space" is pretty different from the headline "we're ditching the office completely".

Having an office and granting perks to those who previously used the office (or everyone) doesn't have any redistributional effects as long as it doesn't incentivize prior non-office employees to join coworking spaces.

But apart from that, I'm with you in your conclusion that an equal amount of money for possible work environments is probably the most structure agnostic solution.

> coworking spaces, which Buffer pays for as part of our team perks

"Going to work" is now considered a "perk of the job"? Now I have heard everything.

Just last night a friend in hospitality was telling me how tips were pooled and shared out, and money was taken out of the pool against staff parties (okay, kind of defensible) and breakage (wtf!?). He said the place was even dicier than it sounds - when they did have the staff parties, the boss made it sound like the money came out of his own pocket, rather than sucked from the employees tips. Some "perks" are definitely less valuable than other "perks"...

"breakage"

This is explicitly illegal in California, Massachusetts and New York (among other states). There are also states where it is legal.

I guess I picture an office as an actual office, not a room full of desks. I'm too old-fashioned. And maybe people prefer the atmosphere of co-working. I like having a place to go where I can have quiet, have music, but most importantly have focus without interruptions. That's what an office is to me.

Sadly that is no longer what an office is.

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