How Tech Companies Are Trying to Woo Employees Returning to Work | Hacker News Reader

How Tech Companies Are Trying to Woo Employees Returning to Work

nytimes.com

12 pointssylens8 comments

Companies are really starting to push their luck. They already are dealing with a tremendous labor shortage. These games they're playing are just as likely to drive people out of the industry as they are to get them to come back to the warehouse size open workspace a long commute from home. People now know how much better things can be while preserving or even increasing productivity. That genie isn't going back into the bottle because a bunch of middle managers suddenly are having a psychological identity crisis not being able to spend their days Lumberghing over the workers.

But go ahead and try to force things. First people will leave for a competitor who isn't trying to reverse time and if the competitors join forces to try to make offices happen again, people will move on, perhaps even becoming the competitors themselves. Take the 'L' and move on to better things.

This isn't about returning to work, it's about trying to get staff to give away time and resources in a meaningless commute to an office that no longer has a useful purpose now that remote offices are a thing.

> Office time should be “not only productive but also fun.”

I don't really want to have fun at the office though. I just want to be given the resources to do my job well, and to be treated like a professional who knows how to do what he was hired for. "Office fun times" often end up being an obstacle to those simple requests.

I would already be having "fun", or rather be engaged, if obstacles at work didn't prevent me from solving the real important problems.

So many articles about companies trying to get employees to come back to the office yet I haven't seen one good argument as to why office work is better or more productive than remote work

Requiring masks would be a good first step.

I wonder if there is a correlation between middle managers that like to micromanage and return to work.

Probably not, since middle managers don't make company-wide policies. Those kinds of decisions are made at the executive leadership level (CEO and CEO's direct reports). I think that the push to return to the office is more likely related to the huge amount of money that companies have invested in office space, as noted in the article:

> "Before Covid struck, the biggest technology firms committed billions of dollars to erect offices that are marvels of architecture and trophies of financial success. Those gleaming offices, packed with amenities and perks, are a testament to the long-held belief that in-person collaboration is still better for fostering creativity, inspiring innovation and instilling a common sense of purpose."

Some companies, like Facebook, are still expanding their office space. Another article, from yesterday, says:

> Facebook is adding more offices in Manhattan. The Menlo Park, California-based company, now known formally as Meta Platforms Inc., is planning to take roughly 300,000 square feet (28,000 square meters) at 770 Broadway, a property near Astor Place where it already has space, according to people familiar with the matter. With the new lease, Facebook will have nearly the entire building.[1]

[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-12/facebook-...

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