“They feel like we’re not working if they can’t see us”

June 2, 2021 6:25 AM

It's a boomer power play A May survey of 1,000 U.S. adults showed that 39% would consider quitting if their employers weren’t flexible about remote work. The generational difference is clear: Among millennials and Gen Z, that figure was 49%

Related: Why Are Big Companies Calling Their Remote Workers Back to the Office? [2017]

“Our experiment in letting people work from home on Fridays backfired,” said Richard Laermer, the CEO of RLM Public Relations, a NYC-based firm that has 11 employees. “The things people did on their ‘free’ time astounded me.”

posted by mecran01 (14 comments total)

> And for Twidt, there’s also the notion that some bosses, particularly those of a generation less familiar to remote work, are eager to regain tight control of their minions.

So many aspects of our society are based on cycles of abuse and exploitation perpetuated by people who feel that since they suffered or continue to suffer, so must you also.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:32 AM on June 2, 2021 [9 favorites]

"Managers", alarmed that not having employees around will expose their own jobs as utterly useless, are deeply concerned about employees working from home.
posted by star gentle uterus at 6:45 AM on June 2, 2021 [7 favorites]

There's barely any mention of boomers in the article, and that's how this gets framed.

I won't even bother reporting it to the mods - they've made it clear they don't care about ageism. I really need to stick to just looking at Ask. It's pretty clear I don't otherwise belong on this site.
posted by FencingGal at 6:52 AM on June 2, 2021 [5 favorites]

I feel like governments may be the large organizations quickest to embrace this. I know my partner's federal department has a task force devoted to figuring out how work will "work" going forward. Keeping offices, especially ones downtown, is an enormous expense. That things haven't fallen apart over the last year is testament to the fact that much of that expense isn't necessary.

Of course some things like labs and R&D require facilities, but desk work? Not so much.

In the most likely scenario there will be a lot less leased prime downtown square footage and a lot more hot desking.

But they had also better figure out reimbursing us properly for the expenses we incur doing that work at home.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:52 AM on June 2, 2021 [2 favorites]

God forbid people get their shit done on their own time, in their own way, without having to listen to the obnoxious guy or the negative colleague.

I said it before, I’ll say it again: Capitalism fuckin sucks!
posted by glaucon at 6:53 AM on June 2, 2021 [6 favorites]

The generational framing is ridiculous ageism. Having butts in the seats has been a managerial fetish since there have been seats in offices to occupy.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:53 AM on June 2, 2021 [6 favorites]

I'm certain the people at my company pushing for a return to the office are the people that others don't want to be around (home or office setting) given a choice.
posted by cmfletcher at 6:56 AM on June 2, 2021 [3 favorites]

I would be curious exactly how this shakes out -- Bay Area companies are generally being quite cautious about demanding people's physical presence as our real estate market is so expensive that a bunch of workers moved to different states and bought houses last summer. Some made the decision with the awareness that they'd be leaving the house/state when everything reopened, but I'm sure most hope they can just work from home. It wouldn't be the worst thing to have remote workers; God knows we're not actually building any more housing for people here.
posted by grandiloquiet at 6:57 AM on June 2, 2021 [4 favorites]

A tremendous amount of office "work" is just performance, and more and more people discovering that is seeing just how empty the backstage is. Impostor syndrome's pretty common, and non-psychopath management is painfully aware of that too--and a lot of people don't like introspecting about that kind of thing, and would really prefer that performing-work go back to the show they're familiar with.

And at uppermost levels, I'm positive there's some unsurprising but enraging investigative journalism to be done about intermeshing systems of not-quite-kickbacks (and outright kickbacks because who's going to enforce it) in the whole real estate etc market for Shiny New Office Complex sectors, and that whole grift sector is endangered by telecommuting getting even more traction.
posted by Drastic at 6:58 AM on June 2, 2021 [5 favorites]

It certainly feels generational to plenty of millennials and zoomers, whose boomer bosses-- the ones that never adjusted well to telework -- are the ones telling them they must come back to work at the office because [empty buzzwords from bygone business culture].

This is clickbait content from someone who mines this vein, but:

Joshua Fluke Reacts to Jamie Dimon -- "JP Morgan CEO - 'Remote doesn't work for young people or people that want to hustle'"
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:04 AM on June 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

“They feel like we’re not working if they can’t see us”

Yet again, I ask this with sincere curiosity: WHO FREAKING CARES????

Seriously. I am a “process guy” and am all for solid process to make sure there’s continuity in case someone leaves.

But at the end of the day, all that matters is what was accomplished. What actually got done. Results. At least that’s the mantra that’s been pounded into my head at review time ever since I entered the corporate workforce 20 years ago.

Bottom lime: this zeal to get back to the office is about CONTROL. Pure and simple.

And as a Gen X, white collar, corporate marketing schmuck, you’re damn right I’m going to look elsewhere if you take away my flexibility to work where and how I want.

Whether or not I got the job done is your business. How I get the job done is mine.
posted by zooropa at 7:09 AM on June 2, 2021 [5 favorites]

There's barely any mention of boomers in the article, and that's how this gets framed.

This. No, it isn't good as a tagline, even though it's a direct quote from the article. Twidt doesn't do herself any favours - in fact, deciding to drop that piece of casual ageism into the article just risks the reader missing the entire point. It doesn't matter who or what the boss is.

I won't even bother reporting it to the mods - they've made it clear they don't care about ageism. I really need to stick to just looking at Ask. It's pretty clear I don't otherwise belong on this site.

You belong, FencingGal. Last time this came round I got pissed off enough to post a snarky comparison between demographic prejudice and gender identity, which was inappropriate and was correctly deleted - but the mods didn't ban me, and I didn't go anywhere either.

(And on the subject of ageism, thank you everyone for noticing how I used the word drop correctly above. See - we can dish it out, as well as take it.)
posted by Cardinal Fang at 7:09 AM on June 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

“The things people did on their ‘free’ time astounded me.”

Were they getting the job done, though? Were they doing the work asked of them, to the deadlines needed, to the level of quality asked of them?

If that isn't the most important thing, if that isn't the only thing: why not?
posted by mhoye at 7:09 AM on June 2, 2021 [5 favorites]

If the words "its a boomer power play" were in quotes in the FPP, it would make it clear it was a quote from one person in the article and would help not derail this topic.
posted by tiny frying pan at 7:10 AM on June 2, 2021