Newest Remote Working Trend: Nobody Wants to Be in the Office on Fridays (msn.com) 121
The Washington Post reports on a "widely adopted, even codified" trend in recent months: people aren't coming in to their offices on Friday.
"The drop-off in office work, particularly on Fridays, has led coffee shops to reduce their hours, delis to rethink staffing and bars like Pat's Tap in Minneapolis to kick off happy hour earlier than ever — starting at 2 p.m." Just 30 percent of office workers swiped into work on Fridays in June, the least of any weekday, according to Kastle Systems, which provides building security services for 2,600 buildings nationwide. That's compared to 41 percent on Mondays, the day with the second-lowest turnout, and 50 percent on Tuesdays, when the biggest share of workers are in the office.
"It's becoming a bit of cultural norm: You know nobody else is going to the office on Friday, so maybe you'll work from home, too," said Peter Cappelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. "Even before the pandemic, people thought of Friday as a kind of blowoff day. And now there's a growing expectation that you can work from home to jump-start your weekend...."
Some start-ups and tech firms have begun doing away with Fridays altogether. Crowdfunding platform Kickstarter and online consignment shop ThredUp are among a small but growing number of firms moving to a four-day workweek that runs from Monday to Thursday. Executives at Bolt, a checkout technology company in San Francisco, began experimenting with no-work Fridays last summer and quickly realized they'd hit a winning formula. Employees were more productive than before, and came back to work on Mondays with new enthusiasm. In January, it switched to a four-day workweek for good.
"Managers were onboard, people kept hitting their goals," Bolt's head of employee experience tells the Post. "And they come back on Mondays energized and more engaged."
An adviser at the Society of Human Resource Management tells the Post that employers are trying new inducements to get people to return to offices on Fridays. "If you feed them, they will come. Food trucks, special catered events, ice cream socials, that's what's popular right now." And the Post adds that other employers have also tried wine carts, costume contests and karaoke sing-offs — "all aimed at getting workers to give up their couches for cubicles."
"The drop-off in office work, particularly on Fridays, has led coffee shops to reduce their hours, delis to rethink staffing and bars like Pat's Tap in Minneapolis to kick off happy hour earlier than ever — starting at 2 p.m." Just 30 percent of office workers swiped into work on Fridays in June, the least of any weekday, according to Kastle Systems, which provides building security services for 2,600 buildings nationwide. That's compared to 41 percent on Mondays, the day with the second-lowest turnout, and 50 percent on Tuesdays, when the biggest share of workers are in the office.
"It's becoming a bit of cultural norm: You know nobody else is going to the office on Friday, so maybe you'll work from home, too," said Peter Cappelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. "Even before the pandemic, people thought of Friday as a kind of blowoff day. And now there's a growing expectation that you can work from home to jump-start your weekend...."
Some start-ups and tech firms have begun doing away with Fridays altogether. Crowdfunding platform Kickstarter and online consignment shop ThredUp are among a small but growing number of firms moving to a four-day workweek that runs from Monday to Thursday. Executives at Bolt, a checkout technology company in San Francisco, began experimenting with no-work Fridays last summer and quickly realized they'd hit a winning formula. Employees were more productive than before, and came back to work on Mondays with new enthusiasm. In January, it switched to a four-day workweek for good.
"Managers were onboard, people kept hitting their goals," Bolt's head of employee experience tells the Post. "And they come back on Mondays energized and more engaged."
An adviser at the Society of Human Resource Management tells the Post that employers are trying new inducements to get people to return to offices on Fridays. "If you feed them, they will come. Food trucks, special catered events, ice cream socials, that's what's popular right now." And the Post adds that other employers have also tried wine carts, costume contests and karaoke sing-offs — "all aimed at getting workers to give up their couches for cubicles."
Correction (Score:5, Insightful)
Nobody wants to be in the office on any day, but we have to start with something.
Re:Correction (Score:5, Insightful)
On paper, my hours have always been 9 - 6:30.
In reality, my hours and everyone else's hours in engineering were 10:30 to 4:30. Sometimes 5:30. And we were so productive we carried a product with a managed "just enough" project like a team 3 times it's size.
It took a pandemic for everyone to accept what engineers have already known-- cut out the bullshit. Real people can't be firing on every cylinder for 40 hours a week plus 3 more a day for your bullshit commute.
Re:Correction (Score:5, Insightful)
Um... I'm retired at 50, and have long known that my personal optimal working schedule is not a contiguous 8/9 hours a day. I did about 6 hours of work a day, spread over 11 hours, including at least one nap under my desk. I was one of the business owners, so being in the office before the official start time was somewhat necessary. The 6 hours of actual work I did was about 150% what we got out of a "normal" employee, as long as I didn't mess it up in the 5 other hours I was in the office.
That is a stupid way to work.
If you can train your body to do a solid block of 4-5 hours of work productively, and not faff around the rest of the day, then there is absolutely no reason you should spend any more time working. (Ok, if you are compensated 150% or more and want to then that is your perogative.) GP's team has hit that level, so there is little value in pushing harder.
(Early retirement is about being able to have different streams of income much more than working hard at any one thing.)
Re: (Score:2)
Also I agree with the original poster in as much as they cannot manage that (if they think they cannot) I have had 2 full time jobs at once before working over 80 hours a week for many months, one effectively on night shift. Go to sleep around 3am and get up in time to be at work at 7:30 and catching up with extra hours in my second job on Saturday. Also for many years had my own business working often 80+ hours a week and learning
Re: Correction (Score:2)
Re:Correction (Score:5, Informative)
Even as a very introverted person myself. I do actually crave some time in the office, where I can off schedule collaborate with other employees, as well being able to jump in and help when I hear someone actually struggling. However the 40 hour office time is too much. Especially when my primary job is to work on a computer that is hosted over the Internet thousands of miles away from my home and office anyways. I actually think 2 or 3 days a week would be ideal, as it gives a lot of time, to be alone and actually sit down and get some work done. And a couple of days of halftime doing work (at the office) and helping others and having others help you get past blocks you might be having.
Re: (Score:2)
Clearly the most insightful and helpful attitude to have towards the issue!
Re: (Score:3)
40 hours of work a week is too much. 4 day working weeks are much more reasonable, and don't seem to result in any reduction in productivity for many office based jobs.
M-Th 9 hours Fri 4 hours (Score:4, Interesting)
40 hours of work a week is too much. 4 day working weeks are much more reasonable, and don't seem to result in any reduction in productivity for many office based jobs.
At one tech job, long ago, 4.5 days a week worked out really well. 9 hours Monday through Thursday, 4 hours on Friday. Still a 40 hour week. Everyone loved this, one extra hour 4 days a week was easy. It worked out for the company too. People, own their own, seemed to schedule all those personal things for Friday afternoon. Win-Win. Happy employees. Happy management.
Re: (Score:3)
As it is, I have a certain number of fixed,
Re:Correction (Score:4)
Re: (Score:2)
That kind of falls apart if the reason someone goes into the office is to interact with their colleagues. They could choose to go in, but it won't do them any good if no one else chooses to do so.
Re: Correction (Score:2)
Many people interact with colleagues by getting someone else to do their work for them. The productive workers will choose to stay at home so they can be productive, the shirkers will be in the office with a reduced pool of victims, so raising the chances of the shirker being called out.
Re: Correction (Score:2)
Sure but the subject is working fewer hours.
My at my place is called a Compressed Work Schedul (Score:3)
4 day workweek (Score:5, Interesting)
The four day workweek is a good thing. Standardizing on M-Th with F-Su as days off would be an improvement in work/life/balance for many (will not work for everyone, but nothing is perfect.)
I have worked for businesses that had office hours of M-Th in the past. It was good.
I have worked in offices where the workweek ended at noon on Friday. It was good.
I have worked in offices where we needed coverage M-F, so we split into two teams and alternated Fridays off. It was good.
Every one of these cases was an improvement -although part of the benefit was having time off when the rest of the world was still stuck in the office, so if it becomes the norm it may not be as good as when we got to be "special".
I have the best 4 day workweek schedule. (Score:3, Insightful)
My schedule is 12 hours a day Mon-Wed, and 4 hours on Thursday. Since I have four weeks vacation and 16 hours of personal time, I simply take Thursdays off, giving me a 3 day work week for 44 weeks out of the year. I'm literally off work more days than on each week.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: I have the best 4 day workweek schedule. (Score:2)
We found the guy getting laid off first.
Re:I have the best 4 day workweek schedule. (Score:5)
Bad rep: "That guy that only works 3 days"
Good rep: "That guy that gets a week's workload done in 3 days"
It's all in the spin...
Re: 4 day workweek (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, I've been working a 4/40 schedule for years and it is rarely a problem.
Re: 4 day workweek (Score:2)
I think this is talking about 4 by 8 not 4 by 10.
no more (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:no more (Score:4, Informative)
Some bosses are just still alive because they ain't worth a second of jail time...
Re: (Score:2)
I would say this would not work for most people, they have production or service jobs. They have to be at the workplace and there is no way to do their jobs faster. I worked for 38 years and all were production related. I ran a farm, crops have to be cultivated at the right time and the cultivator has to run at a set speed, the same with a sprayer. I worked at a produce packing plant, the product conveyor ran at a certain speed and the computerized packing machines I was responsible for ran at a set speed
I work in IT. What the heck is a "workweek"? (Score:3)
Teh interwebs never sleeps, big guy. Never.
Re:I work in IT. What the heck is a "workweek"? (Score:5, Interesting)
Then your products are really bad and/or poorly administrator where the system can't run by themselves for a couple of days, your company sucks at proper staffing.
I work in healthcare IT, the software needs to run 24/7 365.25 or people can die. However I can take time off, and have weekends free without things going to hell. Even on weeks where I am on a rotational on-call the weekends are often just checking a handful of emails in the morning, then I enjoy the rest of my weekend.
A lot of this automation to make sure things can run over the weekend are some really basic stuff. In a windows platform, create some .BAT files and set them to run with a task scheduler, to clean up some temp files that may fill up your disk space, in a Linux Unix system, do a cron job, or script a background process.
Re: (Score:2)
It can be very, very difficult, and very, very expensive, and itself cause instability, to build up complex failovers and monitoring and safety limitations into a large system. Limiting those ".BAT files" to prevent their activation and use by accident or during business hours can be an art form, and complying with erratic schedules generated by actual system load and customer requirements can be very awkward indeed.
Re: (Score:3)
I'm not sorry for cafes and delis (Score:5, Informative)
When the transition to remote working and 4-day working week started the laudest uproar was raised by the services industry, crying that they would now lose, at best, 20% od their profits. Well, guess what - most people don't se making your business survive as their ultimate goal in life. If you can't adapt, then perhaps you should die a natural business death.
Re: (Score:2)
It's not even that, it's the large chain cafes/delis that can afford city centre rents that suffer.
Small independent local cafes and delis have thrived from all the home workers.
So it's simply spread the wealth, and that's what people don't like. My local cafe, bakery, and news agent have never thrived so well and it's allowed them to hire more staff locally and refit their shops creating work for local tradesman too. This is a massive step up from large chains that avoid (sometimes evade) tax charging exce
Re:I'm not sorry for cafes and delis (Score:5, Interesting)
That's because small businesses are MUCH faster to adapt to sudden changes. The lockdown wasn't even declared when the local small mom'n'pop lunch restaurant dropped flyers all over town that they will now bring your food to the doorstep and you pay by money transfer. It had a few bumps but it worked.
The chains didn't even react until 6 months later because nobody there gave half a fuck, if anything, the servers were happy that they were basically getting paid for sitting around.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: I'm not sorry for cafes and delis (Score:2)
Re: I'm not sorry for cafes and delis (Score:2)
Never happen. The staff needs time off.
Re: (Score:2)
If you work in the real world, you learn that scheduled downtime is vital for big systems, especially for replacing critical equipment like grills, or floors, or plumbing.
Re: (Score:2)
They may just have a single-shift staff count. Opening up a second shift essentially means doubling your payroll. Will the revenue double? Very likely it won't.
They don't teach that at MBA school, I guess, but every small business owner knows it...
Re: (Score:3)
In San Francisco (financial district) there used to be a lot of places like that. As more people moved into the area (and adjacent areas), the hours tended to expand a little, but that was how a lot of places worked. Weekday daytime population was about 10-20x weekend population, so it made sense. Rents were something like 20-25% of revenue compared to a more normal 10-15% (and prices reflected that), but landlords had a vested interest in making sure there were sufficient eating establishments around to
Re: I'm not sorry for cafes and delis (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
The 4 day work weeks can also be a good opportunity for businesses. Staggered weekends, where Some employees work M-Th, others will work Tr-Su... It is much easier to schedule and plan out a 7 day coverage for the business. While we can do this with a 5 day schedule, however having the 2 days off, does make the math a bit more difficult. Granted if we had 8 days week it would be really easy.
Bracket Meetings... (Score:3)
I once worked for a company that had scheduled meetings first thing Monday morning and last thing Friday afternoon. THAT STUNK.
Re: (Score:3)
Just deny those meeting requests, and keep denying them until they stop doing something so utterly moronic.
Re: (Score:2)
Just deny those meeting requests, and keep denying them until they stop doing something so utterly moronic.
Right now you might be able to get away with that attitude given the tight job market in many places...
...but after a while your behavior will be noticed, noted, and possibly brought to the attention of Human Resources.
If Human Resources decides you are not meeting the requirements of the work they could discipline you or even terminate you. HR types are really good at finding defensible reasons that hold up in Courts.
So what would a future employer learn about you if they called your employer that dumped y
Re: (Score:2)
Terminate me. It should be trivial to replace a security expert with 15 years of experience and a law, finance and BA background that works for about half of what other people demand, right?
Yes, me being sassy and you playing my way IS part of my compensation. Guess what, companies are more interested in saving 6 figures a year than appeasing the ego of some HR goofball.
Jurassic Leadership (Score:3)
When will these dinosaurs realize that the hybrid office/remote (or for many occupations) 100% remote genies are never going back into the bottle. The contrived arguments tor why they "need" butts in seats to exert control over the workforce are falling on deaf ears for the younger crowd.
Just accept it.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Jurassic Leadership (Score:3)
The pandemic and associated lockdowns brought about some interesting discoveries in the corporate world. Useless mid level managers suddenly realized that their conference room pageantry actually did not contribute anything of value to the company. People who treated the office as an 8 hour punch social where they could gossip around the water cooler or play office politics suddenly realized they actually had to be productive. Idiot execs who signed multi-year leases in sprawling office space came to the un
Re: Jurassic Leadership (Score:3)
I hear this a lot but I dont think the workers care. They realized that life is a poker game and the reaper eventually taps your shoulder to take you away. Your chips stay behind - you never really cash out. So is life worth living for the sake of some corporate Bs that takes away the most valuable thing you have on this earth - your time?
why do people do work they don't love? (Score:2)
Re:why do people do work they don't love? (Score:5, Insightful)
Because the older you are, the more difficult it is renunce your old ways, acquire new skills and start something new. Most pivital life changes also become impossible once you start a family and have others depend on you financially - at some point radical changes become just too much risk, with not just your own life on the line but also those of your partner and children.
Re:why do people do work they don't love? (Score:4, Insightful)
A lot of this is just because people get conned into keeping up with the joneses. For example, there is little better for your family than the security of owning your own home. It isn't really that hard for most people. A 3BR/2BA with about 1200 sq ft is generally sufficient for a family of four whether you're making $50K or $200K a year. Get it and pay it off as fast as possible. At the same time, work on lowering your costs. Buy vehicles that are 10 years old. If the home is paid off, pay cash. Don't eat out. Buy generics instead of name brands for groceries. Etc. Etc. If you're at that point and have disposable money, buy rental properties or invest it. Do all of that and you can support a family of three in one of the most expensive states in America on less than $15K / year. Without ever making more two median incomes, that path can lead you to retirement in less than 20 years. In retirement, you can do any work you want.
I just read that 30% of those making $200K per year are living paycheck to paycheck now. That is truly their choice. Choices can be changed. They could liquify everything, convert to a lifestyle based on $70K per year, pay off a home for that lifestyle in just 3 years or so with the other $70K per year (after taxes), and after a few years of investment, retire - even with children still in the home.
dude, your heart is in the right place, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
A lot of this is just because people get conned into keeping up with the joneses. For example, there is little better for your family than the security of owning your own home. It isn't really that hard for most people. A 3BR/2BA with about 1200 sq ft is generally sufficient for a family of four whether you're making $50K or $200K a year. Get it and pay it off as fast as possible. At the same time, work on lowering your costs. Buy vehicles that are 10 years old. If the home is paid off, pay cash. Don't eat out. Buy generics instead of name brands for groceries. Etc. Etc. If you're at that point and have disposable money, buy rental properties or invest it. Do all of that and you can support a family of three in one of the most expensive states in America on less than $15K / year. Without ever making more two median incomes, that path can lead you to retirement in less than 20 years. In retirement, you can do any work you want.
I just read that 30% of those making $200K per year are living paycheck to paycheck now. That is truly their choice. Choices can be changed. They could liquify everything, convert to a lifestyle based on $70K per year, pay off a home for that lifestyle in just 3 years or so with the other $70K per year (after taxes), and after a few years of investment, retire - even with children still in the home.
This is an ultra-precise fiscal diet...which will fail, just like all ultra-precise weight loss diets. Real life gets in the way. I, and most adults I know, spend little on ourselves, but it doesn't take long before expenses add up with kids. I am living cash positive, but I know that's tenuous at best. I have expensive home repairs that will have to happen someday. All it takes is a little bad luck, AC unit failing, a lay-off, a roof needing replacement, car needing replacement, significant routine home repair...if 3 of those events happen in a year, I'm having to dip into savings. I have managed be cash positive all my life, but I know that only a few incidents of bad luck could change that. I didn't plan on having to send my kid to an alternate school because of a pandemic when my local district shut down and stayed remote far too long. The reckless purchases are rarely what makes a family bankrupt. It's usually a medical emergency or a string of bad luck (roof failure, car failure, heavy medical bills) in a short period of time.
I know you want to think that if everyone was as smart as you, they'd be just as successful, but many who are smarter and more diligent than you have failed hard. Many who were far more reckless succeeded. Luck is a strong factor in your outcomes in life. That person you see begging for change?...that could have been you. Those people living in their cars in your community?...many of them were just as smart as you.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Whatever your salary is, there's someone earning 10% less that is still managing to survive, albeit on a slightly reduced lifestyle.
All you need to do is make the choice to live that slightly reduced lifestyle, and bank 10% until you have enough saved up to invest in something like paying off your house, or investing in another property, shares, bonds or a herd of camels.
Just don't keep it in the bank forever and expect it to grow faster than inflation.
Some guy apparently wrote a bunch of clay tablets circ
Re: dude, your heart is in the right place, but... (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
If you want financial stability you live below your means, force savings, and invest the savings in something that generates income. It isn't the specific little decisions you make, it is the big picture. Personally, I am a big fan of renting rather than owning, at least until you have a net worth high enough that the home is only going to be >12%, and a mortgage can never compete over a 10-15 year time frame.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Ironic that in a post about not keeping up with the Jonses you just repeat the standard latter-last-century lower middle class keeping up with the Jonses story.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The Jones' aren't the top percent. They're your peers. Your neighbours, friends, coworkers. It's not "keeping up with the Kennedys" or "keeping up with the Windsors."
The phrase is about conforming to your peer group.
Ironically, home ownership is one of the big factors that trap people in jobs. You can't quit because you have to make your mortgage payments, and you can't downsize temporarily or move somewhere else to accept a new job because houses aren't very liquid. Corrected for other factors, homeowners
Re: (Score:2)
Ironically, home ownership is one of the big factors that trap people in jobs. You can't quit because you have to make your mortgage payments, and you can't downsize temporarily or move somewhere else to accept a new job because houses aren't very liquid. Corrected for other factors, homeowners make less than non-homeowners because of this.
First, if you have a mortgage payment, you haven't achieved home ownership. Again, get the home that you can pay off in a handful of years and never upgrade. Otherwise, I used to think the same. Turns out that the reality is that over 2/3rds of Americans live in or close to the city where they grew up. The fact that I and so many of my tech educated peers see differently just shows how invisible the masses can be and how separated we've become from them.
As to who we look at as the joneses today, I see it as
Re: (Score:2)
I don't recall saying anything about mortgages. Nope, I didn't. It doesn't really matter if you're tied to a giant illiquid asset you own outright, or you're tied to one via a contract with a bank. You're still tied. And what universe are you living in where you can pay off a house in a few years? 1950?
Yes, many Americans live in the same city they grew up in. Many of them also own houses. Turns out, there's a connection between those things. It was actually part of a Nobel prize in economics.
Re: (Score:3)
Sometimes, the work you love doesn't pay the bills. I love doing standup comedy and theatre. In the last year, I've made maybe $2K doing that. So yeah... a day job is needed unless you're one of the 0.0001% who make it as a super-star.
Re: (Score:3)
You're doing pretty well if you can make $2K doing standup comedy! I too love doing it, but I think people would probably pay to NOT have to endure my humor. I know my wife would!
Re: (Score:3)
Well, most of that was from a six-show Fringe festival run. Comedy clubs pay either nothing or next to nothing unless you're famous. :(
Because most of us weren't born rich and entitled! (Score:5, Insightful)
I've never understood why anyone does work they don't love. No amount of money is worth being unhappy at the thing that occupies the majority of your waking hours.
I hope I never have to work with you. If you can find work you love 100%, great...you either got lucky or have Stockholm Syndrome. For the rest of us, our parents can't afford to support us while we fuck around and find ourselves. The vast majority of the world has to do a job they don't like that's humiliating, not good for their health, and crushes their spirit. Most people have to work hard to support themselves and raise their families without economic worry. If you grew up poor, you'd know how terrible it is to live in constant poverty and have no power to change your situation. Few things are more miserable in life.
I'm lucky. I love what I do and I am fucking good at it and it turns out my skills are very marketable and pay good wages. That's not the case for most jobs or most people. I don't have to look far to find people who slog through depressing or tedious jobs to pay the bills and support their family. Sentences like your above are just gross and entitled. Lots of people that went to elite schools share your sentiment and they fucking suck.
Even if you like your job, if it's a real job, there's some part you don't like. Most doctors love to practice medicine. Few like to fill out insurance paperwork. I love writing code. I hate writing documentation. The difference between someone like me and every person I've ever met who talks like you is I just accept that there are parts of the job I don't like. I am grateful someone pays me a good wage to write code, but I am also cognizant that no one is hiring me to fuck around in code. 1/2 to 3/4 of my day is deeply understanding requirements and talking to stakeholders to make sure the code I write is actually what they want as well as all the non-fun details of a coder's life, like code reviews, writing documentation, getting sign offs, presenting to people to ask for their permission to start work, asking people to approve server deployments, etc. For real work that earns real money, people are not cavalier about your creative freedom.
If you can't fathom not doing work you don't love, you either don't have a real job or you're like some of my over-educated, yet immature and entitled coworkers who only do what they find thrilling and force their coworkers to clean up after them.
All real jobs have significant time commitments with work that is tedious and unfulfilling. I look forward to both Monday's to do work I love to do and Friday's to get away from work and back to my real life. Nearly everyone who loves their job, but is actually good at it, does.
Re: (Score:2)
... you either don't have a real job...
Please enlighten me on that thinking... I'm listening.
Clarification: A job that makes someone money (Score:2)
... you either don't have a real job...
Please enlighten me on that thinking... I'm listening.
OK, you got me, "real" is not a precise term. If creative enough, one could argue the guy shaking a cup on the corner asking for spare change has a "real" job. A more precise term would be financially sustainable. Some jobs are just fucking around on grant money or burning through VC cash with little obligation to turn a profit, accomplish anything of value, or run a serious business. I've been employed by projects like that. However, they weren't real jobs. They paid me money, which I am grateful for
Re: (Score:2)
Everyone who has a financially sustainable job that provides value to a business or society has to eat a little shit and do things they'd rather not do.
Try substituting "vocation" for "job". And don't put "business" first. Try "society or business". It is only in recent times that the majority of people have worked in vocations that require or benefit from having an employer. Personally, I think the trend is behind what I see as a devastating loss of freedom and diversity of capability in our society. We're demoting ourselves into the universal position of just another little cog in big wheel.
Also, if you're having to "eat a little shit" for whole weeks at
Re:why do people do work they don't love? (Score:4, Insightful)
Because civilization relies on shit jobs unless you are first-world lucky enough to have a choice. I lucked out but I've been a techie since childhood.
Never forget the average human is stupid, uneducated formally or otherwise and not capable of being better or different. They simply cannot do stuff the intelligent take for granted.
Intelligence is abnormal, a gift of nature typically assisted by nurture. One cannot choose to be smart so be glad if you won the lottery but most humans do not.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Looking for a job is a whole other job that most people do not enjoy.
At first they celebrated the productivity (Score:2)
And then a year later, the managers found themselves redundant.
Managers, manage - it's what they do, it's their bread and butter - and discovering that co-workers can do fine without them constantly breathing down your neck is an eyeopener to them. If I've learned anything from working for big corporate, it is that managers also unite and stay together.
If one manager in our corporate do badly, they don't get fired but they get moved to another department or another team.
Managers love to micromanage, they lo
LOL, as if this is new (Score:2)
When was Friday ever *not* a blow-off kind of day? Do a little dev in the morning, beer fridge opens after lunch. Devolves from there. It was always a half-day at best. Of course it wasn't like this for some jobs, like support. You had to be "on" all the time, so YMMV; but Friday was always get away early or take off if possible.
Always wanted to answer "What do you consider your ideal position?" with "The one where I do nothing and get everything" but of course I had to be serious. People are always t
The world is literally burning... (Score:4, Insightful)
Modify Hawaiian Shirt Friday... (Score:2)
Modify Hawaiian Shirt Friday...if you come into the office, optionally wear a Hawaiian shirt, if not then not. :-)
Josh K.
Milton I need you to come on firday and clean up (Score:2)
Milton I need you to come on firday and clean up as we don't have an cleaning crew any more.
Re: (Score:2)
You got my allusion, bravo! Yes, Office Space.
I remember "Milton, we need you to get a can of bug spray, there are some cockroaches in Storage-B."
And I'd not be surprised, with WFH, cleaning crew in the office is apparently redundant. :-)
Josh K.
I prefer going in on Fridays (Score:2)
Without all the people there, there are fewer drop-ins and I can actually get stuff done. Unfortunately due to other people's schedules, I had to swap my in-office Friday for an in-office Monday.
Even before COVID-19, the office was pretty dead on Fridays - especially after lunch.
Re: (Score:2)
I too get more done on Fridays because they are quieter, and I'm lucky enough to be able to do that from home.
Re: (Score:2)
Sounds nice. I could do 95% of my job remotely (and demonstrated that during the past two years), but management seems to think people need to be in the office three days a week. Probably because the managers are afraid of losing their cushy jobs.
not new (Score:2)
And they come back on Mondays energized (Score:1)
"And they come back on Mondays energized and more engaged."
It's Tuesday where they go are going "back" more engaged. Somehow they can't uninternalize that the real workplace has become virtual and the actual disruption is any "return". When the majority of your day is remote, the new definition of remote becomes the "return to the physical office"
Friday Happy Hour (Score:5, Interesting)
The best boss I ever had insisted that his team stop working at 3:30pm on Fridays and decamp to the local watering hole. He would always buy the first round. We had more interesting and in-depth conversations about work in that social setting than anything we could have accomplished at the office. Especially regarding software architecture. Nothing sets you up for talking about deep software topics like a good IPA.
Re: Friday Happy Hour (Score:2)
Ah, you are talking about the Ballmer peak: https://xkcd.com/323/ [xkcd.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Nope nope nope (Score:2)
Of ALL the days of the week, why would anyone want to go in on a Friday? Echhh.
But all that aside, there's nothing realistic they could offer me to go back into an office.
I mean, there are things they could offer me but no sane employer would do it.
Like $5,000 a day plus free transport plus breakfast and lunch delivered every day. That would do it.
In summary, they need to stop trying to make going back to the office happen, because it's not going to happen.
No, not Fridays (Score:2)
(Big computer company).
We used to bug out on Thursdays half day and go to the lake, drink beer and water ski.
Then again, the first time I saw the movie "The Hangover", it was with a fellow engineering doing the same thing.
We also specialized in lunch breaks.
(was ranked pretty high because we had a clueless, remote manager "working from home".)
I'd rather drop Mondays (Score:2)
It's nicer to ease into the week with a WFH Monday, I've found.
I love going in on Fridays and doing zoom meetings (Score:2)
Let me be the first to say (Score:2)
Thank God it's Thursday!
Ideas to get people working from the office (Score:2)
Those are all things that would make me less interested in coming in to the office.
That's Nice (Score:2)
Just my opinion, but I don't think this is going to last through the downturn in the economy. You're already starting to see layoffs in the tech industry. When that happens, all of your "off-Friday", and remote work will be at the whim of the company as employees lose bargaining power.
So Thursday is the new Friday? (Score:2)
Speaking of Thursday, that 1998 film was so worth it for Paulina Porizkova as Dallas. Lol, her performance is seared on my eyeballs, in a frightening but good way.
Sigh (Score:2)
Fucking duh!
I've finally convinced my employer that remote-working is the only way they'll retain me in the face of increased commuting costs, so I'm working from home Fridays and my staff are working from home on Mondays.
You still have full coverage, 5 days a week, we have 20% less commute costs, 20% less stress, a day where we can arrange things like household deliveries, workmen, phone calls, etc. and... NOBODY CARES BECAUSE NOBODY HAS NOTICED.
The 9-5 M-F thing has to die, it's entirely a fabrication and
Re: (Score:2)
Where else do you find drinking buddies? (Score:2)
I havent had a proper Friday night outing in years. Friday is the only day where it makes sense to meet up with people in a central office ðY£
Prison (Score:2)
"If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking is freedom"--Eisenhower (b. 1890)
Thing of the Past (Score:2)
My company has unlimited PTO, and we USE it. Friday mornings are for customer-facing meetings only. Internal meetings are Mon-Thu. Friday afternoon meetings are for time-sensitive or critical issues. And late Friday afternoon meetings, the world better be coming to an end.