Do you guys feel that remote positions are on the way out? My company has always been remote, but when I look at other positions/postings I am surprised at how few remote positions I am seeing. Is this something that has changed in the last few months? In 2022 I feel that there were still a lot of remote options.
It definitely seems like companies are pushing to bring people back to the office full or mostly full time. I consider myself extremely lucky to work for a company that will not make me return - I find working in the office very distracting and my productivity is much better at home.
They are trying to do this in the UK but due to the cost of living crisis it is not getting much traction.
Also, people are jumping ship to companies who offer remote/hybrid work vs a need to be in the office all the time.
Talent will absolutely leave if they go down this road.
So its a bit of a standoff at present.
This is definitely the case at my company where I work remotely.
That they are trying to force people back?
Yes.
Its not “come back or you are fired” like a few companies are doing.
But more “pressure from upper management to get people in the office by constant nudging”.
Call it “amped peer pressure” at this point.
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I haven’t noticed it yet at my company - our last few hires have been remote-based, and the open position in the department that we have is likely to be remote-based as well - but I’ve seen evidence that it’s going on elsewhere. I do think there’s a giant misconception about productivity in-office vs. out-of-office, and it’s used to bury the true lede: we have overhead costs for property that we have to justify. Of course, if you’re working for a company like Allstate that went full-remote and sold its headquarters and that building is almost completely torn down now, … well, I guess the company is going to have to go find a building large enough to put everyone in before it can tell people “enough, you’ll all back in the office now.”
The question is how much employees push back against it, especially if (when) economic conditions deteriorate. Will they use the ability to jump to somewhere else as leverage for increased pay to come in? Will they just say “nah, I’ll find someone else who wants me who’ll let me work remote?” Or will personal financial uncertainty break employees into capitulating and coming back in the office?
Unless they throw a fun Office Christmas Party, of course.
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It seems like being an actuary is almost like being an academic at that point-so few employers within a given field and no choice of where to go geographically at that point. Similar to how professors just have to move wherever
They also throw in an expense account.
We’re not as cheap as you CA folks in London
And what do you use that for?
Obviously we have completely different jobs, and your job would probably have the same perks here (plus better weather) as they do in London, though my trips to Target for printer paper (and ink, and the printer) should be subsidized (10% used for actual work).
My job right now does have three private bathrooms close by, plus a pool right outside. So, suck it!!
I know someone who works for a large financial company that is not in insurance. His company has some sort of favored tax deal with the city. The city is imposing some sort of formula on percent working in the office under the theory that employees working in the office are contributing to the local economy through restaurants, etc., and remote workers are not.
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I am contributing to the local economy, just not the one that those politicians had in mind
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“We need you spending your money HERE!”
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My company is still not requiring any RTO, even for those who live local to the HQ. I’m pleasantly surprised by this, I would have expected them to be one of the first to require it.
Of course, they own most of the real estate in the area of our HQ, and I’m fairly certain they are pressuring their leaseholders to push for RTO, so it’s not like they’re righteous in this fight.
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Is the property value the main reason why companies are wanting to do it?
I guess I’m not sure why less people in the office reduces property value
I’m guessing that they have leases, which are not dependent on the number of people who work there, plus all the expenses of leasing a building, whether people are there or not. And, they cannot get out of those leases.
Making people return to the office gives those expenses meaning.
Not saying it is right, just elucidating the excuse.
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!!!
It’s a bit of a sunk cost fallacy in the near term. In the longer term if you own some building that no one comes to you’ve got this fat asset on your balance sheet that isn’t worth what you think it’s worth because no one is buying a commercial office building off you when everyone wants to be remote. If they force everyone back in person then they might get some local tax breaks plus now they feel justified in their real estate asset.
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I think it’s a really complicated issue. I don’t understand all of it. I’ve heard a few things that are contributing. Corporate real estate as a massive investment class, investors pressuring companies with office space costs they aren’t using, the US having an industries that heavily rely on commuting costs, local governments pushing, a way to downsize workforce without having to pay for a RIF, lack of control of workers…and on and on.
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