Work Reform

Time to repeat my topical story.

I worked for a startup that prided itself on being "data driven". They'd talk about how other startups were doing stupid things because they followed their feelings instead of data.

One day in one of those all hands meetings, the CEO was taking questions. Someone said, "Studies are showing that four day work weeks are more effective on like every metric. Can we look into that?"

The CEO said "No, we're not doing that ". Didn't read the linked studies. Didn't entertain it at all. His mind was made up, and the data was irrelevant.

Because he doesn't really care about data. He cares about feeling smart and irreverent. He cares about being seen as a cool disruptive startup guy who's going to grind his way to success.

The dishonesty makes me want to puke.

But you know what also makes me sick? All the sycophantic boot lickers that would gather round and tell him his every idea was great. The people who would work unpaid long hours to "get shit done". Bunch of fucking wormtongues who would sell out their coworkers for crumbs.

Maybe he was a real person once who really did care about data. But by the time I met him, he was an empty suit

I love the way any article which says remote work is good still has to use the word, "surprisingly" as often as possible. Nobody is surprised.

Advancing tech was sold as a way to make all our lives better. Here is an instance of tech making our lives better, but instead companies dismiss it because the real purpose of tech for the capital class is control.

Working in an office for 8 hours a day costs me an additional hour getting ready and commuting to to work, an hour away from home for lunch, an hour commuting back home and unwinding after work, turning 8 hours of paid labor into 11 hours of doing shit for other people.

Working at home claws back 15 hours a week.

Sleep. Precious beautiful sleep. I can roll out of bed, rip a huge wet fart, log into Teams, pretend to care for 5 minutes, go right back to sleep (and still be able to smell that fart, thankfully), take a long nap, get up to take a big smooth dump, then put in the same 3 hours of actual work I'd do at the office, then play Sokoban all afternoon. All the while reducing resource usage.

This is the UBI/leisure society I was promised as a kid.

If you spend most of your day getting to and from work, then pretending to be busy at the office, you don't have time to think or be a threat to the billionaires by starting your own competing company/product.

Of course. Saving an hour of meaningless commute every day is a huge positive change.

Facts don't matter anymore, get your ass to the office!

Mostly US companies

Working from home also proved that the "middle-manager" was at best, a part-time job, maybe not necessary at all.

You mean we had a worldwide event that proved to us that an incredible technology that allows us to work remotely could actually be used to work remotely, then our overlords chose to ignore that and now studies are proving what we already knew was true, is true?

Neat.

I've been studying managers for much longer, and I've reached a very clear conclusion: they don't care.

It’s the shareholders who own our government that make money off commercial real estate that want everyone back at work. Shareholders don’t give a fuck about your wellbeing. They’re literally looting our government, destroying any and all global safety nets and installing facism worldwide quite publicly.

Evidence shows performance holds or climbs when people choose flexible setups with solid support from managers and peers.

That's the part these chuckle-head RTO folks willfully ignore. In a virtual environment you have to lead differently, and since they're never the ones who are wrong it must be everyone else who is broken.

With the right leadership and support mechanisms virtual work absolutely can raise all boats. But that means you have to be willing to change. And open-mindedness is not typically an attribute selected for in corporate senior leaders.

Aaaaand See how people will deny scientific research for the sake of Control.

I'm fed Up on how much a workplace wants to Control anyones Life. And all the rights that have ever been fought for under a broad Attack every single day. And it kinda feels like we're losing the battle.

Unionize!

All about balance. Working from home is such an improvement from past times. Face to face contact with your peers should not be underestimated though - very valuable.

It is 0850. I start at 0900. I am still in bed.

Working from home is great.

Did the web site swap in a completely unrelated story about how swimming is good exercise for people over 55?

Which is why the ruling class has decided we can't have it...

It largely depends on if you can afford to have a room dedicated as your home office.

Working/relaxing cannot happen in the same space. Our brains are not wired to do such a dramatic difference in mental activity in the same location. That's also why bedrooms should be used for sleeping and fucking ONLY. Once you start reading/scrolling in bed, your brain makes that connection, "Oh, I'm in bed, I should doomscroll for the next 3 hours" instead of "Oh, I'm in bed. I should sleep."

Me with ADHD who can't do shit from home, hiding in the back corner of the open space.