A lot of rich idiots (Tim Cook being the most recent, god that guy is so stupid) are chiming in on why going into the office is better for productivity, but the leading authorities that study productivity for an actual living continue to call out their bullshit, as nicely as they can.
What do the actual experts have to say? Well, the leading expert in this field, Nick Bloom, suggests that companies monitoring their workforce haven’t considered their actual end-goal. If they determine that an employee isn’t coming in what do they do next? If the person isn’t performing well the manager has a convenient (but inaccurate) reason to fire them. But, if the person is a top performer, the manager is forced to penalize that person who will simply walk out the door for a better job someplace else. “I know you perform well and hit your targets, but your attendance isn’t good, so we’re slashing your pay.”
Yea, right. The drought of good IT professionals is very real and any company stupid enough to execute these unscientific practices deserves what it gets. But, let’s face it, Apple was so fucking stupid it blew all that money on a forced open floor plan that has been scientifically proven to be less productive than giving people their own private office space with communal, “watering hole” areas. How stupid can these CEOs be? Their money makes them think they are smart. They obviously are not. Zuckerberg (yo, did you not even see the CEO of Second Life present the “metaverse” at Garnter Group’s annual conference in 2007, apparently not you fucking moron) is the biggest idiot on this topic of them all.
These same companies pushing for return to office are also the same hypocrites touting their policies about work-life balance, and promoting responsible business practices that allow for diversity and better impact on the planet. But, according to Bloom, “Women, people with disabilities, and people of color all have a preference for remote work—not only are [companies] upsetting employees, they’ll face issues of diversity if they continue on this.” In Portland the percentage of bike commuters significantly dropped during Covid and hasn’t returned, but the number of remote workers polled went from 2 to 36%. The same people who once biked sustainably to work, are not avoiding the Portland rain and working from home (and probably Zwifting to stay in shape).
I suppose the biggest problem with all of this is captured wonderfully in the fictional film Don’t Look Up when the world’s billionaires are shown to be as foolish as they are in reality, dismissing the scientific method and stealing the greatest scientific minds with wads of cash to produce the results that confirm their view of the truth only to end up being devoured by Brontoraks. Now there’s an image that makes me smile, Zuck, Cook, and Musk being devoured by carnivores that have learned to live in balance with the natural world around them. These idiots would be the first to die, and our species would be better off because of it.
I’ve worked “remotely,” got the highest performance reviews, and haven’t spent more than a few days in the office since 2000. I’m healthier because of it. I do better work because of it. My family is better off because of it.
I can use daylight for things that require daylight, and I can focus in the quiet, dark hours before or after others have gone to bed. It doesn’t take a scientist or world-renown economist to observe the obvious reality that day is good for outdoor activities, and night is good for indoor activities. Hell, we instituted daylight savings time just for that reason. In particular, knowledge workers flourish when they have this freedom to manage their best thinking time.
Bloom (the scientist who does actual research) summarized, “In 2023, we’ll be laughing at anyone who does anything else but hybrid.”
I’ve been laughing for over 20 years.