21 Jun The “undeniable” cases against remote work
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But for me some of those people include individuals that got so geeked up on remote work and work from home and work from anywhere that they built an entire identity and an entire business around that. Now I’m not saying building an entire business around being remote yourself. I do that. And I’m not out here trying to be Malcolm Gladwell and be like, “Oh, well, I should be at home, but you shouldn’t.” No, that’s not what I’m saying. I don’t ever want to go back to the cube farm. I don’t miss it. I hated it when I was trapped in it and I damn sure don’t want to go back now. It’s worse– it breaks your spirit when you’ve had your freedom and then you have to give your freedom up again. It sucks. Been there, done that, highly don’t recommend it. So I’m not saying that what I’m talking about is remote work itself. What I’m saying is someone who has built an entire identity or an entire business model about trying to hype everybody else up and say, like, “I am the expert on remote work.” “I am a remote work thought leader and I believe that nobody is ever going to have to go back to an office again.” That blows my mind. I can’t get there. That’s another situation where I have to just sort of stand back and throw my hands in the air because I’m like, I can’t wrap my mind around a business model like that. Because what if you’re wrong? If I’m wrong and there is some nationwide strike and everybody’s like, “Hell, no, we won’t go! We’ll sit at home and starve before we go back to the cube,” and I turn out to be wrong, I’m just wrong. And I will come on the air with egg on my face and I will eat that crow. I will say, “You know what, it’s my time to have a slice of humble pie. I was wrong.” But if you build an entire business or an entire identity online around, “I am the expert on remote work and I believe remote work will last forever and my predictions will never be wrong,” and then you’re wrong, you are screwed. Your credibility is shot. And your ability to continue on in that business without a drastic change is shot.
-“Corpo America doesn’t surprise the state. The state doesn’t surprise Corpo America. Please wake up to this.” published March 9, 2023 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1125110/12367726
It never ceases to amaze me how people will jump on a bandwagon or a trend, gobble up their 15 minutes of fame, and then assume that will last forever. It typically doesn’t. I will also say again, for the umpteenth time, that if you wait to be “officially” told something in the MSM or by some politician, you are waiting too late, IMO. By the time some moron politician or some talking head trots out and says, “Uh-oh. Oopsy daisy. Looks like the sh*t has hit the fan,” it’s too late to do anything meaningful in response. I’ve been a voice in the wilderness dealing with bots, trolls, shills, and annoying mansplainers trying to buck the trend and warn you that you’d better have an RTO survival plan because if Corpo America says it wants people back in the cube farm, that’s exactly what’s gonna happen. And crashing the job market to bring workers to heel is no issue.
“The golden age of remote work seems to be ending. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that even tech firms (the first industry that told employees they could work from home forever just a few years ago) are getting engineers and project managers back in the office. The economic blogger Kevin Drum, formerly of Mother Jones, has taken note of the increasing anti-remote literature and is making a bold prediction about the future of work: there is none. It’s not going to look much different than it’s ever looked. That’s because the remote work revolution just isn’t going to materialize.” –https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bosses-fed-remote-4-main-193500794.html
Imagine how far behind the eight ball someone would be if they were only just now waking up and hearing this message! I was on the leading edge of telling you the Great Resignation for white collar work was done-zo even as most recruiters were LARPing and telling their clients and candidates that all the job-hopping would last forever and the market was still red hot. 😒 And no offense to Kevin, but it’s not a bold prediction at this point. I’m sorry, it’s not. It’s merely looking at the preponderance of evidence and drawing an inevitable conclusion. But you gotta love the MSM for its narratives. Golly gosh, gee bang whiz. Who could’ve seen this coming!? Anyone who knows how to read the job market and who doesn’t rely on bullsh*t from the BLS. Just sayin.
His points as to why remote work doesn’t work are as follows:
“To summarize: (a) remote work is bad for new hires and junior employees, (b) even workers think remote work causes more problems than in-person work, (c) remote workers put in 3.5 hours less per week compared to in-person workers, and (d) anecdotally, Bambee’s CEO says production drops 30% on days when everyone is working remotely.” –https://jabberwocking.com/companies-are-finally-getting-fed-up-with-remote-work/
Well, hey, as long as we have “anecdotal” evidence LOL.
I’ve sorted through these types of arguments in past blog posts and podcast episodes, so I won’t rehash it all here. Suffice it to say: if Corpo America says yer goin’ back, yer goin’ back. The people who built an entire identity or business around being an expert on remote work and telling people there was a great remote work revolution that would last forever will need to find another schtick if they haven’t already.
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